Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Sure, yesterday was bike-to-work day, but for a lot of us, every day is bus-to-work day. To celebrate being car-free and to raise some funds, an organization called TransForm is holding a “car-free challenge” whereby you can set a personal low-mileage goal and have the chance to win some movie passes, a goodie bag, and moral points for the environment. Transform’s promo video, “The Best Wedding Exit Ever,” is pretty hilarious too.
Photo by Shaun Roberts
I found this photo of the 38-Geary by photographer Shaun Roberts by chance on Flickr. The man in the foreground looks very Jason Bourne to me, very me-against-the-world, alone in the big city kind of thing. Or maybe I’m just projecting…you decide.
Got great photos of Muni? Send it our way and join our Flickr pool.
Photo by Flickr user Rubin 110
Update:
Perhaps as evidence of service cuts hurting everyone’s commute, rider JimmyD sent in pictures from his commute this evening and asks why a single car train is running at rush hour. Here’s the crowd at Embarcadero Station around 5:10 p.m. today:
Photo by JimmyD
How has your commute been this week?
Original post:
It’s now been five days since Muni enacted its latest service cuts, a whopping, decimating 10 percent reduction on just about every route in town. In less serious times, we’d be forced to joke about how service couldn’t possibly be reduced further, right? Wrong.
We see people’s toils and troubles on Twitter. We experience them ourselves in our commutes and our attempts to simply connect with our friends and colleagues. The cuts are real, and we feel them.
But now, we want to know how they’re affecting you. Share your stories in the comments, please.
(In related news, Streetsblog SF reports that the Board of Supervisors was set to discuss the SFMTA budget and the recent Muni audit at today’s 1:30 p.m. meeting.)
Photo by Flickr user catbagan
This week sure has seen an onslaught against Muni operators. First, we had the mayor slamming the TWU for not agreeing to a set of budget-reducing concessions. Then, on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors-commissioned audit of Muni found that excessive overtime and other employee behaviors are costing the agency (and thus by extension, you and me) millions of dollars. Though, it should be noted, not nearly enough to have closed a $28.8 million budget deficit.
Hell, even Tara had a post this week griping about a bus driver’s behavior.
So, what do things look like from the other side, from the driver’s seat, so to speak? This brings me to a letter we received a few weeks ago from a veteran Muni operator’s wife. This is the second letter we’ve received from the spouse of a Muni operator (read the first one here), wanting give their views on what it’s like to drive the bus here. We want to share with you some of the salient points of this most recent letter.
Photo by Flickr user jovenjames
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen a variety of tweets from Caltrain riders who expressed glee in nabbing the “pimp seat” on the train. This made us wonder: What is the pimp seat on the train? So we took to Twitter to find out.
Luckily, readers and riders were happy to help; consensus is that the pimp seat is on the upper level of an old-school car. It’s the double seat at the very back, giving riders room to stretch out and store their stuff, too.
There also appears to be a decoy pimp seat:
And thoughts on if it’s fair for shorties to grab this special spot:
Finally, @Ryan sent a picture of how awesome the pimp seat can be:
Are these guys right? Is this the best seat on the train?
Photo by Flickr user DaveFayram
I hate bagging on Muni drivers, whether it’s via the relative anonymity of the interwebs, to a friend at a party, or to their faces. It accomplishes nothing, as you’re still shit out of luck even after you’ve gotten worked up, right? But I had to say something this time.
Background: I spun this yarn a few weeks ago about a 49-Van Ness/Mission that inexplicably stopped at 14th Street, instead of continuing further south like it’s supposed to. Fine. Whatever. But during each of the three times this has happened to me, news of the offbeat route was announced with an inside voice that could shame the quietest church whispers. The 49 isn’t exactly quiet, either. All signs indicated that this was indeed a 49 that went the full route.
During my charmed third time on the 49-Stops at 14th Street, the bus pulls to a stop, and the same driver (at the same time of day) opens all the doors. He steps outside the bus, walks the length of one side, and notifies people with his inside voice, “last stop…last stop…last stop.”
As 50 people stare at one another confusedly, wondering if the driver simply bailed to the gas station for a snack, I stepped outside and asked if this was the last stop. I said he needs to actually announce this to people next time, because no one can hear him. That is why 50 people are still sitting on his bus.
His response: “The PA is broken, what do you want me to do?”
Hmm.
Yes, PAs break, especially on Muni, where a lot of things break all the time. And he’s apparently driving the same broke-ass bus every time, hence the regular lack of aurally acceptable announcements. Shitty. But come on; why did he go outside, first of all, instead of walking the length of the inside of the bus?
Consider this another plea for better communication between drivers and passengers.
If you’re curious, the bus turns east on 14th Street after slowly emptying its confused load of folks.