Footloose, fancy-free, fab: SF Trolley Dances are back

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The Muni muse just keeps on giving.

Epiphany Productions’ 13th Annual San Francisco Trolley Dances are back on this weekend, Sat., Oct. 15 and Sun., Oct. 16. The admission-free festival has been dubbed “a gift to the City” by past attendees; we are always down for reminders of our thriving creative scene.

The two-day dance festival features amazingly talented performers, including members of James Graham Dance Theater and drag queen Fauxnique, sharing their art with the world in, on, and around transit in the Castro and SoMA ‘hoods.

Admission is free with Muni fare.

For more information, visit www.epiphanydance.org.

A map for all Bay Area transit

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Maps are the best, especially when us regular folks take map-making into our own hands.

Latest example: Jug Cerovic sent us the map you see above. Jug writes:

All rail options are shown + ferries and cross bay buses. Muni

is there of course. The map is schematic but close enough to geography so that you can get a feeling of scale and distances.

Check out Jug’s site for more info on how the map was made.

This map is so thorough, right? I’m sure some of you will find discrepancies or have suggested edits. If so, have at it.

Otherwise, join me in admiring Jug’s handiwork. Bravo!

Previously on Muni Diaries

Interactive map shows where SF’s streetcars used to go

Check out this visionary Muni Metro map

New map plots hotels to BART stations for transit-minded visitors

Mario BART Map Is Hella Tight

Digital underground: ‘Tron-like’ art installation coming in 2017

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It’s also pew pew and Minority Report, don’t you think?

Illuminate is an upcoming transit-oriented art installation by George Zisiadis and Stefano Corazza. It looks and sounds pretty cool: Starting in 2017, LED lights blinking overhead on Market Street will correspond to the movement of BART and Muni Metro trains underground, according to a Business Insider report.

To ask the obvious “joke not-really-a-joke, for real though…” questions: Is it just a stack of different, stationary colors at 6 p.m. rush hour? Does it go backward when the trains are late? ’cause that would not be the future I ordered.

All half-jokes aside, our transit makes a lovely muse for public art — intentional or not. Verdict: Neato, provided it’s not powered by a frighteningly sentient MCP.

Muni Diaries Live is back on Nov. 5!

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Our favorite evening of the year is back, when riders pack the Elbo Room for a little camaraderie about San Francisco life. Tickets are on sale now, so grab yours soon!

Riding the bus with a black crow on your shoulder? Eating a pint of ice cream with the butt end of a lighter on the N-Judah? Exchanging the fine points of making a perfect lumpia with your bus driver’s mom? These are just a few of the everyday delights/weirdnesses that actually happen on Muni. Come celebrate all the hilarity that can happen on public transit between Point A and Point B.

Our stellar storytellers: Read more

Get ready for traffic snarl as Van Ness BRT construction starts this month

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File this under “It’ll Get Worse Before It Gets Better.” Construction on the Van Ness BRT (bus rapid transit) is about to start this month, changing the center two lanes on Van Ness to bus-only. One block to the east, Polk Street will also undergo construction to improve sidewalks, bike lanes, and other features. The construction is set to take place mostly during week days, so you can expect traffic congestion on both streets. And in case you make the mistake of driving on Van Ness (or just … driving), there will be no left turns.

The Van Ness Improvement project‘s dedicated transit lanes will be for use by Muni and Golden Gate Transit, physically separated from “mixed traffic lanes.” There will also be new boarding islands, new traffic signals prioritizing transit, and pedestrian safety additions such as shortening crossing distances, zebra-striped sidewalks, and audible crossing signals. The SFMTA says that the Van Ness BRT “is expected to cut travel times for the 49 and 47 Muni routes by 32 percent.” Construction is expected to wrap by 2019.

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