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.")

Meanwhile, on @munidiaries

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Photo by @thedrun

The @munidiaries Twitter feed is a constant stream of the hilarity that happens on your daily commute. Blink and you might miss @thedrun‘s Twitpic of a man puzzled by the bus shelter’s message (above). If you aren’t a Twitter fiend like us (and @munidiaries‘ 3200+ followers), we’ve picked out this week’s most awesome tweets that made us spit out our coffee.

Meanwhile, on @munidiaries…

@danapczynski: Woman on Muni has popeye’s chicken. My repulsion and compulsion are indiscernible

@gamewit: Pretty sure this guy in front of me on Muni chain smokes to cover up his BO.

@misstillytilly: First time riding the 14 muni to the mission, and just saw a hobo pull out a can of beer that was hidden inside his prosthetic arm

@mmmmmria: Just saw a guy pay for muni fare with a balloon animal 🙂

Ok one more:

@jennstover: Someone on muni is wearing toe socks with the toes cut off & flip-flops. This is not ok.

Follow us on Twitter and tweet your Muni ride to @munidiaries. Your tweet might end up here next week!

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs

‘Breaking News:’ Results of the ResetSF Muni Survey

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Source: ResetSF

BREAKING NEWS: most riders aren’t satisfied with Muni, but aren’t sure where SFMTA will find the money to improve it.

This is according to a survey by Assessor Recorder Phil Ting (who is also in the running for mayor). His website, ResetSF, sent out a survey to “1700 San Francisco voters with email addresses” and was conducted from Feb. 25 to March 1. Last week, some of you told us that you received an email survey about Muni, and some people on Twitter even thought that SFMTA sent the survey.

We asked ResetSF about their methodology and here’s what they told us:

“The survey was sent to every registered voter in San Francisco for whom we have voter file. The total is about 100,000 in that category – and in the week the survey was out more than 1750 completed it.”

ResetSF says this is a “pretty good representation of San Franciscans with emails who are fluent in English” (the survey was only conducted in English), but ResetSF folks said they “don’t really have reason to think there is much difference when it comes to the MUNI.” Because the survey was online, it skews toward younger respondents.

More about the demographic of the respondents:

49% male, 47% female (balance refused to answer).

67% straight, 20 LGBT or Bi.

61% White, 12% Asian, 5% Latino, 3% African American.

77% under age 50 and 33% over age 50.

So there’ s your grain of salt.

In their quick poll, Phil Ting/ResetSF found the unsurprising fact that most people don’t have a great impression of Muni:

Just 7% of people have a “very favorable” impression of MUNI with 24% reporting “very unfavorable.” Overall, 44% of the respondents to the online poll had a very or somewhat favorable opinion of MUNI, while 56% had a somewhat or very negative impression of the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

And people can’t agree on how to raise funds to fix Muni. ResetSF’s survey respondents don’t want transportation utility fees, parking tax, or more parking tickets. So I guess we’re back to where we were before — nobody likes the way things are, and nobody knows where to get the money to fix the things we don’t like. Hmm.

Details of the Reset SF Muni Survey.

Category: News

Would you let your kids ride Muni alone?

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Photo by Jessica Druck

Last week on Twitter someone remarked, “I would probably never let my 10-year-old ride Muni alone.”

Really?

I am not a parent so I don’t feel that I am an expert on matters of child safety, but I am guessing that a lot of parents don’t have the option to drive their children to school or arrange some other transportation option.

There’s been many reports of violence on the bus, and you may recall the 2009 story about a 11-year-old boy who got stabbed on the bus the first time he rode Muni. So the concern is understandable. On the Muni Diaries Facebook page, a reader asked if the question of letting your child ride Muni alone is the same issue as “would you let your child walk to school alone?”

Granted, at least on the bus, there is a driver who can keep the peace. Parents: Would you let your 10-year-old ride Muni alone?

Category: diaries, reflection

Save the Date: Muni Diaries Live, Friday, April 22!

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Photo by Flickr user Chipmonkey

Muni Diaries Live will be back at the Make-Out Room on Friday, April 22! It’s our third birthday (can you believe it) and we want to celebrate it with you. After all, Muni Diaries lives on your stories, photos, and comments about our lives on public transportation. So join us at the Make-Out Room, where we bring the website to the stage twice a year with hilarious tales from terrific storytellers.

