Transit News: East Bay BRT approved, BART real-time screens, free Muni for kids voted down
Photo by grace1171
- Oakland City Council Gives Final Approval to AC Transit BRT (Streetsblog SF)
- New York City’s M.T.A. Opens Front of MetroCard to Advertising (NY Times)
- BART real-time departure screens coming (SFGate)
- BART Helps Make Movie About Oscar Grant Shooting (SF Weekly)
- MTC Votes to Reject Funding for Free Muni for Low-Income Youth (Streetsblog SF)
5 More Days to Submit Your Bus Ad in 100 Muni Stories!
We’ve been celebrating 100 years of Muni by hosting the “100 Days, 100 Muni Stories” contest. A portion of your story could end up on an ad inside the bus! 100 days goes by quickly, and we are in the last week of the contest. The contest ends Tuesday, July 31 at 11:59 p.m., so get your stories in now, or send us tweets by using the hash tag #100MuniStories.
And if you’re wondering what literary heavyweight will be judging the best Muni story, we’ve got that covered. The wonderfully funny and talented Isaac Fitzgerald will be our guest judge for the “100 Days, 100 Muni Stories” contest. Isaac is the managing editor of The Rumpus and has regaled you with his own Muni stories at Muni Diaries Live (bus hero, heyo!).
So get your stories and tweets to us. Only five more days until public transit fame could be yours.
About BART’s poop-covered escalators
Photo by Jeremy Brooks
On Wednesday, SFGate ran a story about human waste being the cause of so many broken escalators at downtown San Francisco’s BART stations. You might want to wait to eat breakfast until well after reading this story.
The most vomit-inducing passage:
All those biological excretions can gum up the wheels and gears of BART’s escalators, shutting them down for long periods of extended repairs, increasing station cleaning costs and creating an unpleasant aroma for morning commuters.
Read on, if your stomach will allow.
Survey: What’s the first thing you tell newbies about Muni?
Photo by skew-t
When out-of-town friends ask about #Muni, what’s the FIRST thing you tell them?
We figured you guys would treat us to some USDA prime juicy-as-hell responses. You did not let us down.
Among them (add yours in comments, below):
http://twitter.com/jvhickey/status/227928391230300160
@munidiaries That MUNI, while it can be strange and tiresome, it's STILL better than the transit system of most other cities.
— Bruce Townley (@Steambrew) July 24, 2012
@munidiaries "just don't get all wierd about the wierd things you'll see on the bus, because none of it is wierd here."
— Borden Ornelaz (@Bordash) July 24, 2012
@munidiaries STEP DOWN! STEP DOWN!
— Chris Yeoh (@cyeoh6) July 24, 2012
http://twitter.com/bahnhofe/status/227860992539893760
@munidiaries Don't touch anything.
— Mem (@Anzermo) July 24, 2012
@munidiaries avoid eye contact. ignore mystery odors. avoid mystery wet spots.
— Janette Phan (@JanettePhan) July 24, 2012
@munidiaries it's a love-hate relationship.
— databasic аdmin (@skimbrel) July 24, 2012
Muni Transformers Seek Mission District Tacos
Oh, look: a decidedly Mission District set of Transformer-like beings. Note the distinctive Muni palette.
Lohkay found this on a T-shirt last month at (we think) the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market last month. Per Lohkay’s Tumblr:
The dude at the stall said he made all the t-shirts, but when we commented that it was Transformers he said he didn’t know what those were he just wanted to make a cool shirt. Could be honest or could’ve just found the art online — EITHER WAY I just wanna know if anyone has any information on who is the original artist for this badass t-shirt.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Muni Transformer — AKA Muniformer. They are obviously hiding among us waiting to battle Munitron, and I am 100-percent sticking to that story, yep.