Least-favorite BART commuters

"Whatchya Readin'?"
Photo by dannyman

CCT has the deets. Here are some highlights:

Music demon
He’s listening to this music, and it’s so loud you don’t need to share his headset — you can hear it at the other end of the carriage. He won’t have any hearing left in 12 months if he keeps up this noise level. Despite the misconception that this is not limited to young people and rap music, this blasting of tunes is also regularly displayed by 30-somethings with country tracks and the familiar middle-aged AC/DC fan in his business suit — easy to spot with the foot beating to Angus Young’s guitar.

Headbanger
Not to be confused with the Music Demon, these are the BART riders who wear their handbags, satchels or computer bags over their shoulders and walk down the center aisle banging heads and shoulders as they go, oblivious to the damage they cause. This species is often experienced in the center aisle on domestic flights as well. Be careful because they are also known to attack your cheek, your ears and the occasional eye. Advice: Put your bag on the floor between your feet. I would like to get off the train in a half-hour without damage to my facial features.

Read more at Contra Costa Times, whose URL-generation baffles the mind …

‘That One’ Comes to Town

Danboard & President Barack Obama
Photo by 邪恶的正太

Despite the fact that Warren G. Harding died here in 1923 (of pneumonia) and Gerald Ford suffered an assassination attempt (Sarah Jane Moore, released from prison in 2007) here in 1975, Barack Obama is pressing his luck and visiting Baghdad by the Bay tomorrow.

Why do we care? Well, not only are we still wearing our Obama T-shirt (hey, it’s almost laundry day!), but this presidential visit will cause some minor Muni disruptions. Street closures from 11 a.m. Tuesday to noon Wednesday include:

· 4th Street from Market Street to Mission Street
· Mission Street from 3rd Street to 4th Street

Affecting service on:

· 8X /AX/BX Bayshore Express
· 14 Mission
· 14 L Mission Limited
· 14 X Mission Express
· 30 Stockton
· 45 Union-Stockton
· 91 Owl

Feel free to line up along the route and ask for a public-transit bailout.

Audio diary: Mel’s early ’90s party bus


Photo by Chipmonkey (^o^)

Stories are stories, and the internet is nice enough to let us listen to them as well as read them. For those of us in too much of a hurry, or simply too lazy to let your eyeballs scan and decipher the words here, that’s a bonus.

Stephanie from NPR’s Snap Judgment captured some of the stories told on-stage at our last Muni Diaries Live event. This one, by Mel, concerns a vivid memory of a cloudy ride on the N-Judah.

Have a listen, and let us know whether you like the audio diary format:
Mel’s party bus

Weekend Photos: Blow your horn


Photo by Flickr user fsquared

How was your week? Ours? Well, the usual. Not enough hours in the day, or days in the week, or weeks in the … ah, never mind. Here’s your weekly roundup of Muni news:

– 21st Century Barn Raising (Market Street Railway)
– Six Injured In Muni Bus-Van Crash (KTVU)
– Supes Propose Massive Changes To How The SFMTA Runs (SF Appeal)
– Gavin’s Delay In Appointing SFMTA Board Members Might Be Holding Up Service (SF Appeal)
– SFMTA’s St. Francis Circle Project Means West Portal Street Closures, Muni Service Disruptions, Parking Problems (SF Appeal)
– The real reason Muni stopped fare enforcement saturations (SFGate)
– The politics of restoring Muni service (City Insider)

On Monday, we posted a video that eventually went, how you say, viral. It shows bus riders in Copenhagen showing love for their bus driver by serenading him on birthday. *Tear* Later that day, we ran a few Muni-related Bay to Breakers photos we found. We put a question in to MTA concerning where the money comes from to run B2B shuttles. We’ll let you know what we hear back.

Don’t forget to send your Muni stories here, and your Muni photos here.

Have a good weekend! See you Monday.

The Elusive 29 Sunset
Photo by Nick.Fisher

19 Bus-Navy Yard
Photo by cidana

22 In Pipes
Photo by eviloars

F Market
Photo by tweetsweet

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