Transit News: BART elevators, Embarcadero streetcars, Muni cameras, sketch Muni bonuses


Photo by Doctor Gage

  • Surprise: BART Elevators Are Filthy and Poorly Serviced (SF Weekly)
  • Massive bus facility under contruction at Islais Creek (Examiner.com)
  • Decision on free Muni for youth still to come (SF Examiner)
  • Downtown Muni Lines Rerouted For Central Subway Construction (SF Appeal)
  • Former Muni Exec Defends Decision Not To Brake After Striking Pedestrian (SF Appeal)
  • Muni to expand historic streetcar service for America’s Cup events in August (SF Examiner)
  • Muni eyeing plan to install new digital cameras on buses (SF Examiner)
  • Streetcars needed for America’s Cup now 16 months late (Market Street Railway Blog)
  • Central Subway work starts amid problems (SFGate)
  • Muni paid bonuses tied to inflated on-time rate (The Bay Citizen)

Look Closer: New York Transit Art

Take a closer look at this photo: can you tell what it is made of? New York Artist Nina Boesch has created some amazing stuff using metro cards as collage material. Here’s how she creates her collages.

As the name suggest, metro card collages are made from cut up pieces of used and expired MetroCards® – New York City subway tickets. All artworks are one-of-a-kind and vary in size from 5″x7″ to 40″x30″. Nina Boesch uses the front of MetroCards® for color collages (yellow, orange, blue and black), and the back for grayscale collages (black and white). The collages depict anything from landmarks and objects to portraits and typography, and are almost always New York related.

You can see the rest of her pieces on her website, Metro Card Yourself. Nina’s collages are exhibited at The Bean in the East Village, New York, until the end of July.

Thanks to local transit card artist Tofu St. John for the tip!

p.s.  More cool stuff on our Muni Art Pinterest Board.

Your Weekend Transit Advisory

This weekend’s transit advisory is short and sweet.

L Taraval Track Switch Replacement Project
From 8 p.m., Friday, to 5 a.m., Monday, the SFMTA will install new track switches on the L Taraval Line between 22nd and 23rd avenues and at 35th Avenue. The inbound (eastbound) stops on Ulloa Street at both 15th and Forest Side avenues will be missed.

AIDS Walk
On Sunday the annual AIDS Walk will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Golden Gate Park. Please visit AIDS Walk San Francisco website for more details.

The 44-O’Shaughnessy Muni route will be affected.

SF Examiner: Monday protest might disrupt Muni service


Photo by tellumo

The Examiner today brings us news that several Muni protests planned for Monday could disrupt service. From the Examiner:

Event organizers have targeted the intersection of Third Street and Palou Avenue in the Bayview district as the gathering point for the protest, which calls for all Muni lines to be shut down. The T-Third Street light-rail line and the 54-Felton, 44-O’Shaughnessy, 24-Divisadero and 23-Monterey bus lines all pass through the intersection.

Muni says it is bracing for disruptions.

Kristen Holland, a Muni spokeswoman, said the agency is aware of the planned protest, and is taking the necessary steps to ensure that service runs as smoothly as possible. She did not discuss specifics of the agency’s strategies, saying that those details could aid the protestors.

It’s unclear who is organizing the protest, and when it might start. Read the Examiner post for more information.

Transit News: Central Subway opposition and re-routes, high-speed rail boost, strollers on Muni, new Caltrain announcement system


Photo by eviloars

  • Central Subway: Opponents Claim Charter Violation Dooms Project (SF Weekly)
  • Will the SFMTA Gut Muni Improvements to Prop Up the Central Subway? (Streetsblog SF)
  • Legislature approves high-speed rail spending (SFGate)
  • Muni weeks away from letting babies in strollers on buses (SFGate)
  • Plans pitched for youth Muni rides (SF Examiner)
  • Muni to re-route bus lines around Central Subway construction (Central Subway Blog)
  • Caltrain Testing New Arrival And Departure System This Week (SF Appeal)
  • BART Officially Clears James Crowell, Officer Who Shot And Killed Charles Hill (SF Weekly)
  • SFPD Seeking Suspect In Muni-Related Shooting (SF Appeal)

Your Weekend Transit Advisory

Well, compared with recent weekends, this one is light and breezy.

Fillmore Street Jazz Festival
On Saturday and Sunday the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day on Fillmore Street between Jackson and Eddy streets.  Please visit www.fillmorejazzfestival.com for more details.

The following Muni routes will be affected:

  • 1 California
  • 2 Clement
  • 3 Jackson
  • 22 Fillmore
  • 24 Divisadero
  • 31 Balboa
  • 38 Geary

SFMTA Reminds San Francisco Residents and Visitors that Construction Continues on N Judah, J Church Lines Tomorrow

The construction hours will be from 8 p.m., Friday to 5 a.m., Monday on each weekend. Muni service adjustments and traffic detours will need to start an hour earlier at 7 p.m. on Friday and will continue through construction hours. As with the previous construction weekends for these projects, which began in February, the construction dates have been coordinated between both the Church & Duboce and Carl Street projects to minimize inconvenience to residents, businesses, Muni customers, motorists and bicyclists.

During the July 6 weekend and upcoming construction weekends, the N Line will be shut down with substitute service provided by bus shuttles from Ocean Beach to Church Street. No N Line service will be operated in the Metro subway; however, supplemental rail service will be in place between Castro Station and the Caltrain Station at 4th and King streets. The J Church Line will operate between the Balboa Park Station and Market Street. J Line customers will need to transfer between the Church Street Metro Station and the Church Street stop between Market and 15th streets.

Muni Service Impacts

N Judah Bus Shuttles

  • N Judah bus shuttles will operate all weekend between Ocean Beach and Church Street.
  • From La Playa to Arguello the N buses will follow the regular N Line route.
  • East of Arguello the N service will re-route around the construction and street closure.
  • The service will run as an express between Cole and Frederick and Castro and Duboce.

J Church

  • Rail service on the J Church Line will only operate between Balboa Park Muni Metro/BART Station and Church and Market streets.
  • J Church customers can transfer at Church and Market streets between regular J Line service on the street and Metro subway service provided by the K, L, M and T lines between Church Station and Embarcadero Station.

22 Fillmore

  • The 22 Fillmore Route will need to detour around Church and Duboce streets.
  • No service will operate via Castro and 18th streets.

N Owl

  • The N Owl will run between Ocean Beach and Caltrain (4th & King) with a detour on Frederick Street instead of Carl Street and a detour around Church and Duboce streets. N Owl bus service will be re-routed from Carl Street onto Frederick Street.
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