Your Muni ‘Day in Storm’

Tree VS Muni Lines
Photo by Flickr user Picklesthefirecat

An email from Muni rider Katherine:

Hey guys,

Man what a weathery day!

From SFAppeal: “2:43 PM: Not really related to what we’re talking about, but since this is already a Muni post, what the hell? MTA spokesperson Judson True says that the L Taraval’s derailed between 35th and 36 Aves at 2:05 today. No one was injured, and the cause for the derailment is still unknown.

L riders will be taking a bus between 22 and the zoo.”

My update: my trusty security guard friend, Myles, was waiting to board the train that “derailed”. Apparently it was switching from the outbound to inbound rails and a giant gust of wind caused the electric guide bar thingy and attached electrical box thingy to come completely off the top of train. He thinks the system power cables came along with it. Hence, no L service after 22.

Definitely not a good day for my good ‘ol L line…

The derailment follows a morning of general wet, humid commuting in which NextBus joined its friend Muni in total broken-down-land.

And we’ve still got the evening commute to go … ah!

What has your experience been like today?

Muni’s new insurance policy — too late to cover this weekend’s West Portal crash? (update)

Trainwreck4 copy
Photo by 2girls1queen

Update (August 6, 2:17 p.m.): SF Appeal helps answer the question this post asked 18 days ago. Thanks, guys!

Original post: Regular service has resumed after yesterday’s West Portal accident, but the fallout is far from over. The SFAppeal reports that 48 people were injured, four of them critical. Ahem, anybody smell a lawsuit coming? This brings us to a KCBS story that a reader sent to us about how the MTA board approved the purchase of something known as catastrophe insurance, which pays for lawsuits. Pretty sad that such a policy is warranted.

But lo and behold, a mere three days following the board’s vote, an accident more or less validates that decision.

Since the MTA board just voted to purchse the “catastrophe insurance” last Wednesday, we’re not sure if a further vote is necessary to enact the insurance policy. Or does the Board of Supervisors need to approve this?

And does the policy cover Saturday’s crash? We doubt it, unless this is a magic policy that’s magically already in place. It would be nice, if only to cover Muni’s already-broke ass. If the policy isn’t in effect, we foresee the potential for multiple lawsuits. If that happens, does Muni fall into an even deeper hole? Ugh.

L-Taraval, car crash? (updates)

What matters?
Photo by Flickr user warzauwynn

Update: SF Appeal reports that the L-Taraval is running again. No injuries have been reported (yet?).

Original: I’m seeing a few tweets about a possible crash involving the L-Taraval and a car. Namely:

@cellojules Just heard a MUNI collision involving an L and another car. Yes, heard. Avoid 19th and Taraval and expect L delays. Glad my bus not involved

@cwbuddha Getting reports of an SUV/Muni collision at 19th and Taraval. Situation Snarled.

Please comment if you know more, and of course if you were on the LRV or saw this happen. Or have photos/video.

Light-rail vehicles collide at West Portal, dozens injured (w/updates + video)

Muni Crash at West Portal Station in San Francisco
Photo by Flickr user chrisjbarker

Started seeing many tweets just now about an apparent Muni collision near West Portal Station. We’ll try to update this post as frequently as possible with new information. For now, there are reports of 12 injuries, and delays on the K, L, and M lines in both directions. Updates are in reverse-chronological order, beginning with the latest:

Update:(Wednesday) just caught wind, via Twitter, of the first-ever videos of the crash, from SFGateSF Appeal (wtf, SFGate?):

Read more

The Day of the Muni Fails

Today seems to be the day of the Muni Fails. We have a taxi running into 2 cable cars, a Muni driver talking on the cell phone, an old guy driving on the J-Church tracks, and the streetcar stall at Van Ness Inbound that delayed for 15 minutes. Oh yeah, how can anyone forget about the Muni Humper and the racist douchebag?

I’ll comment on one of them since there wasn’t much media coverage on this one. I was riding the L to Van Ness Station when all of a sudden we slowed down. At first, I thought it was a regular stop and go, because that’s what usually happens during rush hour. Then, the operator made an announcement, saying, “There appears to be some delay, we should be moving in a couple of minutes.”

…a couple of minutes later, she said, “There appears to be a stuck train, so they’re working on it, we should hopefully be moving very soon…”

But, eventually, the passengers were told to disembark the broken train as they were “trying to get the train out of there. We hopefully should be moving in a minute or two, maybe three or four.”

As we finally approached Van Ness Station, she thanked everyone for being patient, and, as I got off, there was this guy who thanked the operator for making regular announcements.

Personally, I think this problem could have been avoided if trains were single-tracked around the station, but hey, it’s Muni, powered by shoddy OS/2 run ATC and sometimes patient, frequent-announcer operators, and fare inspectors.

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