Muni Ran Over My Bike on the Bike Rack

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Bicycle transport
Photo by Simon Li

Muni and bike rider Helen watched her bike get crunched falling off the bike rack on Muni the other day.

I am curious to know from other bike riders if they have ever put a bike on Muni and had if fall out and then run over by the bus?

I put my new Fuji Absolute Hybrid 3.0 with all the bells and whistles on it. I had only rode it for two weeks. It was rainy and dark, and the bus driver didn’t make much eye contact with me. I put the bike in and put the lever lock over the wheel at about 1 or 2 pm. I shook it to make sure it was stable. Then when we were going downhill I heard a HUGE crunch.

Sadly, my bike is really messed up, but the frame is still ok. I do have renter’s insurance, but that has a $250 deductible. Has anyone had any luck getting a claim money back from the City Attorney’s office for a bike falling off of the rack? The Muni supervisor on scene stated that it happens. I’m so bummed out because I loved my new bike and spent a lot of time fixing it up. It also had all of its original components. On Muni’s website it says that you use the bikeracks at your own risk and they aren’t responsible for any damages.

The SFMTA’s “Bikes on Muni” page has information on how to put your bike on the racks, with an accompanying video. We posted a how-to rap video in 2009 here on Muni Diaries. And Helen was correct that you’re putting your bikes on the Muni bike rack at your own risk, even though we’ve known helpful Muni drivers who lend a hand. Cyclists have also told us about bikes being stolen off the racks. Be careful out there, everybody.

Category: News

Streetcar Avengers Fighting Crime and Missed Runs

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Art by San Francisco-based artist Julian Lozos. Check out his Kickstartr page (goal met!) for more on his calendar project.

Delightfully historic and equipped with standout palettes and style, F-Market/Wharves streetcars rock in many ways. Local artist Julian Lozos took the cars’ unique qualities a step further: into the realm of superheroes. Bernalwood and Market Street Railway recently featured these anthropomorphic superheroes (see Market Street Railway’s detailed description of the superhero streetcars).

Pretty cool. It’s like choosing which of the X-Men you’d want on your side in a fight (JEAN GREY).

I pick #130 for its deadly combo of style and substance. MSR says it was part of a commission to expand service for the Pan-Pacific International Exposition: the event that brought us the Palace of Fine Arts and showed off a rebuilt — on landfill, but still — post-1906-earthquake San Francisco. Plus, it’s done a tour of duty on almost every streetcar line.

My favorite-favorite F coaches, though, have to be the PCC cars. Smoothest, cushiest ride in town if you time it right (PSST not around 9 a.m. or 5 p.m.).

Meander over to Bernalwood to see more local-landmark superheroes.

Category: reflection Tags:

Muni News: Bus rapid transit, Transbay Transit Center, streetcar rehab

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I see you.
Photo by Jason Rodman

  • Transbay Transit Center sails through hearing (City Insider)
  • Van Ness BRT environmental report now available (Rescue Muni || SF Public Press)
  • Proposed Van Ness rapid bus touted for speed, reliability (City Insider)
  • Muni and state commission close to settlement on alleged safety violations (SF Public Press)
  • Following Prop. G ruling, Muni’s $2 billion in federal funds safe (SF Examiner)
  • Woman Pepper-Sprayed, Robbed While Waiting For Muni (BCN via SF Appeal)
  • SFMTA saves $1 million during streetcar rehab project (SF Examiner)
Category: News

RIP Jesse Morris — “Punk Rock Johnny Cash”

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Update: A benefit concert and radio tribute are planned for this Friday, Nov. 11, and Sunday, Nov. 13. Details.

We’re saddened to get word that Jesse Morris, whom you may know as “Punk Rock Johnny Cash” and one of the most beloved BART buskers, died on Sunday. This morning, our own Ed Casey alerted us that friends and fans on Reddit and Facebook have been posting tributes to Jesse. We also heard from several of Jesse’s friends about the sad news.

Many of you have seen Jesse performing at BART — we first wrote about Jesse in 2009 on BART Diaries. Jesse was interviewed by BART.gov and talked about why he likes playing in BART stations:

“The acoustics are good down here, the people are friendly,” he says. “They stop and listen, they tip, they smile … I have a good time down here.”

Although Morris has a night job at a bar, and writes and plays original material with his band, Jesse and the Man Cougars, he keeps coming back to play at BART.

“I consider it a job,” he says. “Just like some people might work in an office, I work at the station entertaining people. I get to do what I love, and I can make a living at it.”

SFGate had just written about Jesse and his band, Jesse Morris and the Man Cougars, this January:

How did you name your band?
Jesse came to rehearsal and teased the “old guys” for having young, beautiful girlfriends, saying, “You guys are like a bunch of man cougars.” And the name stuck.

Photographer Bill Cendak shared this photograph of Jesse with us, taken at a band practice at Lennon Studios on Nov. 2, 2011. Jesse Morris and the Man Cougars were due to play at the Uptown this Friday. Cendak has been photographing Jesse Morris and the Man Cougars ever since the band started.


Photo by Bill Cendak

Jesse’s presence made a big impression on photographer Troy Holden, who pointed us to this portrait of Jesse at the 24th Street BART station.

“I see this fellow once each week playing Johnny Cash cover tunes. When I asked him if I could take his portrait, he flipped me off. Not until later did his gesture register with me.”

Jesse was referencing this iconic photo of Johnny Cash, taken in 1969 during his San Quentin performance.

Reader Jenner sent us a photo of Jesse and the Man Cougars at Bender’s earlier this year.

MC #1

Here’s an older photo of Jesse at the Montgomery BART station.

my johnny cash bart guy...
Photo by fiveinchpixie

If you are a friend, family, or fan of Jesse Morris, we would like to hear from you. Please comment or email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com and help us honor a great musician who brought light to our daily transit experience.

Category: BART, News

Tips for Pregnant Ladies on Riding Muni

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Riding the bus with its stop-and-go and potpourri of smells is just another day on Muni, unless you’re nauseated as hell from the get-go, which is what rider S. Rock was dealing with in the first trimester of her pregnancy. But she’s got a little tip for you.

If I thought Muni was uncomfortable, smelly and just generally unpleasant while I wasn’t pregnant, I had no idea what I was in for once I was pregnant.

My first trimester was hell. Every morning I’d dread the N-Judah ride that awaited me. I would say that 3 out of the 5 days of my commute the train was packed or slow, which meant that I could not make it to the office on time to use the bathroom. I began resorting to carrying a compostable bag to throw up in after jumping off at a stop that wasn’t mine or shamefully doing my business crouched on the side of my seat into the bag. The funny part was, no one even glanced remotely in my direction as I heaved into a small garbage bag (which was nice).

I think this might violate an etiquette or two in the bus etiquette handbook, but it beats getting sick all over the floors (or worse, on a poor stranger’s shoes). So, pregnant ladies, hungover partiers, sufferers of motion sickness — start carrying a sick bag with you. At least on Muni, it is much appreciated.

Category: diaries
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