Your Burning Questions on Prop. G and Reset SF

Here at Muni Diaries, we don’t make political endorsements. Instead, we’ll ask the burning questions that must arise if you have seen the video commercial above from Sup. Sean Elsbernd: How the heck did they get all those Muni Metro trains to drive by the same stop?

All kidding aside, the commericial doesn’t really explain what Proposition G is. Of course everyone’s all for the buses being more on-time and shorter waiting times. Prop. G would remove the minimum pay guarantee in the city charter for Muni drivers. Recently the drivers union told the San Francisco Bay Guardian they were against it. Surprised? Where do you stand on Prop. G?

In other news, Phil Ting’s ResetSanFrancisco.org is having a live webcast this afternoon at 4 p.m. with BART Board Director and transportation expert Tom Radulovich and Municipal Transportation Agency Commissioner Cameron Beach. Ting’s press folks say that this is their “Ask an Expert” online forum where you can discuss our transportation woes. No meeting to rely on Muni to be late for attend.

Muni Diaries Live! Friday, Oct. 29 at the Make-Out Room

MD-crowd-by-troy-holden
Photo by Troy Holden

Muni Diaries Live! is back at the Make-Out Room on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. – yes, it’s our Halloween show! Twice a year we bring Muni Diaries from the web to the stage at the Make-Out Room, where you can share a drink or three with your fellow riders and hear stories about the love-hate ride that we can’t do without.

This time our story tellers include Derek Powazek of Fray Magazine, comedian Bucky Sinister, and Isaac Fitzgerald, whom you may know from The Rumpus, but did you know he is also the recipient of a royal Bhutanese sword? Tara the sea shanty songstress from our first show will be back too, so we hope you’re ready.

This just in: author Andrew Lam will be telling his Muni story onstage — he is the author of Perfume Dreams and East Eats West, and a champion of Literary Death Match! 

Also, if you’ve been wrangling with your Clipper card and silently mourning the end of the paper “A” Fast Pass, come to this show to see the beginning of the final faceoff between the paper Fast Pass and the Clipper card. You’ll have to be there to see what we mean…

And as always, you will have an opportunity to tell your Muni story on stage, with prizes galore! We’ll be announcing more about the lineup and prizes in the next two weeks. If you missed Muni Diaries Live! one, two, and three (how could you miss out on so much fun?), we hope to see you at this one! A mere $5 at the door will get you a night of entertainment and camaraderie, so get your stories ready and see you at the Make-Out Room!

Details:

Muni Diaries Live!
Friday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Only $5!
Make-Out Room — 3225 22nd Street
Routes serving the area: BART 24th St. Station, 12, 14, 22, 33, 48, 49, 67

Weekend Photos: Fashionable Muni

Elevator Music
Photo by Jeremy Brooks

You might have heard about the fashion “tribes of San Francisco” — you know, skinny jeans in the Mission, thigh-length sweaters in the Marina, flannel shirts in the Haight…but where do they all come together in one place? Yup, that’s right. We’ve seen some pretty fashionable riders on Muni (check out the details on those boots in the photo taken by Jeremy Brooks above). Today’s Weekend Photos is a little shoutout to these riders.

In a few weeks you’ll also see a new feature on Muni Diaries called Fashion Friday where we will be featuring fashionable Muni riders. So if you see a well-dressed fellow Muni rider,  remember to send us a photo! We’ll have prizes and other details for you next week.

In this week’s Muni news:

Enjoy these photos, keep an eye out for snazzy dressers on Muni, and have a great weekend!

Heart Kandi Cuff
Photo by Vishnu Balunsat

Still Waiting
Photo by Daniel Hoherd

yeldo
Photo by greenkozi

Search and Rescue
Photo by Thomas Hawk


Photo by Jesse Johnson

BART to Muni Discount Only Available on Clipper Starting Oct. 4

Bay Area Rapid Transit
Photo by John K

The ever diligent Akit at Akit’s Complaint Department reminds us today that the BART to Muni discount transfer will be available on Clipper only starting Oct. 4.

Currently you can get a 25 cent discount on a paper coupon when you transfer from BART to Muni. Starting Oct. 4, to receive this discount, you’ll have to use a Clipper card to pay the fare, and the 25 cent discount will be automatically calculated on your card, according to SFMTA’s official announcement.  This only applies to stations between Embarcardero and Balboa Park and does not include Daly City station where you can still receive a paper coupon for the discount.

Why is this happening? According to Akit, the new faregates and ticketing machines have no way to accept the paper coupon, and this also eliminates paper waste. See Akit’s post for more on why the BART to Muni discount will be on Clipper only.

Clipper cards are free until June.

Weekend Photos: Out with the Old

Where Muni turnstiles go to die...
Photo by Dave Schumaker

This week Muni welcomed yet more new turnstiles to mixed reviews, at least in our Twitter world. And lo and behold, someone’s found a loophole to open the gate (see news below). Pretty sure that loophole will be patched up soon. In the mean time, Muni news this week:

  • Despite Cost, Clipper Card Promises Convenience (Streetsblog SF)
  • MUNI’s New Fare Gates – People Behaving Badly (KRON4 and SFAppeal)
  • Uncommon Success for Union Adversary (WSJ on Sean Elsbernd and “Measure to Undo Muni Contract Rules”)
  • Cable car improvement project begins (SF Examiner)
  • Spot.us pitch: why can’t Muni run on time? (Spot.us)
  • Earlier this week: Mini Muni meltdown (SFGate)
  • Muni Sickout Was A Big, Fat Bust (SFAppeal)
  • Will Muni Paper Pass Vendors Convert to Clipper? (Akit’s Complaint Department)
  • Weekend traffic advisory: Chinatown Moon Festival (SFMTA)

We are counting down to the next Muni Diaries Live! spoken party at the Make-Out Room on Friday, Oct. 29! Look out next week for more information about our lineup, and permanent marker this in your calendars. We’d love to see your happy faces!

Enjoy these photos and the weekend fog.

F Line Train
Photo by Terry B

orange bullet
Photo by Bhautik Joshi

West portal Station
Photo by sftrajan

Mission St
Photo by Oscar Arriola

Spotted: Twitter Bird Riding Muni

Between hitting F5 like a mad woman and watching the live stream of Twitter’s announcement of the new Twitter.com Tuesday, I didn’t realize that Muni made a cameo in Twitter’s video! Thank you, @verbalcupcake, for pointing this out. See if you spot the little blue bird on our favorite (ok, necessary) mode of transportation.

p.s. Don’t feel left out if you don’t see the new Twitter web page. We don’t either. They’re rolling it out.

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