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.")

Shoutout to Muni Driver #833

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Photo by tatuajefalso

We found a very sincere thank-you note from a blogger on Tumblr who had an amazing Muni driver who made his day by going above and beyond.

“Today I had one of the coolest experiences I have ever had riding Muni. The driver kept everyone informed of all delays. ‘we have one car ahead of us… their doors are closing. We’ll be moving in 5 to 10 seconds” he said, and he was right. At almost every stop he told everyone getting off to “have a great day I’ll see you mañana, be safe” and occasionally added “remember that Muni loves you.’ He was funny too. When it was time to raise the right-side steps he said ‘I’m raising the right side steps, I hope nobody had a big breakfast or we’re in trouble.’
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Packed Muni Train Takes Off Without Driver

A KT-Ingleside train full of passengers took off Wednesday morning without the driver after the driver stepped out to fix the door, possibly (according to SFGate anyway) forgetting to set the emergency brake. Ghost ride the Muni? According to SFGate:

A rider brought the train to a halt in the tunnel between the Castro and Forest Hill stations by activating the emergency brake, Muni said.

Passengers were never in danger because the train was under automatic control, said John Haley, director of transit for the Municipal Railway. But the incident is under investigation, and the operator is on paid leave and is undergoing routine drug and alcohol testing, Haley said. The driver’s name has not been released.

SFGate says that a passenger frantically came down the aisle saying that there was no driver. Another passenger finally hit the emergency brake and stopped the train, SFGate reports. More from SFGate on the ghost train.

Wait a minute: Did my Muni driver just get lost?

lost
Photo by WarzauWynn

It’s either a nightmare or a really memorable ride. Wait, that kinda describes every trip on Muni, eh?

Via Muni rider Ramona says on Facebook:

“Oh great. My bus driver just got list! I Suddenly heard him say, “I missed a turn,” and I looked up and saw we were heading down Lincoln instead of straight through the park! How that happened I’m not sure, and for a moment visions of Speed ran through my brain…”

Turns out this isn’t as rare a bird as you’d imagine. From Muni rider Naaman in March:

And rider Dave in May:

Has your bus driver ever gotten lost? How was that?

Muni Haiku Battle III this Saturday!

The Muni Haiku Battle Arena will be resurrected this Saturday at Muni Diaries Live. Are you ready? In every battle, we pit poet against poet in a 17-syllable face-off. Our reigning champion is writer James Nestor, whose wit and impeccable style have won him two handmade trophies. Above, you’ll see James in a very close battle against sex advice columnist Anna Pulley.

The Muni Haiku Battle is modeled after the dirty haiku battles at Oakland’s Tourettes Without Regrets, the Bay’s must-see spoken-word show hosted by Jamie DeWolf. DeWolf refereed that very first battle at Lit Crawl 2012. For this Saturday, we enlisted audience favorite storyteller Jesse James to take on the challenge of besting our reigning champion. Will Jesse be the one to finally unseat James? Come and find out for yourself.

Advance tickets here.

Event info
Muni Diaries Live
Sat., Nov. 9, doors: 6:30, show: 7 p.m. Tickets: $12.
Elbo Room
647 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Take Muni there: J-Church, 12, 14, 22, 33, 49, or BART: 16th or 24th St stations
Facebook invitation

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