Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Eagle-eyed Star Wars fan (the original trilogy, what?) @dalbizo spotted this Jedi lookalike on the 38L-Geary this afternoon. He tweets:
Call me silly, but I think Ben Kenobi’s brother is riding on the 38L. Ken Kenobi?
When stopped by fare inspectors, did he wave his hand and say, “These aren’t the scofflaws you’re looking for.”? Yep, thought so. Clever old bastard …
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Scoutmob has an easy-to-use interface for its once-a-day half-off deals to local reviewed sites like Clare’s and Samovar. Their mobile app makes it easy to carry those deals with you without having to remember or pay for a thing in advance.
You’ve got until Monday for the Scoutmob offer of a $100 gift certificate to Espetus for one lucky Muni Diaries reader. So sign up for Scoutmob so you can win $100 worth of delicious grilled meat!
Photo by Brandon Doran
Just last weekend, Tyler experienced first-hand an altercation on the 1-California. Also over the weekend, a man was punched and robbed on a bus (14? 49?) in the outer Mission.
Stories of violence on Muni can appear and jolt those of us who don’t experience it on an everyday basis. For some riders and some routes, violence is clearly more the norm than the exception. But we’d guess that the vast majority of Muni riders feel safe riding the system. The latest statistics of crime on Muni show that it’s trending downward, clearly a good thing.
So, we wanna know: Do you feel safe riding Muni?
Photo by tantek
41411:: NextBus Alert:
5 & 20 min
South Lake Union Line
Westlake & Mercer
41411:: NextBus Alert:
@3:14PM
r=Rd
s=Hrsshe
d=Cntns Lp
2&24min
—
Rply: 1-30) for alert or S)ave
name
41411:: NextBus Alert:
0 & 7 min
White
MIMOSA
Which prompted this response from us:
STOP TEXTING ME, REMOVE ME FROM THIS LIST
Which got this reply:
41411: Sorry it didn’t work out for you. You won’t recv any further messages from 41411.help@41411.com
Is anyone else receiving these texts? Does anyone know what’s up?
Photo by AgentAkit
My Clipper card is damaged and I need a replacement. What can I do?
Clipper recently opened two walk-up customer service centers in San Francisco that can replace a damaged or defective Clipper card immediately (you have to bring the card with you to the Customer Service Center.
The customer service centers are at the Bay Crossings store in San Francisco’s Ferry Building and on the mezzanine level at the Embarcadero BART/Muni station.
I’d like to use e-cash on the cable cars, but they don’t accept it yet. Any idea when?
It sounds like you take Muni and the cable car alot, so it might save you money to purchase a Muni monthly pass (the “A” pass lets you ride all Muni vehicles and BART within San Francisco and the “M” pass is good only Muni vehicles).
Muni cable cars will be getting handheld card readers that can deduct cash fares from Clipper cards. I don’t know when the cable car operators will begin carrying them, but they are coming.
Why is my benefits company charging me $2 extra to put a Fast Pass on my Clipper card?
Clipper does not authorize the $2 monthly fee for customers who get transit benefits loaded directly onto their Clipper cards.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which runs the Clipper program, has demanded that the Clipper contractor Cubic Transportation Systems and Commuter Check’s parent company, Edenred USA immediately discontinue the $2 customer service fee.
Stay tuned for more on this issue. You can check for updates on our website, “Like” us on Facebook (Bay Area Clipper) or follow us on Twitter (@BayAreaClipper).
Caltrain needs more Clipper card readers. Some platforms only have one reader.
Thanks for your feedback on the readers at Caltrain’s stations. We’ve heard the same feedback from other Caltrain customers and have shared the input with Caltrain.
If you’ve got questions about Clipper cards, ask them in the comments below.
Photo by geekstinkbreath
After having waited more than 20 minutes for the 1-California to show up after the Chinese New Year Parade ended, my girlfriend, her 10-year-old daughter, and I got on the bus (along with others at the stop at Sacramento and Polk). We made our way to the back of the bus and found a kind lady getting out of her seat. Not to give it up, but to get away from a drunk man harassing her. The man then pulled the stop cord for the next stop and got out of his seat.
You could smell the alcohol on his breath from five seats away — one of those riders, you know. I noticed when he got up from his seat that his left fist was clenched. I moved as far against the side seats as I could to avoid him, but I didn’t feel right. I saw him motion his fist toward my girlfriend who was standing in front of her sitting daughter, who was a drummer in the parade hours earlier. I squared myself hoping he was going to just walk past and get off with out incident. He didn’t.
When my girlfriend turned her back to him to look down instinctively at her daughter, the drunk man drew back his fist and lunged it toward the little girl. Without hesitation, I stepped in front of him, taking the punch square on the bone below my left eye. He then fell backwards and tried to lunge again at me. I deflected his advance and he started running backwards trying to escape off the bus.
Who on earth tries to assault a 10-year-old and her mother? I’m sore and have a black eye that I’m nursing with a cold container of mint chocolate chip Breyer’s ice cream.
After the fact, I filed a report with SFPD, but if anyone was there and would contribute their two cents, please do.
Riders, be aware, be alert, and if you are going to be noble, be prepared.