Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Muni was a little too forward with Rebecca (@onewomanparty) earlier today:
Forest Hill Station was getting a little nasty this morning. I’ll pay the two bucks, thanks.
What’d you see on Muni today? Share it with your fellow riders.
Photo by Kate RW
I rode a 21 Hayes from downtown up to Fillmore late on Sunday, asked the driver how she was doing, she said “wonderful” or words to that effect, i said i was “fantastic” and we laughed about how things should always be this way.
After we got going I went back up to the front to ask her name. “Jackie” she said, and instinctively i replied “With such a great attitude, there has to be a Muni Diaries story about you.” (and there is!) She was unaware of the Diaries so I enlightened her, which gave her a tickle.
Then we swapped origins (she’s a native, I’m from Manchester in the UK) and got talking about earthquakes. It was then she busted out the candy! Butterscotch, even. And it turns out she has lemon sours with a sweet centre for people not having good Muni experiences. I tried to get subsequent boarders in on the party, but all i received were cold stares, as usual…
What a great Muni experience. I’m not walking home from downtown ever again.
Sure, Muni made us late, some people on the bus smell, Clipper cards don’t work the way they should, and the new turnstiles are dumb (see: Gategate). Then there are drivers like Jackie who can make our days go smoother. We’ve gotten stories about drivers here on Muni Diaries like the great post about Tammy, who decorated her bus to surprise her passengers, Vivienne, whose sweet demeanor really impressed her passengers, and this 38-Geary driver who stood up for his fare-paying passengers.
Do you have a story to share about a Muni driver? Or better, are you a Muni operator who would like to share some stories with us from the driver’s seat? We’re all ears.
Photo by Agent Akit
The Situation: I give my wife a TransLink card (pre clipper design) loaded with a Muni M Fast Past (Metro Only, $60 value) to use for her daily commute.
The Problem: On her third day of using it, a small crack occurs on the TransLink card, near (but not including) the chip. The card is now broken, and completely useless (doesn’t even fail when you tag it, nothing at all happens).
My Solution (hopefully): Go down to the Embarcadero Station and trade it in for a new card, and get the Fast Pass transferred. Seems like a logic and easy thing to do, given that this is the information age. Take the Fast Pass off of one card, add it to another, voila!
Reality: I head down to the station, and the agent at the desk tells me to go get a new Clipper card from the newsstand across the way, and contact Clipper Customer Support about transferring the Fast Pass. I am a bit frustrated that I have to call but I figure it should still be a cut and dry situation. When I called Clipper Customer Support, at first I am told that the balance on my card cannot be transferred to my new card until the old card has been “blocked” (or deactivated) for 24 hours. They then can move it to the new card.
Then the customer service agent realizes I am trying to transfer a Fast Pass, and not a cash balance. She informs me that she needs to block the original card, and then she can mail me a new card with my Fast Pass on it. This seems illogical given that I am holding a brand new card ready to go. Can’t use it at all.
Geoff said he talked to a very “calm and collected” supervisor at Clipper who said that their system cannot transfer Fast Passes from one card to another the way Geoff had expected this to work. It would take about three days to get a new card mailed to him. I’ve only transferred cash from one Clipper card to another and was also told that I had to wait for the new card in the mail. It took about a week to receive my new card. Since it was cash (and the service agents I talked to were pretty nice), it was a small inconvenience for me, but for riders with a Fast Pass on Clipper, should Clipper come up with a better way to replace your lost/damaged card?
By now you’ve probably heard the news around the Muni-riding world about how to evade fare with the new fare gates. KRON4’s Stanley Roberts told tens of thousands of Muni riders that you can ride the bus for free by just waving your hand in front of the sensors.
Tell us in the comments section — under the anonymity of the internet — would you try waving your hand in front of the new turnstile to get a free ride? And do you think Stanley Roberts should have revealed this trick?
ON IT – Behind the Scenes – Bus Timelapse from Shadow Angel Films on Vimeo.
So what happens on the bus in this movie? From Heather and Chris:
ON IT is about a relationship under pressure and the complications that get in the way of the couple’s attempts to communicate. Six months into their relationship, Craig and Angela each have something important to tell each other, but can they find the courage to say it? One bus ride changes the course of their relationship forever.
Hmm. Mysterious and intrigue!
Heather told me they rented the bus by working with the San Francisco Film Commission Office and the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency: “There was lots of paperwork to obtain the permit, but both organizations were extremely helpful at pushing it through. We had a great experience with the bus inspector and the MUNI driver on the shoot day too.” You can find out more about the movie and Heather and Chris’s other projects at the Shadow Angel Films website.
Photo by Whole Wheat Toast
Hubby and I decided to try our Clipper cards on Muni, being fairly new to the city. It was hot in our apartment on the bay on one of those sunny days last week, so we decided to head to the beach. We took the first train that came into the Embarcadero station–L Taraval, which took us to the zoo entrance, but also Ocean Beach. After wandering around for awhile in the cool, cloudy, breezy weather, we made our way back to the waiting train, and stood on the platform, unsure of where to get on.
After awhile the driver came around the corner, and politely pointed out to us novice Muni riders that we needed to stand at the “bus stop” to be able to board. He also gave us tips on using the Clipper card. Didn’t catch his name, but he was so very nice. I know we hear stories about rude Muni drivers, but I just want to say that we have had good service with our brief experience. I love the idea of a card I can use on all transit.
There’s been some questions about the Clipper cards on our Twitter feed. Seems like time to update our Muni newbie orientation!