Category: News

Photo by Franciscophile

We got word from the interns at SFMTA that they are conducting a research survey for people age 18 and up on their experience and opinion about transitioning to adult fares.

My memories of paying for youth prices for anything has faded far back in the recess of my mind, but if you are a young person who just started paying adult fare, or if you just have something to say about Muni (and we know you always do), you can give SFMTA a piece of your mind.

The deadline for the survey is Tuesday, July 26. The survey is anonymous and the interns promise it takes less than two minutes to complete.

Take the SFMTA summer survey.

Photo by SFBC Operations

Current Public Works Director Ed Reiskin is the new executive director of SFMTA, the agency that oversees Muni. Reiskin steps into the job recently vacated by the infamous Nat Ford, everyone’s favorite Muni punching bag. We’re not envious of the task ahead for Reiskin, but what we’ve read about him bodes well.

Here’s what Streetsblog SF has to say about Ed:

Reiskin, a bicyclist and Muni rider who is widely respected by his staff, supervisors and transit advocates, was first appointed to head the SFDPW in 2008 by former Mayor Gavin Newsom, and current Mayor Ed Lee, who was city administrator.

Did you catch that? Dude actually rides Muni. Wise people held this as a prime criteria for the next Muni director.

Other coverage of Reiskin: Examiner, SF Weekly, SFGate, SF Appeal.

What do you think? Are you pleased with this pick for the next Muni chief?

By now we know that the man shot by police officers after a Muni fare inspection was Kenneth Wade Harding, a Washington State parolee “sought for questioning in the slaying of a Seattle woman,” according to SFGate.

Harding was paroled in April from prison in Washington after serving time for an incident in Seattle in which he tried to force a 14-year-old girl into prostitution, court records show.

Seattle investigators were seeking Harding as a person of interest in a shooting Wednesday that killed 19-year-old Tanaya Gilbert and wounded three others, said Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.

…

Harding was stopped at 4:44 p.m. Saturday by two uniformed officers who, while patrolling Third Street between Oakdale and Palou avenues, were conducting a fare inspection on a Muni light-rail platform.

When the officers tried to talk to Harding, he ran into Mendell Plaza and fired a gun from under his arm, police said.

The officers fired back, hitting Harding, police said.

Read all the coverage of this story from the past two days:

• Muni Fare Evader Killed by SFPD Was Washington Murder Suspect (SFist)
• SF Muni Drivers Face Violent Attacks After Fatal Police Shooting (CBS Local)
• March against shooting scheduled tonight (Uptown Almanac)
• Victim in Seattle shooting linked to Kenneth Harding wasn’t pregnant (SF Examiner)
• Activists Call For FBI Investigation After SFPD Shoots And Kills Man During Muni Fare Inspection (SF Appeal)
• Man shot during police chase was murder suspect (Sacramento Bee)
• Person Of Interest Met With Parole Officer Hours Before Shooting (KIROTV)
• SFPD Says Man Killed by Police in Bayview-Hunters Point Shot First; Video of Shooting Aftermath (KQED)
• Community Reaction To SFPD Shooting Of Man During Muni Fare Inspection Continues (SF Appeal, also SFist)
• S.F.: Anger in Bayview over fatal shooting by cops (SFGate)
• Mayor, City Officials Meet With Community Members On Fatal Police Shooting (SF Appeal)
• SF police arrest 35 in protest of fatal shooting (SFGate)

See our earlier roundup of the shooting last weekend.

Photo by franciscophile

• Major Muni overhaul project could take years (SFGate)
• Lawsuit pending over ads on Muni buses (ABC 7)
• Bay Area transit agencies look to trade leaders (SFGate) | BART leaders dispel rumor (SF Examiner)
• F-Market Car 1040: Newest All Over Again (Market Street Railway)
• Muni, SF police to meet with Tenderloin residents about unsafe bus shelters (SF Examiner)
• Muni could get new chief today (SFGate)