Transit News: Warriors arena in SF, Muni challenge checkin, longer East Bay BART trains, new Muni LRVs

Model of new LRV built by Siemens | June 16, 2015

Model of new LRV built by Siemens | June 16, 2015

  • SF plans nearly $40M in transit improvements ahead of proposed Warriors arena in Mission Bay (SF Examiner)
  • 22-Day Muni-Riding Challenge, Day 10: Checking the Score at City Hall (Streetsblog SF)
  • East Bay BART trains to get longer under $1.6 billion budget plan (SFGate)
  • Muni’s New Trains On Display (Moving SF/SFMTA)
  • Woman stabs man multiple times on Muni bus (KRON)

Photo by SFMTA photo department

Get ready to pay even more for Muni in July

fastpasshike

Starting July 1, many fares for riding Muni will increase. Yes, you’ve heard this before. No, it isn’t dejá vu.

KTVU has the details:

On July 1, select cash and Clipper fares, as well as some major fees and fines will increase, SFMTA officials said.

The discount cash fare for persons with disabilities, youth and seniors will increase from 75 cents to $1.

Adult “A” monthly fast passes for Muni and BART within San Francisco will increase from $80 to $83. Adult “M” monthly fast passes for Muni only will increase from $68 to $70.

Monthly Muni passes for persons with disabilities, youth and seniors will increase from $24 to $25.

The Lifeline monthly pass for low-income residents will increase from $34 to $35.

A single cable car ride ticket will increase from $6 to $7.

Lastly, a school coupon booklet worth 15 Muni tickets will increase from $11.25 to $15, according to agency officials.

A brief history of recent Muni fare hikes (using Fast Pass “M” passes as measure):

  • September 1, 2014: “M” pass increased from $66 to $68 (Single Ride Adult Fare increases from $2 to $2.25)
  • July 1, 2013: “M” pass increased from $64 to $66
  • July 1, 2012: “M” pass increased from $62 to $64
  • July 1, 2011: “M” pass increased from $60 to $62

$10 in four years. I could go on, but it’s too early to drink, even for me.

Photo by Arial Dovas

Warriors Fan Celebrates on Top of Moving Muni Bus

warrior reveler

Not letting the poor behaviors of Giants fanatics show them up, some Warrior fans took to the streets to show how much they love Dub Nation, one of them by dancing on top of a moving Muni bus. Muni Diaries editor Jeff saw this bus-top dancer. Just a couple of hundreds of volts above your head, no big deal, right, guys?

insta warrior fan muni
Photo by lindsayds20

Over at SFist, Jay Barmann has a blow-by-blow of last night’s celebration.

And the San Francisco Chronicle’s Vivian Ho captured some more of the craziness in the Mission.

warrior fan bus stop vivia ho
Photo by Vivian Ho

At least no buses were set on fire. And thankfully none of this should end up in our top WTF moment of the year, right?

What can art do for your BART stations?

fantasy swedish subway station

For the first time in 40 years, BART is planning an overhaul of its stations, which includes funding for art and design (you might recall those glass canopies we showed you a few weeks go). To make sure that 2 percent of the funding is dedicated to art in your BART station, SubArt, an organization that promotes large-scale art projects in Bay Area transit stations, is asking people to sign a petition to show their support.

We’ve found that lots of artists around the world love to re-imagine their transit stations in whimsical, inspiring ways, like this Swedish artist’s rendering of a fantastical subway station above. The Swedes also win in our minds with this hair-blowing subway ad. Less realistic but so much more fun, here’s how one designer in Holland imagines being able to slide down into the station.

The BART board votes on the budget on June 25. You can find SubArt’s petition here.

Photo by Alexander Dragunov

New streetcar line debuts next month

E-Embarcadero

Do you think it’s weird how the F-Market doesn’t run on the Embarcadero south of Market, despite there being hella streetcar tracks along that stretch? You’re not alone.

Muni is set to start its much anticipated E-Embarcadero service on weekends starting in late-July. Hoodline has the deets:

Five historic streetcars will be put into service from 10am–7pm Saturdays and Sundays, with rollout of seven-day service planned in early 2016. They’ll make the same stops as the N-Judah from the Folsom stop to Caltrain, using separate street-level platforms, and will share the same stops as the existing F-line historic streetcar from the Ferry Terminal north to the Wharf. Streetcars will run about every 15 minutes.

“There are two really exciting benefits of the E-line,” said Julie Kirschbaum, operations planning and scheduling manager for SFMTA. “The first is it makes new connections. It provides a one-seat ride for people traveling from the Embarcadero to 4th and King or the ballpark.” It also provides additional capacity where the F-line is most packed: between Pier 39 and the Ferry Building. “By giving this extra service on the weekends,” she added, “it will help make the F-line less crowded.”

Check out the full story over at Hoodline, including information about drivers training to operate streetcars. Neat stuff.

We look forward not only to (EVEN MOAR) confused tourists, but also to stories that are bound to come out of this new Muni line. Muni Forward, indeed!

Photo by Jeremy Whiteman

Smoking WUT on Muni?

smokin

This, from Muni rider Thomas: “I was just riding the 49 from Van Ness and McAllister. Down to City College for class. And these dudes get on at 16th and Mission. This fool pulls out a crak pipe [sic] and takes a puff! No one wants their second hand meth smoke!”

While we can’t be sure what these fellas are smokin’, we just know it ain’t cool.

Just the other night, a wasted guy got on my and Tara’s 49 with a lit cigarette. I side-eyes’d him like you do, and he mumbled this and that back. Then some guys behind him told him to put it out. “It’s cool that you’re smoking, but no one on this bus likes the smell.”

We know it’s not exactly a totally new phenomenon, people smoking on the bus. But, SRSLY?

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