Muni Gear: ‘Fe-MUNI-st’
Rider Jon sent us this baseball cap: “FeMUNIst — Information gladly given, but safety requires avoiding unnecessary conversation.”
This message is also available in the form of a tank top or maternity shirt (?!)
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.")
Friday Subway Fracas
Photo by Flickr user skew-t
Muni rider David has this harrowing tale.
OK, here’s the story. I got to the Montgomery Street Station last Friday after work. The platform was swamped with people…some usual Muni fiasco, some dead train being removed from service somewhere. Anyway, I got onto the third train that came (the first two were filled to bursting).
I’m crowded into the back of the train with everyone else. NBD. At Powell Street this guy next to me (I’ll call him Slacker for purposes of identification) gets upset because a middle-aged lady pushed past him. Then Slacker gets all aggro at another poor guy who squeezed in behind him. Doors close and we’re off.
Slacker is now screaming in the face of the poor guy behind him, who is doing his best to defend himself. Suddenly, Slacker sucker punches him in the nose. People grabbed him while some other passengers and I grabbed Slacker. Everyone is screaming, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
Well, Slacker will have none of it. He starts flailing around in our hands and manages to get me in the lower lip with his elbow. I don’t really know what happened next, but the next thing I know, Slacker is face-down on the ground with my knee in his back and another guy holding his arms.
The train doors open at Civic Center and everyone on our train screams to the people on the platform to call the police and get the train driver. Of course they stare at us like cattle. Mooooo? I pulled out my cell and called 911. The operator was an idiot, but I did manage to finally get two cops to come.
Now a noteworthy moment of civic pride takes place. The cop asks the guy who was punched in the nose to make a statement so assault charges can be placed against Slacker (who has been cuffed and hauled off the train). The guy is reluctant, but decides to go with the cop. Everyone on the train cheers him. Then the other cop comes looking for anyone willing to be a witness. A commuter lady raises her hand and agrees. Everyone on the train cheers!
The whole thing probably took a few minutes but it was truly time standing still. When all was said and done, I realized that blood had sprayed across the back of my shirt from the guy who got punched in the nose. My shirt was now completely unbuttoned, and somehow my jacket had come off. Luckily someone on the train had collected my stuff for me and gave them back to me.
Crazy, right? We’ve all been aggro during a Friday commuting disaster, but because of slacker guy, our train was pulled out of service and everyone was forced to go up to the street and take buses and streetcars.
The best part was that Slacker (handcuffed and sitting on the ground in the train station) got to be abused by everyone who had to leave the station because of him. The cop just stood there and laughed.
T-Third Incident on Williams and Third
Rider Tony T sent us some photos of a Muni-related incident on Wililams and Third, which happened a little after 9 a.m. today. Tony said it involved a pedestrian. SFMTA’s spokeswoman confirms:
Between
9:459:04 a.m. and just after 10 a.m., regular light rail service on the T Third Line was disrupted due to an accident between a light rail vehicle and a pedestrian at 3rd Street and Williams Avenue.Bus shuttles were deployed between Custer Avenue and Armstrong Avenue. They will remain in place while the LRV service is restored.
The pedestrian was transported to SFGH with reportedly non life-threatening injuries.
Motor coach shuttles were being dispatched, Action News SF reports.
More pictures after the jump.
Tutorial: How to speed up boarding on Muni
Photo by Flickr user Nick.Fisher
Doug over at Ice Tubes blog got tired of trying to stuff crumpled dollar bills into Muni boxes and posted some tips for the days when you don’t have your Fast Pass/Translink/dollar coins/pocket full of change. Now you have something to do while you wait for the bus. — Eugenia
With the recent fare hike back in July, the cost of riding a bus/light rail in San Francisco has gone up to $2. Now you either a) use a pre-paid bus pass, b) have eight quarters ready, c) contain a fist full of dimes, nickels and quarters adding up to $2, or d) have two $1 bills.
Read more
Weekend Photos: Faster, Muni, Faster!
Photo by Flickr user Daniell Lefebvre
I was on the 1-California today, and the driver tried for what seemed like forever to get the passengers to move back in order for a wheelchair passenger to get off the bus. There certainly can be ways to speed up boarding, and Streetsblog SF has a video and great story about some simple ways to improve boarding to make Muni more efficient.
“Muni spends about half of its time on any given run not moving, so the bus is either stopped at a light or the bus is stopped at a bus stop. Speeding up boarding would be hugely important in getting Muni in being more reliable and faster,” Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, said in the video.
In other news, transit funding is nowhere in sight as the bill dies (thanks, Arnie), and the 14-Mission has the dubious award of being the most dangerous line (Examiner).
Watch out this weekend as the J-Church construction impacts traffic and Muni, starting tonight (SFAppeal).
Have a great weekend!
Photo by Flickr user Patrick Boury
Photo by Flickr user Patrick Boury
Photo by Flickr user captin_nod
Homesick for Muni
Photo by Flickr user bingolio
What would you miss about San Francisco if you had to move away? Muni turned out to be on the top of the list for many people. We got a nice email from rider Andrew, a San Francisco resident currently finishing school in Southern California. Muni reminds him of home, he said. “Having gone to high school in the city, I never got a drivers license, and I still don’t have one, so Muni is a big part of every day.”
On our Twitter feed, rider @tlarrywong said, “Is riding Muni to church for the first time in fifteen years! Kinda miss it! : ).” Auto registration and smog test made @polinadou miss the days of Muni (come on back, it’s not too late!). Meanwhile, @wilmeleene is in San Diego and misses our transit: “I miss SF and I’m bored in SD!!! no more BART no more Muni no more cable cars!”
According to our web stats, some of you are from cities as far flung as London, New York, and Chicago. Are any of you former SFers? And for those who are still here, what would you miss about Muni?