SFGate’s 10 types of BART driver: Can you name more?

BART_driver

If you’ve taken BART 10 different times, you’ve probably already won BART Driver Bingo. Today on SFGate, 10 different types of BART operator are exposed. Here’s a sample:

  1. THE PUBLIC SHAMER We all saw the commuter jam onto the train with her bike. There’s no need to go on a minute-long rant about the woman in the third car who almost took the train out of service for everyone else. We got it. She got it. Please let us ride the train without tension lingering in the air.
  2. THE PLACATER “If you’re trying to squish onto this train, there’s another SFO train directly behind this one.” No, driver. That train is 10 minutes away. That is not “directly behind,” and it will be even more full than this one. Stop trying to trick us!
  3. THE MUMBLER Uh oh, the train has stopped in the Transbay Tube. Better take out your headphones and listen to the announcement. Ah yes, it sounds like we’re experiencing hisssss hissss train shhhh delay. Did anyone catch that? No? Hopefully it’s not a real problem…

To read the full list, visit SFGate: The 10 types of drivers you get on BART.

One type that I would add: THE ALMOST-BUT-NOT-QUITE-ER You know the one—can’t quite get the train to line up with those black squares on the platform. Takes way too long to open the doors after pulling into the station.

If you’ve got any archetypal BART operators not yet named, share with the group!

Photo by Adam McLane

An illustration of things the N-Judah does that I like

yiang thijngs i like n judah muni

Muni rider Yian lives right by the N-Judah and created this pretty illustration about some of the things that the N-Judah does for her, aside from getting her around town. She says:

Here’s an ode to my (very loud and much beloved) San Francisco neighbor, the N Judah. The community building exercises are in reference to the many occasions when riders have had to get off and move cars out of its way. And my races with the N have often resulted in my victory.

Click here to see the illustration in detail.

We have a couple of rider-documented instances of the community-building, car-lifting exercise Yian refers to. Here’s real-life evidence of superhero Muni riders moving a car out of the N-Judah’s way. Seems it happens all too frequently …

Thanks to Yian for sending this to us.

Got your own artistic interpretation of life on public transit? Our inbox is open! muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com

Muni station agent surprises kid with birthday gift

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Muni station agent Deborah Smith-Ross sees Elijah and his mom come through her station all the time, and when Elijah’s birthday came around, the Smith-Ross got permission from Elijah’s mom to surprise him with a sweet gift.

KTVU’s Frank Sommerville found her post, in which she said:

Meet my friend Elijah, today is his 8th birthday. He comes thru my station daily with his mom going to school. A month ago he told me his birthday was 10/28. Everyday we would count how many days till his big day. Well something was put on my heart to make this day special. I asked his mom if it was OK to give him a gift.

Elijah’s smile says it all.

Muni operators’ random acts of kindness can really make your day. Here’s a couple more:

A surprise party on the delayed 33-Stanyan
The day my Muni driver stopped the bus (and everyone loved him for it)

Instagram Photographer Crush: David Root

bart puppy by david root

Instagram is a lot more than pictures of air-brushed macaroons and latte art in soft focus, and every day we meet photographers who do our city proud. Today’s Instagram photographer crush is David Root, who posts carefully selected black and white photos of San Francisco that show the tender and gritty moments we all see, feel, and know daily. We caught up with David to chat about taking photos in San Francisco. Follow him on Instagram at @david_r00t.

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Best SF Halloween costumes: from Muni stroller to Muni drivers

bus zombies by emma_rkg

Too hung over to recall what happened Saturday night? Let us recap it for you. Here are the best Halloween costumes we saw on Muni this weekend. I threw one in there that’s not actually Halloween, but just another day on Muni. See if you can guess which one.

In the photo above by @emma_rkg, the zombie apocalypse has hit Muni. As expected, other passengers look pretty indifferent.

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