Photo diary: Muni on Stilts
Saw this in the Kirkland Coach Yard. Man, if only Muni buses were equipped with Transformers-like legs to just walk over cars in traffic. Yeah, nothing would go wrong if that were the case, would it?
Category: diaries
A Muni bus filled with ‘Oxford scholars’
Photo by lorelei
Muni rider Tara K. has a story that goes to show, you never know what kind of colorful character you’ll encounter on Muni:
Okay, today is the day I’ll be early to work…well, on time. I set out in high hopes of catching an early 22-Fillmore bus. I get on the bus and there is actually a seat!
That’s when the magic happens. A older woman, probably in her 80s, dressed in matching red and white from head to toe, turns to the remaining three people on the bus and yells “well, looks like this bus was filled with a bunch of God damned Oxford scholars. I tell ya the City is filled with ‘em!” I glance at another passenger as we suppress a burst of laughter. Then the show begins. The older woman continues on asking, “why the hell are people so stupid? Didn’t they hear that the driver is gonna take us to the next stop. A bunch of cattle, they are.”
As the driver pulls up to the stop the older woman turns to us all once again. She smiles and says, “well, it’s too bad they all missed the extra ride, the idiots, but it was nice ridin’ with y’all.” I catch her eye and say, “it’s really too bad they missed a great comedian!” She looks at me askance (Oh God, was that too cutesy for this lady, now I’m gonna get it), giving me a half smile and guffaw…and whaps me on the leg with her cane while nodding in recognition of her performance!
Note to self: Always ride Muni early cuz the bus will break down and you could be smiling for days.
It either happened to you, or around you. Share your Muni story on Muni Diaries.
The Random Deployment of New Muni Bus Shelters
The right good folks over at Tenderblog noticed something rather strange about the deployment of Muni’s sleek/appalling bright, shiny new bus shelters. So they wrote a blog post about it. And they published that blog post.
[H]ow on earth are they figuring out the deployment pattern on these things? There’s the really nice new ones at Geary and Leavenworth (this happening corner), but then they go no further up. There’s one at Sutter & Van Ness, but then none the rest of the way down Sutter.
Indeed, what could the plan possibly be? Read the rest of Tenderblog’s thoughtful and observant post here.
Image above copied and pasted from its original resting place on the intertubes.
Brave 38 Bus Driver
Photo by Flickr user Jesse Johnson
“Please come to the front of the bus and pay the fare, young man.” The bus driver stood up forcefully and yelled, “This bus will not be moving until you pay the fare like the rest of the folks on this bus!”
As I entered a fairly empty 38L, I noticed something very interesting about the bus driver: He was a man on a mission…someone not to cross the wrong way or come across sideways.
Now, we’re not talking about a typical-size bus driver. We’re talking about a fairly large man in his early 40s with a very bald head. The young man smoothly walked to the front of the bus while on his cell phone, and paid a portion of the fare. The bus driver aggressively said, “Now look, I’m not playing with you, either you pay the fare like the rest of the working folks on this bus or get off my bus!”
The young man paused, switched his cell phone to his left hand, and calmly made a swing-like gesture to the driver! The driver moved away from the attempted fist swing then stood up, grabbed the operator phone, and yelled, “Now get the fuck off my bus or swing. I want you to swing so the cops could take you to jail. You’re on camera with a bus full of witnesses. You make a move!” The young man, clueless for his next act, turned and aggressively attempted to swing again, but missed. He looked around yelling, screaming, and unsure of what to do. He then got off the bus without making another gesture.
Now this is a bus driver with balls. Drivers like him take a stand and lay down the law. This made me proud to ride Muni every day. Yes, it was scary at times, but I was confident that the escalated situation was handled very appropriately. The bus driver showed commanding respect and set limits with this punk kid.
As a Muni commuter, I see punk kids trying to be smooth and slick to get away from paying fares on a daily basis. They cheat fares, punk commuters, smoke weed on the bus, start trouble on the bus, and intimidate other kids on the bus. I asked myself, Where do these entitled, disrespectful group of people get this behavior? They’re so confident in committing these acts; they’ll never experience consequences.
I felt empowered to speak out after my experience, so here I am. I felt this was a good deed and deserved a few cents from a daily Muni rider. Thanks for hiring folks that are tired to speak out and put my tax dollars to good use.
Do you have a story about a driver or fellow passenger whose actions made you proud? Have you told a Muni story to your friends at dinner? Share your Muni stories here at Muni Diaries.
Photo diary: Lay low
Justin Beck is a great photographer. Above, the slot.
Like Justin does, share your photos at our Muni Photos Flickr group. And don’t forget to share your Muni stories here at Muni Diaries.
Fun with Fare Inspectors on the 38
Photo by atacklamb
Saturday night Sam (who will be posting reviews of the hotel bars we went to) and I headed downtown for an evening of drinking in hotel lobbies. Trust me, it was both more and less glamorous than you can imagine.
We caught a mostly empty 38 at 6th Ave. and settled in to seats towards the back.
At 3rd Ave., a pair of fare inspectors got on and made their way through the bus, checking people’s Fast Passes, Clipper cards and transfers.
A woman sitting two rows ahead of us did not have any proof of payment. The female fare inspector sat down nearby and told her to go ahead and keep looking for her transfer, and if she couldn’t find it she would get a ticket. It was sweet of her to give the woman a chance. Also, these inspectors were polite and friendly. We liked them immediately.
The male fare inspector moved to the back of the bus, where he kept an eye on the back door.
We watched the inspectors, watched the fare evader woman rifle through her bags over and over again.
At Fillmore the female inspector started to write up the woman’s ticket. She explained how the woman could appeal the ticket if she found her transfer. The woman had some questions, all of which were answered by the inspector.
We got to talking with her. She was very chatty and gave us some tips on how to make sure we don’t get busted for fare evasion:
Tip 1- Always keep your receipt from purchase of a Fast Pass or Clipper refill. In a pinch, the receipt is good proof that you did indeed pay for your pass.
Tip 2- If your Clipper card gets lost or stolen, report it immediately and have it canceled, otherwise someone else can use the Fast Pass or funds on the card.
Her tips were good, common sense really, but I appreciated them anyway.
Our bus approached the Van Ness stop.
A man was standing next to a tree, facing us.
“Is he peeing?” asked the female fare inspector.
He was, of course. Standing next to a spindly tree, a few feet from an idling cab, this guy was taking his sweet time. And we all were treated (punished?) with a full frontal view.
“This is like the third time this week I’ve seen guys doing that in public,” I told Sam.
The female inspector started laughing, and pointing, and even rapped on the window.
Well, you didn’t think we’d give away the ending (it’s not that kind), did you? Mosey over to Fog City Notes to read the rest of the story and find out what else they saw.