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.")

Supervisors are just like us (Muni Edition)!

supervisors just like us

Noticed more government types on your daily commute lately? For the last 19 days, some of our city supervisors (and maybe the mayor) have been riding Muni nearly every day as a part of San Francisco Transit Riders Union’s “22 Day Muni Challenge.” Supervisor Scott Weiner is in the lead so far, according to SFTRU’s leaderboard, which is tracking rides of participants who use the official hashtag #onboardsf. The challenge ends Monday, which means the other supes have a few days to really understand what it’s like to be a daily rider. Read more

New photo project profiles life on Muni, one rider at a time

kian lavi 100 days of bus project

Photographer Kian Lavi was struggling to keep up with his hobby because, like most of us, his day job always seemed to get in the way. But people like you—Muni riders each with a story of your own—inspired him to start a 100-day photo project that has captured the best of what we love about life on the bus. Lavi has been photographing one rider a day on his commute, and he is just a little more than halfway done. Along the way, he says, “I’ve gotten job offers, heard fantastic stories, and have fallen in love with every person I get to talk to.”

And of course, getting to know your fellow riders gave Lavi a Muni story or two of his own. We chatted with him last week:

What made you decide to do this 100-day project?

I heard about The Great Discontent’s #The100DayProject after reading an article about Michael Bierut, and it made me realize how out of touch with my own photography I had become. I do street photography in my downtime, but without downtime, I’d all but stopped. The project’s prompt to make something, however small, for 100 days caught my eye and has held my attention for over 50 days now. I love people, so it was natural for me to focus my project on the people around me every day.

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Warriors Fan Celebrates on Top of Moving Muni Bus

warrior reveler

Not letting the poor behaviors of Giants fanatics show them up, some Warrior fans took to the streets to show how much they love Dub Nation, one of them by dancing on top of a moving Muni bus. Muni Diaries editor Jeff saw this bus-top dancer. Just a couple of hundreds of volts above your head, no big deal, right, guys?

insta warrior fan muni
Photo by lindsayds20

Over at SFist, Jay Barmann has a blow-by-blow of last night’s celebration.

And the San Francisco Chronicle’s Vivian Ho captured some more of the craziness in the Mission.

warrior fan bus stop vivia ho
Photo by Vivian Ho

At least no buses were set on fire. And thankfully none of this should end up in our top WTF moment of the year, right?

What can art do for your BART stations?

fantasy swedish subway station

For the first time in 40 years, BART is planning an overhaul of its stations, which includes funding for art and design (you might recall those glass canopies we showed you a few weeks go). To make sure that 2 percent of the funding is dedicated to art in your BART station, SubArt, an organization that promotes large-scale art projects in Bay Area transit stations, is asking people to sign a petition to show their support.

We’ve found that lots of artists around the world love to re-imagine their transit stations in whimsical, inspiring ways, like this Swedish artist’s rendering of a fantastical subway station above. The Swedes also win in our minds with this hair-blowing subway ad. Less realistic but so much more fun, here’s how one designer in Holland imagines being able to slide down into the station.

The BART board votes on the budget on June 25. You can find SubArt’s petition here.

Photo by Alexander Dragunov

What to Do This Weekend: Day Tripping on BART to Fremont’s Niles District

niles district from ileana

We’re blessed with awesome local weekend spots close by, like Dolores Park and Lake Merritt, but sometimes you just want to get out of town for a minute. Instead of shelling out money to rent a car, what if you could get BART to take you to one of those darling little towns and play tourist for a day? Taking any transit route to the end of the line can feel like an adventure, and it’s surprising how easily you can turn a commuter train ride into an actual getaway. It’s the ultimate Clipper Card hack, and a great example of a hidden weekend trip is the Historic Niles District in Fremont.

The Niles District is loaded with antique shops and cute restaurants. Here’s your weekend itinerary:

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