Category: Funny: Muni LOLs

Muni is the backdrop for so much of our lives, but few of us have documented its familiar presence over years of personal change as vividly as photojournalist Jessica Christian. Trains and buses doubled as transportation and a training ground for Jessica as she developed her eye for “photography that makes you feel something”—first as a student, then a budding photographer, and later as a San Francisco Chronicle photojournalist. Jessica joined us at our Wayfinding Show in 2025 to share the stories behind some of her favorite photographs she’s made on Muni and how it helped her find her way as a photographer.

Listen to Jessica’s story on your platform of choice, and follow along with the photos she mentions in the gallery below, labeled with the relevant episode timestamps:

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3:20

4:15

6:27

7:07

7:35

8:00

8:45

9:25

10:06

11:06

12:17

13:06

14:22

15:44

Muni Diaries is made up entirely of stories from transit riders like you. Have your own Muni story to share? Send us your pitch at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Like so many Muni riders, comedienne Julia Jackson has perfected the art of sizing up her fellow bus passengers in a glance, and she takes more than a little satisfaction in how often her assessments turn out to be right. But she worries about the distance her snap judgments can create between her and other riders, and she knows firsthand how isolating it feels to be on the receiving end. It’s the times when she’s wrong about a stranger on the bus—or they’re wrong about her—that the magic happens.

Julia had us laughing at our Wayfinding Show in 2025 as she recounted some of her favorite “terminator scan” misfires on Muni, and how they brought her closer to her fellow riders. Listen to her story here:

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Muni Diaries is made up entirely of stories from transit riders like you. Have your own Muni story to share? Send us your pitch at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

We all know the feeling of sitting down on the J Church or the 38 Geary after an especially hard day and wishing we could just disappear into that red seat, alone with our misery, not smushed between 30 strangers. Other times, public transit surrounds us with our fellow riders when we need them the most.

At our Wayfinding Show in April 2025, writer and performer Roman Rimer shared a moving reflection on the realities of navigating life as a trans man in the Bay Area. Roman has watched the city change, made connections and lost them, and grieved more than his fair share—often on the bus. But one thing hasn’t changed: Muni always picks him up when he needs it.

Listen to Roman’s story here:

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Be sure to subscribe for more stories from transit riders like you! Have your own Muni story you’d like to share? Email us your pitch at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Photo by Connor Cimowsky.

Today we’re bringing you the final installment from our pop-up story booth at the San Francisco Public Libary’s 2024 Night of Ideas! In this episode, we share a selection of bite-sized stories from everyday Muni riders of all ages about whimsical transit rides they’ve taken in our beloved San Francisco. 

You can listen to it here:

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Check out Part 1—Everyday Heroes on the Bus (ep. 152) and Part 2—The Friends We Made along the Way (ep. 155) for more short stories from that evening. And if you have your own whimsical bus story to share, be sure to follow us on Instagram at @munidiaries to hear about future podcast pop-ups around the city!

Have a Muni story you’d like to share? Email us your pitch at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Photo by Kat Siegal

Meaghan Mitchell returned to the Muni Diaries stage at our “Thank You, Driver” show with a loving tribute to her dad, 35-year Muni veteran Ronald Mitchell. She shares what it was like being raised by a Muni driver in ’90s San Francisco, and what makes Muni more than a transit agency—and then invites Ronald to join her on stage.

Meaghan and Ronald remind us that our Muni operators are human, that they have families, and that they’re on the front lines of our city’s biggest challenges every day. And they ask us to keep on loving and riding Muni: as Ronald says, “There’s nothing like the Municipal Railway.”

Listen to Meaghan and Ronald here:

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Muni Diaries Live is back on April 10th! Join us at The Wayfinding Show for more true stories about the ups and downs of life on Muni. Snag your tickets today!

Photos by Emily Huston

Getting stuck on a dark, stalled Muni train is every rider’s worst nightmare. But what’s it like being one of the mechanics with the daunting task of getting that train and its frustrated riders moving again? 

Rory O’Neill understands both sides of that coin. He spent many years working as a mechanic on the mobile response unit and the emergency response unit for Muni’s light rail fleet—and he’s also an every-day Muni rider.

Now the supervisor of the Maintenance Training Department, Rory joined us at Muni Diaries Live and gave us a glimpse into the oft-overlooked world of Muni’s vehicle mechanics and maintenance workers. Rory reminds us just how many people get us where we need to go every day, whether we see them or not. “In the end, that’s what we do, right? We move people.”

Listen to Rory’s story here:

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Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of our true stories from everyday bus riders! Have a Muni story you’d like to share? Email us your pitch at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.

Photo by Emily Huston