Update: This just in — the lineup for Muni Diaries Live 5:

Come on down to hear H.P. Mendoza, screen writer and composer of Colma: the Musical and director of Fruit Fly, Joyce Lee, two-time Oakland Spoken Word Grand Slam Champion, and Kirk Read, writer and mastermind curator of Smack Dab and K’vets.

You’ll also hear stories from MissionMission‘s own Ariel Dovas, author Jan Richman and Muni Diaries Live: Breaking it Down audience favorite Jesse James.

And as always, you will have an opportunity to tell your Muni story on stage, with prizes galore! The photo above is Jesse, one of our audience winners whose story about the 1 had us in stitches. If you have a Muni story you would like to tell on stage, email us soon and let us know.

So what’s it like when a bunch of Muni riders pack the Make-Out Room and share tales from the bus? Come and find out. Meanwhile, check out our recaps of Muni Diaries Live one,two, three, and four. See you there!

Muni Diaries Live — It’s Our Third Birthday!
When: Friday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. $8 advance tickets, $10 door.
Where: Make-Out Room — 3225 22nd Street
Routes serving the area: BART 24th St. Station, Muni: 12, 14, 22, 33, 48, 49, 67
Get your advance tickets today at EventBrite

Category: Muni Diaries Live, News Tags: ,

Muni Increases Minimum Add Value Requirement on Clipper Cards

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The Clipper Card
Photo by Mark Nakamura

Starting March 1, Muni is increasing the minimum add-value requirement on Clipper cards from $2 to $5 to prevent riders from taking advantage of loophole that allows you to board the bus even when your card goes negative. This applies to Clipper adult fare customers. From the SFMTA:

The new minimum add-value requirement is $5 or a fare product, e.g. an adult Muni “A” or “M” Fast Pass®. The new policy does not affect the minimum requirement on the Youth, Senior or RTC Clipper cards, which is currently $.75.

The new minimum requirement generally only applies to customers who are purchasing a new Adult Clipper card and want to add cash value at the time of purchase.

…

At the Muni Metro ticket vending machines (TVM), however, whether purchasing a new Clipper card or reloading an existing Clipper card, Muni adult fare customers are subject to the minimum $5 requirement, regardless of the current value on the existing card. Muni Metro customers who do not wish to pay this $5 minimum may instead purchase a single or round trip regular adult fare Limited Use Muni Ticket out of the TVM.

The minimum requirement doesn’t apply to customers with existing Clipper cards who want to reload cash value at Clipper card retailers, the Clipper website, or the add-Value machines at AC Transit or Golden Gate Ferry locations.

Will this deter fare scammers? Akit at Akit’s Complaint Department thinks SFMTA should do more. “This is not enough to stop the abuse by raising the minimum e-cash to $5 for a new card. Caltrain and BART passengers that ride long distances can still exploit the Clipper card’s negative balance by getting a ton of free cards with the minimum balance of $5 required to obtain a card,” he writes.

Category: News Tags:

Taking Kids on the Muni Rollercoaster

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Kate Holland Holmes (@k1ate) has a young son who loves the bus, and via Twitter we found her story about her effort to take him on the bus more often, even though the temptation is to either walk or drive. From Kate’s blog, Everything But the Squeal:

My son LOVES buses. Telling him we are going to take a bus ride is like telling him we are going on a rollercoaster. I guess in San Francisco they are somewhat similar.

Once I had a kid, I focused more on walking +car than car+bus. A lot of my errands became closer, local. My pharmacy, my grocery store,the bakery, the green grocer, the book store, are all in walking distance. I know where the potholes are, which side of the street is better for walking. I have watched a mural being painted, Jaime at La Victoria worries if they don’t see me on Monday morning.

But with a toddler or larger packages, I’ve been defaulting to the car. It just seems easier, faster. Of course, it also costs to park, and gas prices just keep going up. Not to mention, we only have one car.

Read the rest of Kate’s diary about making the effort to take the bus with her toddler.

What’s your experience with kids on the bus? Does having children mean eventually requiring a car? Comment or submit your own Muni diary and let us know.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni, diaries, reflection
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