Category: News

Update (10:05 a.m.): And the results are in, per @DavidChiu:

Final #SFTransitRace order: 1) David, Bicycle, 10min | 2) Cab-$8 21min | 3) Car-$10 parking 22min 4) Underground #Muni 25min | 5) Streetcar 30min 6) Walking 35 minutes.#SFMayor

Muni, fourth place? Ah, we’ll take it. At least we beat … walking.

Original post: Mayoral candidate David Chiu is set to race four of his volunteers and his campaign mascot “Chiubacca” this morning at 9 a.m. to see what’s fastest: bike, underground Muni, street car Muni, taxi, or walking. The press release said that the race starts at the Polk steps of City Hall and ends at the Ferry Building. Chiu will be on his bicycle, but it wasn’t clear whether Chiubacca will be taking Muni, so if you’re on transit and you spot the furry political beast, tweet at us and let us know.

The campaign staff says that Chiu is a regular cyclist, but even if he weren’t, it’s pretty obvious who’s going to win this race, right? Unless Chiubacca decides to get on a motorcycle, Chiu’s probably going to be waiting at the Ferry Building for the Muni-taking volunteers.

Photo by chainsmokingbluemonkey

• Anonymous Says Protests to Continue Unless BART Cops Are Stripped of Guns, Chief Fired (SF Weekly)
• BART proposes adjusting Senior, Disabled and Youth fares downward (BART.gov)
• Protests do little to scare off commuters at SF BART stations (SF Examiner)
• BART Board Faces Few Critics At Meeting To Discuss Cell Phone Block Policy (SF Appeal)
• SFPD Releases Details On Those Arrested In Last Week’s BART Protests, Vows “Quicker” Response Next Week (SF Appeal)
• Muni looks at clearing all bus driver route picks (SFGate)
• BART protest costs spilling over to Muni operations (SF Examiner)
• Man Walking In Caltrain Tunnel Near SF Disrupts Service For 50 Minutes (SF Appeal)

Photo by Benjamin Soto

• A Plan to Improve Muni (Dennis Herrera for Mayor)
• Caltrain could share tracks with high-speed rail (SFGate)
• Ridership up, but so are fares nationwide (Rescue Muni)
• Teen Robbed On Muni, Second Teen Robbed While Trying To Call Police (SF Appeal)
• BART director says first phase of Livermore BART extension should proceed ASAP (SJ Mercury News)
• Emily Dunn Identified as Pedestrian Killed by Muni Shuttle in Castro (SF Weekly)
• Muni driver in fatal crash may have violated protocol (SFGate)
• Phil Ting’s Reset SF hosts Muni panel discussion tonight (Reset SF)
• 40 Arrested In BART Protest Monday Night, Another Demonstration Planned For Next Week (SF Appeal)
• Fed-up commuters battle BART protesters (SF Examiner)
• Muni transit director John Haley to give TEP update Wednesday (SF Examiner)

Follow SMT Rail on Twitter

We can dream, can’t we? SMT Rail is a Silicon Valley-based company with a proposal to solve mass transit problems in cities around the world. The idea is rather simple: Put the vehicles above street traffic. And the proposal isn’t to raise the system aboveground in certain locations, as BART does with elevated rails in the southern part of San Francisco. Nay, SMT wants the whole damn thing up above our heads.

Watch the demo above (apologies in advance about the soundtrack?) or visit SMT Rail’s website for more details. And tell us: If Muni were to implement such a system (forgetting how much it would cost to build), how exactly would they screw it up?

Update (Sunday, 10:35 a.m.): The pedestrian hit and killed by a Muni shuttle bus on Friday has been identified. SF Appeal has the story.

Update (4:41 p.m.): Dispelling Twitter rumors that the bus in question had been hijacked, @KristinHanes of KGO tweets: “A Muni bus that hit and killed a woman was not stolen, according to SFPD. It was an F line shuttle. Cc @kgoradio http://t.co/NXAsXXL”

Update (3:06 p.m.): @LaronZampf of NBC News has some photos of the scene. The bus in question appears to be a shuttle, not a 33-Stanyan as some have reported.

Update (3:02 p.m.): Per @KCBSNews: “UPDATE on Muni accident: KCBS’ Tim Ryan reports that female pedestrian struck by bus has been killed, 18th and Hartford in the Castro.”

Original post: We’re seeing tweets about a pedestrian-involved Muni accidents in the Castro at 18th and Hartford streets. We’ll do our best to update this post as details emerge.

@KCBSTraffic: “18th St. at Hartford. A Muni Bus has been involved in a crash with a pedestrian and other vehicles. Expect major delays.”