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.

Iguana on Muni thinks he’s a cat

iguana-on-my-head-muni

My insider knowledge tells me that this is how all cat ladies wake up in the morning, with their felines on their head. I had no idea iguanas behave the same way.

This iguana hitched a ride all the way from its house onto Muni, and both the iguana and his owner seemed extremely relaxed about it. I can’t be sure that this is Charlie, or Charlie’s cousin, who is not to be confused with Skippy, the iguana of Wall Street Journal fame. But his athleticism is none the less impressive.

More of the Muni zoo this way, everybody.

Photo by @snacks_in_the_grass

Check out this visionary Muni Metro map

elliott_spelman_map

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 stopsThe Muni Metro Map: Caffeinated, and Mario BART Map.

h/t Radio Alice

Video: Country band sings the tragic tale of Charlie and the SFTMA

At April’s Muni Diaries Live, Mesquite and Mustard sang the tragic tale of Charlie and the SFMTA and what happens when the bus fare jumps up just a little more than you realized. Look closely: The band also has the most amazing Muni-themed shirts (and bolo tie!) west of the Mississippi.

The band also impressed all of us with some awesome fiddling, mixed in with funny (and nearly real) Muni stop announcements. Bet you never imagined this!

This performance was recorded at Muni Diaries Live at the Elbo Room on April 18, 2015. More from that night:
Muni driver Doug reveals behind-the-scene stories
SF native Yayne Abeba’s childhood on the bus

Follow Mesquite and Mustard on Twitter @mesquitemustard.

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

mayor lee muni

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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