Category: News

Update (10:22 a.m., next day): We heard from SFMTA again. This time, Ms. Holland added that the important reason pass holders to tag is for the driver to have an auditory cue that you have paid. Otherwise when you board the bus, the driver can’t tell whether you have a valid Fast Pass on your Clipper card or not. You won’t be cited if you didn’t tag. But the driver can ask you to tag so they can know whether you need to pay.

Update: We just heard back from SFMTA spokesperson Kristen Holland, who told us that while it is a good idea to always tag your Clipper card, you will not be cited for not tagging if your Clipper card has a valid monthly Fast Pass. But at the beginning of the month, always check to make sure that your monthly Fast Pass has been loaded onto your Clipper card because you don’t want to be caught empty-carded!

Original post: Muni rider Mepe wants to get something off her chest:

Wanted to share my husband’s experience recently on the N-Judah. He is a monthly Fast Pass holder who may not always tag his card (because the ride is covered, right?). Recently, he was accosted by the really mean lady fare inspector (the one who takes her job way too seriously) who made an example of him because he didn’t tag his card/monthly Fast Pass when he got on. She said you have to tag with a Fast Pass or get cited, which will start soon. Has anybody else heard about this? Can Muni really issue a citation to somebody who has paid for the month?

While we hope Mepe’s husband wasn’t cited, it’s our understanding that for some time now, all passengers have been compelled to show proof of payment. It kinda just seems like the right thing to do.

Because paper Fast Passes were phased out over a period of several months, the Clipper website says that pass holders should tag when they board Muni vehicles as proof of payment.

See update above.

While SFMTA says you won’t be cited for not tagging if you have a valid Fast Pass on your Clipper card, it’s still a good idea to tage and make sure that your Clipper card is valid. Nobody wants to be made a lesson of. So, all you Muni riders who have their passes on Clipper cards, don’t forget: Tag when you board Muni!

Photo by Alfredo Mendez

Sex crimes on public transportation might be “vastly underreported,” according to a report from the Bay Citizen Saturday.

BART, the San Francisco Municipal Railway and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit together had 370 million riders last year on buses, trains and trolleys that cover San Francisco, the East Bay and beyond. The police documented 95 sex crimes on those three public transit systems, including 35 cases of indecent exposure, often masturbation; 25 cases of sexual battery, which includes groping; one rape; and other unwanted lewd behavior. Forty arrests were made.

Those numbers are surprisingly low given the ridership, said Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, associate dean at the University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs, who has studied sex crimes on public transit. The actual number of sex crimes on public transit is most likely much higher, she said.

Twice now I have been on the 49-Van Ness when a male passenger boards the bus, sits very close to me, and “falls asleep” with his arm on my hip bone. At first you want to think it’s just an accident, then it becomes totally infuriating and frustrating.

Read more

Photo by fchrist2 (this is not the bus in question)

A piece of the overhead equipment on a Muni bus flew off and smashed right into the third floor window of a Financial District building last night, reports SF Appeal and Bay City News.

Whoa. What.

A bus was traveling nearby when a “shoe,” the piece of equipment that connects the vehicle to overhead wires, got caught in a guide wire, creating a spring action that sent the equipment flying into the building, [SFMTA spokesperson Paul] Rose said.

The projectile just missed the employees, according to the SF Appeal report, but no one was hurt.

Has this happened before? Rarely, Rose says. Head over to the SF Appeal for details.

Video via SFPD

Officers at the SFPD Mission Station just told us about yet another Muni robbery. They’ve provided the video above and closeup photos of the suspect on the SFPD Mission Station website. As you can see from the video, the victim was sitting by the back door when the suspect reached over and exited through the back door. This happened on 16th Street and Mission Street on Jan. 25, according to the SFPD. Items taken from the victim include: a camera lens, camera flash backpack, and North Face jacket.

If you have more information about this robbery, the SFPD has asked that you contact SGT George Ferraez at (415) 558-5400.

Be careful out there!

Photo by torbakhopper

• Bay Area Transportation Agency Seeks Transit-Savvy Teens For Paid Internships (SF Appeal)
• BART ridership during westbound Bay Bridge closure (BART.gov)
• Private Shuttle Buses Sharing Muni Stops (SF Appeal)
• SF Launches Innovative Muni History Exhibit To Celebrate 100 Years (The Mayor’s Office)
• BART officer cleared in shooting of homeless man (SFGate)
• Supes Should Rethink Kids’ Free Muni Rides (SF Weekly) See Muni Diaries coverage of this issue here
• BART Cops To Get Devices To “improve behavior of all parties during police interactions” (SF Appeal)
• SFMTA to hold a series town hall-style meetings on budget (City Insider)

Photo by Katieswall

New Muni service cuts may be on the table for discussion as SFMTA tried to figure out how to bridge its budget deficit, reports SF Appeal. The agency has just approved sprucing up 80 aging buses (via the Examiner). That project costs $12 million — with $12 million in federal and local funding, SFMTA is still $9 million short. SFMTA’s budget deficit shrank this fiscal year, but the agency is still looking at service cuts as an option.

According to SF Appeal:

The transit agency is looking at $19.6 million budget deficit for the new fiscal year, beginning this July, which means that the SFMTA is again considering “right-sizing its service,” as Reiskin described it at the MTA Board meeting Tuesday.

According to the Ex, Tom Nolan, president of the agency’s board of directors, said that potential service reductions seem “like a really good option.”

Muni cut service by 10% in 2010, which led, they say, to savings of $28.8 million. About half of those cuts, they say, were eventually restored.

Hmm. “Right-sizing.” The San Francisco Chronicle also has more on the budget deficit that SFMTA faces this year.

We’ll keep you updated.