Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Fresh from the New York Transit Museum, here’s a little holiday cheer! Brooklynite Cheryl Berkowitz has cleverly turned the subway map into a menorah! Oh, and can somebody make this Dr. Dre dreidel a part of your evening in the next couple of days?
If you’re into maps like I am, here’s a sleek San Francisco transit map you might like.
It almost doesn’t matter whether you ride every day or just from time to time: Muni isn’t the cleanest place in the world. And the question then, for germophobes and non-germophobes alike, becomes: Is the risk of contagious diseases on public transit higher, the same, or lower than it is in other public places.
Buried somewhat in an article on the topic by the Public Transport page on About.com, Christopher MacKechnie has this tidbit:
The risk appeared to be more focused on occasional transit users, with regular riders being somewhat less susceptible to falling ill. One theory is that regular riders may develop protective antibodies against the kind of infections likely to be found on public transit.
It’s a nice thought, and one that I more or less believe applies to everyday life, not just on public transit.
I stumbled upon the post thanks to Driver Doug. On Facebook, a few of Doug’s friends agree with me:
- I ride Muni to get my flu shot.
- Doctor’s orders: ride Muni one hour a day and take two aspirin and some lozenges.
That made me curious: Have you ever been sick and blamed Muni? If so, do you ride more or less daily, or do you dabble in it?
Photo by Tantek Çelik
We found Satellite High this June totally by chance. It wasn’t Christmas Day, but it might’ve well have been for Muni nerds like us. “WHAT? A whole album of hip-hop songs about Muni? YES, PLS.”
We were so happy that Jay, Casey, and Vern were available to perform some tracks off said “album about Muni” at Muni Diaries Live in October. Check out the video above for tracks such as “The Bus Is Late,” “I’m on the Bus,” and crowd favorite “A Girl Who Likes Buses, Too.”
Featured photo by Thomas Hawk
Friend of Muni Diaries John sent this to us. “SamTrans employees decorate one every year and roll to special events. Don’t believe it goes into regular service with the reindeer.” And what a damn shame that is.
File this under that embarrassing moment when you, pro daily Muni rider, are caught off guard by life. This one from Muni rider @peeeete: “Right side steps are going up, please stand clear.”
I feel a little bad for the dude who had to shimmy out of his sneaker in front of the commute crowd and then just stand there like no big deal. At least his socks are presentable on this particular day. Look on the bright side: At least you’re not this guy (or so we hope)!
NextBus is least accurate during peak commute time, with the 82X, 28, Muni Metro Bus Shuttle, 81X, and 39 routes ranking the lowest in prediction accuracy, according to a new study by Swyft, a mobile transit app. The study looked at NextBus prediction data from August 2015, comparing it to actual arrival times, and defines accuracy as “if the actual arrival time of the vehicle is anywhere between 30 seconds earlier and 4 minutes later than the predicted arrival time.” The study found that the most accurate routes were the 6-Haight/Parnassus, 35-Eureka, the 88 BART Shuttle.
