Category: News

Photo by Pete Boyd

Amy requests your attention, especially if you transport your bicycle on Muni buses:

When I was getting on the bus, the driver told me they’ve had a rash of bikes being stolen off the front of buses. Since I rarely use Muni to transport my bike I sat near the front to watch it. And of course at 7th and Market I see a guy go to the front of the bus and eye the driver who is busy with cash customers. He then tries to yank my bike from the rack. I started screaming and running to the front of the bus and the driver started to honk. Instead of running off the guy kept trying to get the bike off the rack. Luckily for me the arm that goes over the bike wheel got stuck. But the guy still didn’t give up there. After I was all the way up to him he said “I was just playing” and tried to board the bus for free.

I had my U-lock going frame to wheel but from the way he was trying to pick it up, his intentions were to run off with it, not ride it away.

I’ve heard of bikes being stolen from buses before, but dismissed it as a rumor or rarity. Clearly this is not the case.

The few other times I’ve used Muni to transport my bike I’d watch it but not as closely. If the arm on the bus wasn’t broken it would have been gone in seconds.

Be careful out there, Muni-riding cyclists.

Photo by jen_maiser

Well, that was fun, that April 2011. Muni Diaries is a toddler now, a full-on three-year-old website. The San Francisco Giants season is well under way. The weather has taken a turn for the more-pleasant. And today is the last day to vote for Muni Diaries in SF Weekly‘s poll (Best Blog and/or Best Person to Follow on Twitter would be our choice, but we’re biased).

As this editor is wont to do when the skies are so bright, I implore you to stop reading this. Go out and enjoy this shit. It won’t last long.

Muni news this week:

• Muni Enthusiast Philip Hoffman: An Historic Loss (Market Street Railway)
• Open-door issues on San Francisco Muni not closed (SF Examiner)
• Jerry Lee gets four more years on Muni board (City Insider)
• SFMTA’s Climate Action Strategy Will Require Broad Political Support (Streetsblog SF)
• BART Trains Set to Run Later Friday Nights (The Bay Citizen)
• NTSB: Muni Metro driver disabled controls, blacked out(SFGate)
• University of San Francisco to tackle future of old Muni substation on Fillmore (SF Examiner)

Enjoy these photographs and your weekend!

Photo by lydia chow

Photo by Noodles and Beef

Photo by Generik11

Photo by bmevans80

Well, folks, it looks like we’ve been hornswaggled. We reported back in February that a $2 service fee being charged to some Fast Pass holders who use WageWorks or other commuter services to load their passes to their Clipper card each month was a fluke, a mistake, a one-off. Clipper didn’t authorize the surcharge, and MTC, which oversees Clipper, demanded that the commuter service cease charging pass-holders.

Then last week, friend of Muni Diaries Akit (of Akit’s Complaint Department) informed the public that the fee was, in fact, here to stay. Ever the helpful one, Akit also offers a few ways to get around the fee that are, well, less than environmental.

Muni Diaries Editor and WageWorks user Tara received an incredibly confusing email from WW about the fee. Here’s a particularly juicy excerpt:

In order for you to continue to use [the direct load feature], WageWorks must comply with new terms of the program by making you aware of the new processing fee and requiring that you “opt in” by re-electing the direct load feature and agreeing to the new terms and conditions.

Commenter Jeremy and a few others have confirmed that the charge has showed up on the bill for their May passes, also.

Yeah, it’s just $2. But when the agencies in power make the switch to the cards mandatory, sneak this fee in, tell us it was a mistake, then renege and say (in a whisper) that it’s here to stay … and oh, there’s a small increase ($2) in the price of Fast Passes coming this July … sorta makes you feel nickled and dimed, dunnit it?

What if you could replace the ads in bus shelters with messages of your own? What if public spaces spoke to you, instead of projected ads at you?

This is what the team at Wooster Collective did earlier this month in Madrid. More than 60 contributors woke up at the crack of dawn and surprised Madrid’s bus riders with a message take over.

Check it out:

We were honored to be asked to participate in the latest PublicAdCampaign project: the Madrid Street Ad Takeover project. Last Thursday at 5:30 AM over 106 messages replaced advertising in light boxes around Madrid. 4 teams of 16 dedicated folks took only one hour to complete the takeover. Though removed within about 5 hours, most were documented and can be found here. Luckily, there were no arrests.

Contributors were asked to send in text that was printed in black on a white background. People involved included artists, lawyers, teachers, sociologists and gallery owners. Everyone submitted a sentiment about what they would like to see in public space to create a vision of what the public environment could be.

You can read more about the takeover and see more pictures at Wooster Collective.

Though advertising in bus shelters is probably a necessary revenue generator, I can’t help but wonder what kind of messages we would put in our Muni bus shelters if we had the choice. Ideas?

Photo by goofcitygoof

The fifth installment of Muni Diaries Live is tonight, as you know. Our already muddled brains are now scattered as well. But as it’s been the past three years on this website, and as it has been at each of the past four Muni Diaries Live events, your stories, photos, and videos keep Muni Diaries going. And we thank you for that.

The site is three years old now. A bona fide toddler. Walking around on its on, talking, pooping on the pot. We’re proud of this little corner of the internet. And we’re thankful that you all seem to enjoy it enough to keep reading and sharing your Muni stories. Thanks, guys!

Here’s this week’s Muni news:

• Muni Bus Strikes Car, Sends One Victim To Hospital (KTVU)
• Muni Honors Cam Beach (Streetsblog SF)
• BART Riders Now Have a Dignified Walkway at Balboa Park Station (Streetsblog SF)
• Muni N-Judah love train chugs along (SFGate; not news, but a cool story)
• MTC and Clipper Keeps Quiet About $2 Monthly Fee for Commuter Benefit Users (Akit’s Complaint Department)
• Man Stops Muni in Its Tracks (SF Weekly)
• Hearing To Determine Fate of Texting Muni Driver (KTVU)
• It’s happened again –- Muni train door left opened while traveling in subway (Daily Dose of SF)
• Muni Union Votes to Approve Strike Authorization, SF Threatens Legal Action (SF Appeal)

Now, allow me to turn my attention to my day job for a few. Got some things to do so that I can knock off early and get ready to party at Muni Diaries Live No. 5! Enjoy these photos and the rest of your weekend.

Photo by Justin Beck

Photo by davitydave

Photo by franciscophile

Photo by Noodles and Beef