Author: eugenia

Photo by Ryan S.

Sometimes photo geekery can lead to the beginning of a pretty cool urban novel. I found this photo via Ryan S. on Flickr, who said:

This pic was the result of the auto-HDR app on my phone; the bus drove through the intersection while the app was taking bracketed-exposure shots, causing it to look like the bus is being erased.

If I were writing some hardboiled science fiction, this photo would be from 500 years into the future, where my memory of Muni is being projected onto an altered version of my self…

Got a cool Muni photo? Drop it in our Muni Photos Flickr pool and help document a very essential part of living in San Francisco.

Muni rider “D” sent us a photo of what looks like a camera on one of the new “wave” Muni shelters: “Just noticed these cameras at the shelters with the large “video” ads. Kind of Orwellian don’t you think?”

What is that thing? We asked SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose, and it turns out that the camera isn’t watching you, specifically.

“This is a camera, but it is not a surveillance or video camera. Clear Channel uses it to monitor vandalism/graffiti on the digital advertising panels. Only the shelters with digital advertising have them (about 90 right now). The camera takes a photo of the panel every 8 seconds or so and transmits it back to Clear Channel —- it does not take photos of people.”

There you have it. As most riders know, you may be filmed inside the bus, but not in the Muni shelters.