BART plans to halt SF-East Bay service for track work

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Addressing the problem of SOMETHING IS THE MATTER WITH BART OMG, the system plans to cease transbay service later this summer for some long-overdue track work. SFGate has the story:

BART is preparing to halt all train service between San Francisco and the East Bay over the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend — and the first weekend of August as well — for what is being billed as “critical track maintenance” near the entrance to the system’s Transbay Tube.

“We plan to have a substantial ‘bus bridge’ available for BART passengers traveling between Oakland and San Francisco” during the anticipated five days of service disruptions, BART Assistant General Manager Kerry Hamill said in a memo sent to Bay Area transportation agencies.

Well then. It’s not like we really wanted to go to Oakland or anything*.

Read the full story at SFGate.

JK. Oakland is rad. Hella, even.

Photo by Michael Dunn

Look out for a new glass canopy at Powell and Civic Center BART stations

bart station canopy

Powell and Civic Center BART stations are getting a new do’, in the form of new glass canopy entrances along Market Street.

The designers’ rendering of the glass canopy is above, which you might have seen if you were being an A+ San Franciscan and attended the community event back in April. According to BART, Market Street will eventually (as in the next 10 years) have 30 new canopy entrances to product stations and escalators from weather damage and “improve station security and escalator durability.”

Don’t hold you breath yet, though. Construction for the new entrances is slated to begin toward the end of next year.

In other BART news, the San Francisco Chronicle is taking down circulation kiosks at BART stations, according to Mission Local. Oh, it’s the end of an era.

h/t: SFist, San Francisco Chronicle.

Check out this visionary Muni Metro map

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File under: We Can Dream, Can’t We?

Not content with SF’s status as woefully lacking when it comes to underground transit, Elliott Spelman took to whatever fancy computer program people use nowadays and made a Muni Metro map that dreams are made of. Look at that coverage! Check out them color-coded lines! Start fantasizing about days spent roaming the 49-square-mile landscape with ease!

And yeah, there’s a lot of acreage that would still be under-served in Elliott’s world. That’s okay. This is a great first draft.

How would you modify or add to this fantasy Muni map?

Other Bay Area alternative-universe transit maps include the Thrillist map of bars near Muni Metro stops, The Muni Metro Map: Caffeinated, and Mario BART Map.

h/t Radio Alice

Supes and mayor ride Muni and take selfies in 22-day challenge

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Starting today and for the next 22 days, you can count your city supervisors and even the mayor as fellow Muni riders. Today marks the first day of San Francisco Transit Riders Union’s “22 Day Muni Challenge,” which challenges city officials to ride Muni for 22 days straight just like us. Could there be a Muni Diaries story from one of these supervisors in the near future? We certainly hope so!

In 1993, San Francisco voters passed Proposition AA: “City officials and full-time employees [shall] travel to and from work on public transit at least twice a week.” But the proposition was never enacted upon. The 22-day challenge signifies the 22 years since the proposition passed, according to Ilyse Magy of the SFTRU. The SFTRU even created a leaderboard to track the number of rides of participants using the official hashtag #onboardsf.

Participating supes already started with a slew of Muni selfies, including John Avalos‘ very dramatic ride (known to the rest of us as our daily Muni workout) this morning.
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Muni News: Double berthing troubles, 33 bus petition and survey, arrest in attack on Muni driver, Church St. transit lane

You wanted Muni news, you got Muni news. Here’s the latest …

  • Muni Cites Computer Glitch For Ending Metro Train ‘Double Stopping’ After Only 2 Days (CBS Bay Area)
  • SF Hospital Bus Cut Spurs Petition, New Surveys (Muniverse)
  • Suspect arrested in assault on Muni driver in Mid-Market area (SF Examiner)
  • Appeals court ruling to boost cost to S.F. of Central Subway land (SFGate)
  • SFMTA Deems Church Street Transit Lane A Success (Hoodline)
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