Category: News

Public transit riders share a very special common bond (hello, “Back door!”). It seems that transit riders everywhere band together whenever there is a need.

Commuters in Australia recently started an amazing campaign called #IllRideWithYou to show solidarity after the hostage crisis in Sydney earlier this week. In this report, we learn that Australian transit riders are offering to ride the train with their fellow Muslim riders who may be scared to be attacked on public transit for fear of retribution.

After a rider tweeted about seeing a Muslim woman removing her hijab on the train, other transit riders on Twitter started offering to ride with their fellow Muslim commuters. The hashtag went viral and there’s been 150,000 tweets with the hashtag in just 12 hours, according to mic.com.

We know that Muni riders show one another kindness all the time (like in this story of random kindness or this very San Francisco-style sweet gesture). It’s pretty neat to see how this translates across the world.

Photo by @jennifermarielane

The nonprofit who brought us Bay Lights, the neato fantastic LED lights on the Bay Bridge, has set its sights on Market Street, specifically the rail transit vehicles on and below the street.

Curbed SF has the deets:

LightRail, a 2.1-mile-long LED scultpure that would render the movements of underground trains in lights above Market Street, won approval from the Board of Supervisors [Tuesday] in a unanimous vote. Sponsored by Illuminate the Arts, the nonprofit behind the Bay Lights, the sculpture would string 124,000 LEDs above Market, in what the group is calling the world’s first subway-responsive light sculpture. Stretching all the way from the Embarcadero to Van Ness, the lights would reveal the trains’ movements in colored pulses of light, effectively letting everyone on Market peer below ground without ever going under.

Awesome!

Check out the Curbed SF post for more information.

Photo by TJ Gehling

• Transbay Transit Center grand vision includes thriving retail hub (SFGate)
• Muni Wants You… for Online Advisory Panel (SF Weekly)
• Man struck and killed by AC Transit bus in Alameda (SFGate)
• Injury concern prompts Muni to remove over 1,400 seats (SF Examiner)
• Supes app­rove purchase of 60-foot Muni buses (SF Bay)
• Geary transit improv­ements set to arrive early (SF Bay)

Photo by Thomas Hawk

• BART and AC Transit Launch New and More Frequent Overnight Bus Service This Weekend (SFist)
• Riders want more space on new Metro trains (SFBay)
• Geary Bus Riders Set to Get Some “Early” Upgrades Before BRT Lanes Arrive (Streetsblog SF)
• 5-Fulton Proposal Could Bring Traffic Signals To McAllister (Hoodline)
• Irving Streetscape Improvements Aim For Safety, Walkability And Faster Transit (Hoodline)

Photo by David Lytle

Is it possible that Muni Metro could become faster and *gulp* make more sense? Pinch me, please.

According to Streetsblog SF, SFMTA is set to conduct a final round of double-berth testing on Muni Metro trains this weekend. Double-berthing is when two trains board in the same station at the same time.

From Streetsblog SF:

“[SFMTA Director Ed] Reiskin said Muni officials will demonstrate the feature on Saturday morning for officials at the CA Public Utilities Commission, who must sign off before Muni finally allows two trains at once to board passengers within its underground stations.”

If this weekend’s test is approved, Muni could start regular double-berthing service as soon as December 13.

Progress!