Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Photo by gladysf
Sick of the sickout? Same here. Enjoy these five gorgeous photos of San Francisco looking pretty, and maybe it’ll help you forget that on Monday morning when two packed 2-Clement buses pass you by and you have an 8 a.m. meeting.
Have a cool picture you took? Tag us on Instagram or Flickr with @munidiaries. Have a great weekend, everybody. Read more
Muni rider Jeff (not be confused with our own Jeff) made a new shirt expressing his feelings about Muni some days—like sickout days, for example. He’s a high school teacher and San Francisco resident, and he has this to say: “I’ve had an idea floating around in my head for a couple of years, and I finally reached the tipping point. It’s a shirt, and maybe, unfortunately a way of life.”
He’s selling his Muni FML shirt for $14.
In case you want to complete the Muni worm area of your wardrobe, we recommend Fuckin’ Muni or Muni and Your Mom.
Photo by analogskirt
Muni rider Chandra saw a rider fall so badly that she was knocked unconscious. Here’s Chandra’s story.
“It happened this Tuesday on the 1-California Muni line at about 2:30 p.m. The bus was headed up Sacramento Street toward Divisadero in the medical neighborhood. I was on my way to a medical appointment on this sunny day, dreaming and enjoying watching the street. A seat was empty next to the left of me. Maybe she was about to sit down. The bus was stopped at about midway between the Embarcadero and Divisadero, as I was gazing out the window on my right.
“Then the bus lurched forward, simultaneously I sensed a shadow fly faster than a bat. CRACK! I heard as the shadow shot faster than a bullet, a heavy, sickeningly fast BAM!
“At first I couldn’t look. I heard someone close to my feet say, ‘She has a pulse, but just barely. She cracked her head bad.’
“Two medics arrived in turquoise scrubs. She looked like she was trying to gain consciousness, maybe seizing, hopefully not dying. She was Asian, perhaps 50, well-dressed. I asked if anyone had called 911 emergency. At first, everyone in shock, no one answered. The bus driver said, ‘I’m handling it, I’m calling Central Headquarters.’ I asked again if anyone had called 911. Finally a lady behind me said her husband had called emergency, and that help was on the way. I thanked the medics at my feet. I began to cry, quietly. Then the bus-driver told us all to get off the bus. I begged the medics to stay by the woman’s side until the ambulance came.
“I wonder: Why weren’t we kept there as witnesses to an accident? Why did we all comply, getting off the bus, when the driver responsible for the accident was the one ordering us away? Did she live? How much damage was there?”
Do you know anything about terrible-sounding incident? We of course hope the woman is okay. Careful out there, you guys!
Photo by Sasha Zabelina
This cross-species friendship at the bus stop is totally killing me right now.
Remember when zoo animals took over the subway? We’ve got lots of animals on Muni slaying you with adorableness.
This week, SFGate reported on a phenomenon that many Muni riders know all too well: when the Clipper card reader is broken and you don’t have a Fast Pass on your card, you might get a citation from fare inspectors. But yesterday, we were informed by the SFMTA again that you shouldn’t be cited in this situation.
In 2010, we asked SFMTA about the policy for fares when the Clipper card reader is broken. They told us that when the machines are broken, drivers are not supposed to make cardholders pay, regardless of whether the rider has a monthly Fast Pass loaded on the card. We even got the document SFMTA says they sent to operators notifying them of this change in procedure in 2010 (see above).
Has Muni’s fare policy changed since our 2010 story?
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose told us yesterday, “The policy has not changed. We are not going to hold passengers accountable if there is no way to tag your card.”
According to the SFGate story, about 55,000 people have been cited since July. And:
Since July, 8,700 Muni riders have complained they were wrongly cited for not paying the fare, many times because of broken scanners, according to appeal records. Roughly 175 of the riders succeeded in getting their ticket dismissed.
So there you go, folks. Whether the inspectors and drivers were misinformed, now you have the word (and the memo) to protest your tickets.
Photo by annitadlc
Just updating Facebook on the bus while carrying a big ass machete or saber or whatever that thing is, right? No big deal. Just don’t piss him off.