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.")

Peek at an old Muni driver manual

old muni driver manual muni diaries

Derek from 4fifeen Clothing is a San Francisco native who makes great tees and hats showing some serious city pride. It turns out he had even more reason to claim SF street cred: His dad was a Muni driver and has the operator’s manual to prove it!

My pops’ old #sfmuni #amgeneral operator’s manual. #woodsdivision Born and raised in #sf.

Here’s what Muni’s driver recruitment looks like today, and the Muni operator’s handbook, all 155 pages on the mechanics of being a Muni driver. A fascinating read for any transit geek, really.

More insider driver tales:

What do Muni drivers really think of you?
Muni driver reveals behind the scenes stories
An oldie but a goodie: Muni driver decorates bus for Halloween

Photo via @4fifteen.

Love these Muni moments? Come to Muni Diaries Live on Apr. 16 at the Elbo Room to hear our best stories live! Tickets.

Tonight: Free art show honoring Muni drivers

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Driving a bus is hard work. This evening, a local artist is honoring Muni drivers in a free art show called “Yellow Line.” Artist Kurt M. Schwartzmann’s exhibit features a series of 64 drawings “in honor of all the hard working and under-appreciated San Francisco Muni operators.”

The exhibit and reception will take place at City College Ocean Campus, Queer Resource Center, Bungalow 201 tonight from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Facebook event page

BART Twitter guy: Why I went ‘rogue’

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Have you ever wished that you said exactly what’s on your mind at work?

During last week’s BART meltdown, the man running the BART Twitter account gained national attention by tweeting some honest truth bombs about transit. This week on Popular Mechanics, Taylor Huckaby, the spokesperson tweeting that day (who has our standing invitation to tater tots and whiskey at Bender’s forever), wrote about what was going through his mind that night:

Somewhere along the way, I replied to a frustrated passenger with what I thought was a fairly standard response, one we had used elsewhere: BART was built to transport far fewer people, much of the system has reached the end of its useful life, and this is the reality we face.

The response went viral, as sites like Gizmodo marveled at a government agency being frank and honest on social media and posted several of my replies to angry riders. Now, I’m hoping this episode sparks a much-needed national conversation about the stark reality of America’s deteriorated railways, roads, bridges, airports, sewer systems and electrical grid. This shouldn’t be a blame game. This is about facing deficiencies, having a frank conversation about them, and making our government better. There’s no purer distillation of democracy’s mission than this, but even so, it has proven tremendously difficult to articulate how to fix mass transit in America.

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Live at the Elbo Room: Muni Stories and Muni Bingo!

madrigal muni diaries live

Anything can happen on Muni, but would you ever have imagined a Muni-themed madrigal choir, a hip-hop group whose entire album is about Muni, or Muni riders in a Rice-a-Roni singalong? Me neither, and yet these are just a few of the only-in-San Francisco hilarious things that have really happened at Muni Diaries Live over the years. We’re a short few weeks away from our spring Muni Diaries Live show, as always with an excellent lineup.

For this event, we’ve got a little something for the hipster (or grandma) in you: a Muni bingo game! Get your bingo daubers ready to win great prizes, booze or otherwise!

Grab your tickets here, and we’ll see you soon!

Full lineup:
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Should the Central Subway extend to Fisherman’s Wharf? SFMTA to study the question

fishermans wharf by patrick nouhailler muni

Should the Central Subway go all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf instead of just ending at North Beach? That’s the $1.2 million question that SFMTA wants to answer with a new study, reports the Examiner. Current plans for the Central Subway would extend the T-Third from the Caltrain station at 4th and King to stations at 4th and Brennan, Yerba Buena, Union Square, then Chinatown (jog your memory here). The new study will help determine a plan for possibly extending the line to Fisherman’s Wharf.

SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin told the Examiner that the proposed study will explore “more community work and more technical work, to tee it up into preliminary engineering into environmental impact and analysis.”

Though it’s just a proposal (set to be voted on by the board of directors in April), the supervisors are into it. Supervisors Scott Weiner and Aaron Peskin both expressed support, and neighborhood organizations in Fisherman’s Wharf told the Examiner that extension would help bring more workers into the area:

Troy Campbell, head of the Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefits District, told the Examiner last year that when it comes to businesses at the wharf, there’s been an “exodus of minimum-wage workers in The City.”

Workers need transit options, Campbell said, and the lack of crosstown transit options to Fisherman’s Wharf makes attracting workers like cooks, bussers and shop workers increasingly difficult.

What do you think? The Examiner has more on the story here.
Photo by Patrick Nouhailler

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