Category: reflection

Using Translink as Proof of Payment

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TransLink Card - BART
Photo by Agent Akit

We’ve gotten a few complaints in the Muni Diaries inbox about using TransLink as proof of payment. If you haven’t heard, you can get free Translink cards starting today at select locations – yes, adults too. See details here.

Now, onto the inbox. I hope you won’t be running into these issues using your brand new Translink card…

Rider Deng-Kai entered the Powell station using a TransLink card and walked back upstairs to ask the station agent when the next N is coming. Upstairs, a fare inspector asked for proof of payment:

I flash my TransLink card in the air as I walk towards the booth and say, “I’m just going to ask the station agent a question.”

Fare inspector walks over to me, ask me for POP, I show my TransLink card again while I’m asking the station agent about the next train and complaining that the predictions are totally wrong. At no time does he scan my card even though I tell him to in order to properly show my POP.

I walk away muttering under my great, “God Muni sucks” Fare inspector walks over to me and says, “What did you just say to me?” I say back, “I didn’t say anything to you.” He says, “Are you giving me attitude?” I calmly say, “No, I’m not giving you attitude” He’s in my face now and starts saying stuff like, “Well if you give me attitude I can give it right back to you” and “You think you can mess with me, huh?” I don’t say anything. Then he says, “You know what, I’m going to write you up.” I ask what for and he says, failure to display POP. I contest it and refuse to sign the citation but he still gives it to me.

Separately, rider Katy asked:

I was told to get a TransLink card by a flyer I received at the Montgomery St station at the beginning of February so I bought a $5 card at a Walgreens (Fasts passes are free, why aren’t these?).

Katy’s TransLink card did not work but she didn’t have cash at the time and was about to be late for work. She was given a $75 citation at the Montgomery station when fare inspectors checked for proof of payment. She details her expense:

I will contest that since it was clear that the card had become defective by no fault of my own. But still, $75 is not something I can afford. So I called TransLink customer service expecting some sort of apology but no. I have to send back the card to Fremont so they can determine if the card is defective.

…

Here is my grand total for this nightmare:
$5 TransLink card + $55 balance on the card + $75 citation + $.47 stamp to send card back + $22 in fares while waiting for the TransLink card to be sent back to me = $157.47.

I checked with SFMTA: to use TransLink as proof of payment, fare inspectors need to swipe it to check the time.

Here are a few ways to protest your citation. Katy, let us know if you’re successful in protesting the citation?

And about the $5 TransLink card fee? Typically you can get the TransLink card without the $5 if you buy it online and sign up for the Autoload option (where TransLink automatically loads your card with the amount you specify if your TransLink card dips below $10.) But if you missed the beginning of the post, you can get a free card on select dates starting today to April 30 (check SFMTA’s page for exact time and location).

Category: diaries, reflection

What I saw in one F-Market ride

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Don Chee Way
Photo by Troy Holden

True, there is no “one” Muni experience. But there’s a generalized feeling. I think most people drawn to Muni Diaries know what I’m talking about. I’m not a great writer, but I’ll do my best to describe my ride Tuesday morning, and maybe you’ll see what I mean.

I joined a gaggle of waiting-to-pay F-Market/Wharves riders, calmly queuing as the streetcar pulled up to Market and Main. There was a light sprinkle, but nothing so bad as to make us clamor and push.

I took my place, standing, just inside the row of seats, near the driver. I overheard a passenger boarding behind me ask the driver whether she stopped at “Thirty-third.” “Pier 33, you mean?” driver asked. “Yeah,” the rider said. “Yes, I do.” “How much?” “Two dollars,” driver said. “For disabled?” rider asked. “Oh, no, $0.75.” Coins deposited, we start to move slowly.

The woman in the disabled-designated seat in front of me kindly offered our newest passenger the seat. “Nah, I’m good to stand.” “Are you sure? Please take the seat.” “Okay, thank you.”

I honestly believed I had just witnessed one of those rare, poignant scenes of real-world decency. Everything seemed to be running so smoothly and smiles were appearing on the faces of the crowded passengers.

… until. Read more

Category: diaries, reflection Tags:

Muni Employee Quote of the Month

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Cole Valley Ghost Train
Photo by engnr_chik

Muni rider Jessica sends in this report from Cole Valley:

I was eager to jump on my daily N Judah this morning after 4 days away in the east coast snow. As I’m riding along, we pull up to the Carl and Cole stop and the driver yells something to Neon-Vest-Muni-Guy-On-Sidewalk. Neon walks up to the door shaking his head and says “It’s not your fault man. It’s Muni. We are a sinking ship!”

