Category: News

• Boost for E-line Extension to Mission Bay, Dogpatch (Market Street Railway)
• Next group of BART stations in Silicon Valley to include private development (SF Business Times)
• Credit Union for Muni Employees a Quiet but Active Presence in Ingleside (Ingleside-Excelsior Light)
• Muni’s historic F-Line celebrates 20 years (SF Examiner)

• 24th St. BART Escalator Part Snaps, Injures Four (Mission Local)
• City approves speed improvements to Muni’s 5-Fulton line (SF Examiner)
• BART to reward riders who commute during off-peak hours (SFBay)
• SFMTA says it needs $21 billion for next 20 years (SFExaminer)

Courtesy Washington Post/Matt Yu/Reuters

It seems sex and controversy — well, duh — are very effective for selling transit cards.

Earlier this month, according to an Associated Press article, Taiwan’s EasyCard Corp. quickly sold out a special edition swipe card featuring photos of Japanese porn star Yui Hatano. Hatano is said to be a big fan of Taiwan and the images on the cards are of her clothed. Nonetheless, the company sold out of its stock of 15,000 cards within about four hours on Sept. 1.

As expected, not everyone was happy with the EasyCard’s celebrity selection. According to the article, parents, politicians, and women’s groups were among those outraged and said using Hatano’s photo was disrespectful to women. Many stores refused to sell them.

Anything to get people out of their cars, I guess?? It does beg the question though: Whose face (or body) would you like to see on your Clipper Card?

We already knew that failed Muni competitor Leap was auctioning some of its buses. Now comes news that Leap filed for bankruptcy last summer. The Examiner has the story:

In bankruptcy court filings dated July 15, Leap Transit filed under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

The now­-defunct company’s assets and liabilities were both estimated to be between $100,000 and $500,000, according to bankruptcy filings signed by Leap founder Kyle Kirchoff.

And so, once again, a shiny, distressed-wood-having, ADA-challenged bus can be yours. That’s right, more Leap buses are up for auction. It’s unclear whether any bids are in yet, and the opening bid is listed at $5 (cheaper than a single ride on a Leap bus, back in “the day”!).

We had a hunch things wouldn’t go well for them when, on Leap’s second day in operation, it, uh, needed a tow truck. Ouch!

Read the whole story on SF Examiner.

Photo by Yarbs