Muni Diaries

Update (10:22 a.m., next day): We heard from SFMTA again. This time, Ms. Holland added that the important reason pass holders to tag is for the driver to have an auditory cue that you have paid. Otherwise when you board the bus, the driver can’t tell whether you have a valid Fast Pass on your Clipper card or not. You won’t be cited if you didn’t tag. But the driver can ask you to tag so they can know whether you need to pay.

Update: We just heard back from SFMTA spokesperson Kristen Holland, who told us that while it is a good idea to always tag your Clipper card, you will not be cited for not tagging if your Clipper card has a valid monthly Fast Pass. But at the beginning of the month, always check to make sure that your monthly Fast Pass has been loaded onto your Clipper card because you don’t want to be caught empty-carded!

Original post: Muni rider Mepe wants to get something off her chest:

Wanted to share my husband’s experience recently on the N-Judah. He is a monthly Fast Pass holder who may not always tag his card (because the ride is covered, right?). Recently, he was accosted by the really mean lady fare inspector (the one who takes her job way too seriously) who made an example of him because he didn’t tag his card/monthly Fast Pass when he got on. She said you have to tag with a Fast Pass or get cited, which will start soon. Has anybody else heard about this? Can Muni really issue a citation to somebody who has paid for the month?

While we hope Mepe’s husband wasn’t cited, it’s our understanding that for some time now, all passengers have been compelled to show proof of payment. It kinda just seems like the right thing to do.

Because paper Fast Passes were phased out over a period of several months, the Clipper website says that pass holders should tag when they board Muni vehicles as proof of payment.

See update above.

While SFMTA says you won’t be cited for not tagging if you have a valid Fast Pass on your Clipper card, it’s still a good idea to tage and make sure that your Clipper card is valid. Nobody wants to be made a lesson of. So, all you Muni riders who have their passes on Clipper cards, don’t forget: Tag when you board Muni!

Photo by Alfredo Mendez

Sex crimes on public transportation might be “vastly underreported,” according to a report from the Bay Citizen Saturday.

BART, the San Francisco Municipal Railway and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit together had 370 million riders last year on buses, trains and trolleys that cover San Francisco, the East Bay and beyond. The police documented 95 sex crimes on those three public transit systems, including 35 cases of indecent exposure, often masturbation; 25 cases of sexual battery, which includes groping; one rape; and other unwanted lewd behavior. Forty arrests were made.

Those numbers are surprisingly low given the ridership, said Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, associate dean at the University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs, who has studied sex crimes on public transit. The actual number of sex crimes on public transit is most likely much higher, she said.

Twice now I have been on the 49-Van Ness when a male passenger boards the bus, sits very close to me, and “falls asleep” with his arm on my hip bone. At first you want to think it’s just an accident, then it becomes totally infuriating and frustrating.

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