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.")

Beware of the Inappropriate Man on 38L-Geary

inappropriate
Photo by sfjanda

Muni rider Marielamari told us about an incident of harassment that shouldn’t ever happen to anyone, on the bus or anywhere.

On February 19 at around 5:30 p.m.,  I got on the 38-L #6407 as I usually do to head home toward the Richmond. An older man in his 50s with a pot belly, holding a bag in his right hand, stood next to me. The bus was crowded and I understand people bumping into each other. However, every time he “bumped” into me, he extended his finger to hook my skirt. I didn’t think much of it the first time but after the third time, I made eye contact with him and he did it again more purposefully.

I asked him to step away but he didn’t. It wasn’t until a substantial amount of people left the bus that it became obvious that he was too close, so he stepped away. He got off at Divisadero and Geary. He was wearing an orange shirt and dark windbreaker.

I’m not sure what telling my story here will do but I just find it enraging that people like him take advantage and play dumb. I just want other women to be aware that this sort of thing happens. Please report, photograph, and let someone know.

In 2012, we told you about the Bay Citizen report that found that sex crimes on public transit are under-reported. It’s a story that we hear all too often here at Muni Diaries. Have you reported a similar incident to the police?

Muni riders lift car off N-Judah tracks again

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Photo via SF Streetsblog

Last week a driver drove into the Duboce Muni tunnel again, despite numerous warning signs. And again, Muni riders got out to lift the car off of the tracks. SF Streetsblog‘s Aaron was on the scene and captured it on video. Here’s Aaron’s account of what happened:

Last night, the N-Judah train I was on with my fiancee (whom I happened to meet on the N) was approaching the east portal of the Sunset Tunnel when my fellow riders and I spotted a set of tail lights up ahead. We pretty much all knew what it meant — another driver tried to enter the transit tunnel.

We all got out to find the woman’s car lodged on the edge of the concrete. Pretty soon, another train showed up headed in the other direction, and she was blocking Muni’s busiest line, both inbound and outbound. Fortunately, some good Samaritans from our train decided not to wait for a tow truck — seven men lifted the front of the car back on top of the ledge, allowing the woman to drive the car away (I don’t know if she got a citation).

This is by far not the first time that a driver accidentally entered the tunnel, and not the first time that riders got involved to get the car off of the tracks. Last June, Haighteration reported a similar incident. And at Muni Diaries Live in 2010, Derek Powazek told the story of stranded Muni riders rising to the occasion (go to 11:07 in the video).

Seriously, though, what’s it gonna take to get drivers to stop driving into these “DO NOT ENTER” tunnels?

Surprise! Walk Score Ranks SF Second-Best City for Public Transit

muni ferry building f market
Photo by Dave

In an announcement that probably surprised San Franciscans the most, our fair city ranks second in Walk Score’s new ranking of Best U.S. Cities for Public Transit, just a tick below New York City. How does this compute?

According to Walk Score, they determined the ranking of cities this way:

Our ranking is based on the average resident’s access to public transit in a city. To compute our ranking, we calculated the Transit Score of over 1.9  million locations in 316 cities. We use a population-weighted methodology to compute the average Transit Score for a city. Our top 10 cities list includes cities with populations over 500,000 people.

Unsurprisingly, New York ranked first in the study. On the West Coast, the top best cities are San Francisco, Seattle, and Oakland, in that order.

To be fair, I think it’s pretty reasonable to live without a car here, but the study doesn’t taken into account reliability, which really affects the quality of transit for everyday riders (preaching to the choir, aren’t I?)

Muni Makes Appearance in State of the Union Video!

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When President Obama mentioned a man taking the bus in his State of the Union speech last night, obviously he meant Muni, right? Muni rider Sergio caught the address and saw a familiar sight:

An #SFMuni bus just made an appearance on the #SOTU. Obama mentioned a man taking the bus home from a graveyard shift, dreaming big dreams for his son.

In case you didn’t catch it, it is at 01:22 in the official White House SOTU video.

One Tech Worker’s Open Letter to a Muni Driver

google-shuttle-bus
Photo by Jyri

“Tech shuttle” is such a loaded term in San Francisco these days. There are strong feelings all around, and at times, things have gotten out of control.

But one tech shuttle rider sent us a thank-you letter after a surprising encounter with a Muni driver.

I’m one of those evil people driving up rents by living in SF and working at a tech company in the South Bay. I take the company coach to work every morning.

One morning, as I was walking down the street to the coach stop, I saw it blow past me. I started running after it but, alas, it pulled away just as I crossed the street to the stop. About 30 seconds later a 24-Divisadero bus pulls up. The driver looks at me and says,

“Excuse me, were you trying to catch that bus ahead of me?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Hop on, I’ll catch up to it. That bus always thinks it can overtake me.”

Sure enough at the next stop we caught up to the coach and I got on. The Muni driver then got out of her bus and gave some good natured ribbing to the coach driver for missing a passenger and trying to beat her down her own route. They both had a good laugh then went on her way.

Thanks again to the wonderful Muni driver for the assist on my morning commute!

Say what you will about the tech shuttles in the city, I think random kindness always rocks.

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