Wait a minute. This guy works for muni and is calling out his own employer- in front of a bus full of people! At least they acknowledge the downward spiral. They say you have to hit rock bottom before it gets better, but how much farther is the bottom? I hope for our sake and Muni’s that this boat stays afloat because I have to get to work! Think positive Muni, the sun will come out tomorrow.

We all get to gripe about work a little, especially when you’re feeling disgruntled. Too bad this MTA employee was overheard by a diligent Muni Diaries reader. We can’t help but wonder if the exchange was sparked by the Muni operators and their union’s rejection of the concession proposal to help MTA balance its spiraling deficit. In any event, I’m with you, Jessica, on the Muni-please-stay-afloat thing.

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs, reflection Tags:

Bloody Fight on AC Transit

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Yesterday our Twitter follower wirelesschunk sent us a link to a video of a fight on AC Transit between two men that got so gnarly that blood was all over the seats. The situation started with what seemed like normal conversation and quickly escalated to the men punching each other. It’s hard to see who threw the first punch, but Ok, I watched the video a few more times and it looked like the young black man threw a punch first, but I’m not sure it matters a whole lot in situations like this.

SFist reports that the argument started when the older white man asked the young black man how much he’d charge for a shoe shine, then escalated from there.

Near the end of the video you can hear a woman mutter, “It’s just like on the bus with the black and Asian women!”

Boy, do we remember that one.

In running a transit-related website, we’ve seen what seems like an unusually high level of hostility on the bus. When we posted the video of a black woman and an Asian woman fighting on Muni, it caused such a storm and gave us a lot to think about, namely: should we be posting these videos at all? The racial tension in the fight between the women was palpable, and we interviewed the rider who broke up the fight to get a sense of what was going on. If the report is correct that the older white man asked the young black man about a shoe shine, the racial tension in this fight could be just as explosive.

As much as we all might have our complaints about the bus, riding public transit is a shared community experience — an idea that is the basis of why we started Muni Diaries. So what is with the hostility and intolerance that we seem to encounter more on the bus than anywhere else? We see many positive stories about sharing the public transit experience, but we’ve also seen our fair share of intolerance (chicken story, anyone?)

You’ll notice that we included a link to the video but refrained from embedding the video itself (and yes, we run stories about AC Transit when we get them). As a moderator and editor of the site, I continue to wonder where the line is between creating a space to share transit stories and a space to share gratuitous violence. My worst fear is that videos like this might be creating a new genre of voyeuristic, violent “transit porn.” Do you think videos like this have a place in your daily reading — do people need to see it to understand the tension and violence around us, or are we desensitizing viewers by showing it?

And we realize that public transit isn’t the exclusive domain of hostility and intolerance. But it does seem to be a main venue for the boiling over of violence. Why?

– Eugenia

Category: diaries, reflection

Namaste on the 24-Divisadero

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Golden Gate Bridge Silhouette
Photo by Flickr user Jeff Howard

Sarah of I’m writing, you’re reading sent us the following remarkable little slice of life on the 24-Divisadero.

I sat down on the bus (ran to catch it again thankyouverymuch) after my second 3-hour yoga session of the weekend. Yoga mat and eco-friendly water bottle in hands. Glance across the isle and spot the exact same eco-friendly water bottle in the hands of another girl.

Oh and what do you know, she’s holding a yoga mat too.

Well aren’t we just two identical San Francisco stereotypes. In the flesh. On the bus.

So we make eye contact and I first point at my water bottle, then to hers. Then to my mat, and to hers. Laughter.

Janet’s class?, she asks.

No, Dina’s workshop, I answer.

YogaTree junkies. Shoulda known.

We bond over our mutual love of Janet Stone’s flow classes at the Castro studio, and she knew exactly which workshop I was taking because she thought of taking it too. And is going to take it later.

What’s your name?, she asks.
I’m Sarah, I answer.

She just shakes her head and laughs.
I’m Sarah too, she says.

When Sarah got off the bus, the girl next to me confirmed what I was just thinking, “I’m sorry, but that was really cute.”

Now it’s your turn — tell us what happened to you on Muni today.

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