SFMTA Head Considers New Muni Service Cuts

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Photo by Katieswall

New Muni service cuts may be on the table for discussion as SFMTA tried to figure out how to bridge its budget deficit, reports SF Appeal. The agency has just approved sprucing up 80 aging buses (via the Examiner). That project costs $12 million — with $12 million in federal and local funding, SFMTA is still $9 million short. SFMTA’s budget deficit shrank this fiscal year, but the agency is still looking at service cuts as an option.

According to SF Appeal:

The transit agency is looking at $19.6 million budget deficit for the new fiscal year, beginning this July, which means that the SFMTA is again considering “right-sizing its service,” as Reiskin described it at the MTA Board meeting Tuesday.

According to the Ex, Tom Nolan, president of the agency’s board of directors, said that potential service reductions seem “like a really good option.”

Muni cut service by 10% in 2010, which led, they say, to savings of $28.8 million. About half of those cuts, they say, were eventually restored.

Hmm. “Right-sizing.” The San Francisco Chronicle also has more on the budget deficit that SFMTA faces this year.

We’ll keep you updated.

Category: News

Worlds Collide on BART

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Photo by rosebennet

We’ve all been on BART at Civic Center when the train is suddenly overcome with hordes of pushing, squiggling symphony-, ballet-, and opera-goers. Hell, many of us have been the ones dressed to the nines, squeezing our way into crowded BART cars.

Alan over at SF Weekly was on such a BART ride recently, and retells the following story of mounting tension:

Ranters: Retiree clutching a theater program and wearing a denim dress; her gentleman companion; a guy sitting nearby reading Mother Jones.

Location: BART train leaving Civic Center Station

…

The Rant:
[Denim-Dress Woman and her gentleman companion press into a train that’s busier than you would expect at this hour. They look for a place to sit but find nothing.]

Denim-Dress Woman: Not even one person offers a seat. That’s the modern world, I guess.

Gentleman Companion: What about that one?

[He points to the rear of the train, where a young man is sprawled out across two seats.]

Denim-Dress Woman: [Whispering] Isn’t it awful?

Gentleman Companion: [Also whispering] If he’s okay, it’s awful.

Denim-Dress Woman: He is okay, right?

Gentleman Companion: If he is, he should scoot over.

Denim-Dress Woman: He’s fine. Some of them just do that, that’s all. It shows the world they’re important. [The doors open. More people pack in.] Someone really should offer a seat, though.

Yeah, us too. Click over to SF Weekly to read the conclusion to this gripping story.

Category: BART

This Only Happens to Muni-Riding Book Lovers

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Photo by Steve Rhodes

While stumbling on Tumblr I found this great anecdote of connection from one book lover to the other, from It’s More Than Pillowtalk.

I was engulfed in Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eyes” when an older gentleman sat down next to me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see him glancing in my direction. At some point, he takes off his headphones to read past my shoulder. Somewhat afraid, I turn my book in the opposite direction. Being on the 14 Mission, you never know who’s crazy enough to act out.

When I close my book to gaze out the window, he takes off his headphones again and points at the cover. With a sweet spanish accent, he asks me what year did the book receive a Nobel Prize. Unsure, I open the book to find out. As I do so, he admiringly starts pouring out some of the greatest writers of all time. Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, Don Quixote, along with Spanish writers and stories that I wish I could ask him more about.

When I ask him if he’s read Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist,” he sadly shakes his head to tell me no. This older gentleman experienced a stroke 4 years ago that has created problems for him when he reads.

Read the rest of the story on It’s More Than Pillowtalk.

Books, public transit, stories…everything we love here at Muni Diaries. If you’re a local book geek, you should check out People Reading in Public Places and Between the Lines.

Got your own Muni story to share? Tell me.

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Mission Buses Rerouted for Upcoming Street Renovation

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The 14, 14L, and 49 buses will be moved from Mission Street to South Van Ness for six months beginning early next month. MissionLocal reports that the reroute will span 14th to 26th streets to make way for roadwork in that area on Mission Street. Above, you’ll find a handy map of the affected area, via Mission Local.

So far, reaction ranges from “Oh, is this what that flier was about?” to “Really? We have to walk to Van Ness, practically the East Bay, to get on and off a bus?”

Thanks, MissionMission!

Category: News Tags: , ,

Art Diary: Memories of the 15

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Octoferret posted this to our Flickr group and also to a group called “Guess Where SF.” Gohead: Guess.

Of the image, he says, “Except I don’t remember the destination sign ever saying “FiSHERMAN WARF.” Neither do we, Octoferret.

Also, “Fisherman Warf” LOL.

A few more examples of Muni in public art: the 52-Excelsior; a Muni bus in Clarion Alley; and a Sirron Norris gray Muni bus

Got more examples? Let us know!

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