It’s Aussie transit passengers’ turn to move immovable objects

No one told me this in advance, but this week is Super-Human Feats of Strength on Public Transit Week. Apparently. “Apparently.”

Down in Perth, Australia, a public transit rider slipped getting into the train. “Andy” got his leg stuck between the train and the platform. But this hungry leg-eating train was no match for Andy’s fellow passengers:

“Transit Authority staff alerted the driver to not move the train and then organized passengers on the platform to push the car, eventually freeing the passenger …”

What is Aussie for, “Fuck yeah!”?

h/t Laughing Squid

Meet the Chinatown Muni Station Artist on Thursday

chinatown_station

New York-based (boo!) artist Tomie Arai was chosen to design the future Muni Metro station in Chinatown. The designs are spiffy enough. And you have a chance to meet Arai tomorrow afternoon.

Details
Thursday, August 7, 4:00-5:00 PM
Chinese Culture Center
750 Kearny Street, Third Floor
Take Muni: 1-California, 8AX, 8BX, 8X, 30X-Marina Express, and 41-Union

See more at the SF Arts Commission site.

T-Train Derailed in Muni v. Semi Collision

t-train collision
Photo via Jett S

In what is unfortunately not just an action-movie scene, a Muni light rail vehicle collided with a semi in the Bayview this afternoon, derailing the LRV by “several feet.” Rider Jett S. sent us the photo above.

According to the SFPD, the semi made an illegal u-turn; Jett notes that this intersection has a no-left-turn sign, visible in the pic. Some 20 people were injured in the collision and 11 were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to SFPD spokesperson Albie Esparza.

From the SFPD:

Preliminary investigation revealed a Muni LRV traveling north bound 3rd street towards downtown SF (inbound). A semi truck also traveling north bound 3rd in the lane of traffic made an illegal left hand turn onto Innes from 3rd street in front of the LRV. The Muni LRV and the truck made impact and the train was derailed off the tracks by several feet.

The area is closed from Jerrold to Hudson along 3rd street at least for the next hour.

People are advised to take alternate routes and modes of transport as this will impact the evening Friday commute.

The driver was not yet cited at this time until the conclusion of the investigation.

KCBS has more photos and videos here. We hope everyone will be just fine.

Update
Aaaand it looks like a not-so-good day for Muni collisions today. Another collision earlier today on Geary and Webster between a Muni bus and a dumpster truck sent another 20 people to the hospital around 1:30 p.m. The SFPD says none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.

Transit News: Muni funding, Muni contract, BART vandalism, Muni “double berthing”

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Photo by Patrick

  • Mayor ratchets up pressure over Muni funding (SFGate)
  • Muni mechanic makes the wheels on the bus go round (SFGate)
  • SFMTA Approves 3-Year Contract For Muni Drivers (CBS Bay Area)
  • BART Plans Weekend Closure Of Daly City Platforms (SF Appeal)
  • BART Investigating Racist Vandalism Directed At Employees (SF Appeal)
  • Muni Train Hits Van On The Embarcadero (SF Appeal)
  • Harmony out the window in Muni funding dispute (SFGate)
  • Muni Plans to Launch “Double Berthing” in October, a Year Behind Schedule (Streetsblog SF)
  • Mayor-Funded BeyondChron Attacks Wiener’s Transit Funding Measure (Streetsblog SF)
  • Pilot charging commuter buses to use Muni stops hits the streets (SF Examiner)

How Does SF Stack Up in FiveThirtyEight’s Transit Study?

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Map by Reuben Fischer-Baum via FiveThirtyEight

The data wizards at FiveThirtyEight.com combed through lots of transit data across cities in the United States to see how cities stack up in transit use. At first glance, San Francisco was No. 2 (uh…appropriately?) in transit trips per resident, ranking our public transit system the second most used in the United States, right behind New York City.

FiveThirtyEight’s Reuben Fischer-Baum asks, “Do certain regions tend to support better public transit, or is this just a product of city size and density?” When he separated the maps of large cities against smaller cities, the answer might surprise you. Go to FiveThirtyEight’s story to see which small city actually ranked first in transit quality.

Related: Earlier this year, Walk Score rated SF’s public transit poop number two as well. A trend emerges!

Transit News: Muni population-based funding, Muni fare cheats, Market Street transit-only lanes, BART infrastructure grant

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Photo by Vasile Cotovanu

  • Muni Funding Measure Based on Population Added to November Ballot (SF Appeal)
  • Debris from Muni wire strikes S.F. pedestrian (SFGate)
  • Fare cheats targeting back doors on Muni (KTVU)
  • SFMTA Rolling Out “Red Carpet” Transit-Only Lanes On Market (SF Appeal)
  • $17.4 million grant to enhance security of BART’s critical infrastructure (KTVU)
  • Proposed: Traffic Signal For Intersection Of Church And Cesar Chavez Streets (Noe Valley SF blog)
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