Author: eugenia
Eugenia Chien has been eavesdropping on the 47, 49, or 1 lines since the mid-90's. She lives by the adage, "Anything can happen on Muni" (and also, "That's not water.")
Bay Citizen: Muni Driver Fired After Harassing 13-Year-Old
Here comes another one from the bad news pile today. The Bay Citizen reports that a “Muni bus operator was fired last fall after he allegedly sexually harassed a 13-year-old passenger.”
More from the Bay Citizen:
Tamika Trammell told The Bay Citizen her daughter ran home crying on July 28 after a driver on the 44 bus line allegedly gave the 13-year-old his number and told her to meet him after work. Trammell said her daughter rode the bus regularly to and from school in the city’s Hunter’s Point neighborhood.
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose told the Bay Citizen that the San Francisco police investigated the incident and Muni turned over video and audio recordings related to the case. The district attorney decided not to file charges, he told the Bay Citizen. The operator is no longer employed by Muni as of last October, according to Rose.
Hat tip: reader Patricia.
BART Train Kills Man at MacArthur Station
Photo by penny
A man who was walking on the BART track was struck and killed at MacArthur station around 7 p.m. Monday night, Oakland Tribune and SFist report.
According to the Oakland Tribune: “The unidentified victim fell in front of a Richmond-bound train leaving the station about 6:50 p.m., BART spokesman Jim Allison said. He fell at the far end of the platform, and officials found no witnesses other than the train operator during the early hours of the investigation.”
The police do not suspect foul play. BART was delayed until about 9 p.m. last night.
Monthly Pass Holders to Be Cited for Not Tagging?
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:
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!
Sex Crimes on Public Transit: Underreported?
Photo by Alfredo Mendez
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.
Muni Rap: I’m on the Bus!
Photo by dawncusackk on Instagram
And it’s better than a boat.
Here’s what the Satellite High says about the song:
Finding himself on the bus, our hero begins to relax and fantasize about a perfect world, one where he is recognized as a bus superstar and doors open automatically for him wherever he steps.
The bus makes several wrong turns, though, and interrupts our narrator’s reverie as he berates the driver for his carelessness before eventually disembarking at his home.
On Twitter, @rsomething hipped us to the song, which even samples the Cantonese and Spanish versions of Muni announcement.
The album was just released but it has that nice mellow ’90s hip-hop flavor. The full album is an ode to the bus (listen on Satellite High’s Bandcamp page).