Category: News

Photo by David Lytle

By the time you return from your weekend of fun, a little more than half of the Muni service cuts you saw in May will be restored. In other Muni news:

• ‘Ambassadors’ place extra eyes on Muni (SF Examiner)
• Time for Muni drivers to pay to park (Matier and Ross on SFGate)
• Pier 70 Development: Streetcars Included? (Market Street Railway blog)
• SFMTA restores service Sept. 4 (tomorrow!) (SFMTA)
• Muni Accepts Gun Group’s Poster Promoting Use of Firearms (SF Weekly)
• Central Subway Public Art Program Announces Winners (Central Subway Blog)
• Dean Clark, District 6 Supervisor Candidate, Responds to Muni Questionnaire (Muni Rider Voter Guide)
• Muni overhead pole spears sightseeing bus (SF Examiner)
• 43 Masonic Catches Fire (Bay City News via SF Appeal)
• West Portal Muni Construction Project Almost Done (Bay City News via SF Appeal)
• Muni operators’ legal strategy could stall service reductions (City Insider on SFGate)

Oh, and ready or not, you’re in for a few weeks of Muni Diaries without Jeff, who is going on his honeymoon with the lovely Tara!

See how cute and transit-obsessed they are?

So, if you see something noteworthy on Muni, remember to share it with your fellow riders here. Don’t leave me hanging, y’all.

Enjoy the photos and your weekend!

Photo by Stephen Rees

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Photo by Lorena

Photo by Josh Lee

Photo by Troy Holden

Photo by Flickr user Anita Hart

This Saturday SFMTA is restoring 61 percent of the May service cuts, which means that you’ll see more frequent late-night runs, Owl service every 30 minutes instead of an hour, and more buses  on some of the busy lines. The lines that were eliminated in May aren’t coming back, but this should still make life easier on a lot of us, judging from the comments we got when the service cuts were first instituted:

Getting on the 22 in the morning feels like diving into a mosh pit. You just have to hope you don’t get tossed back out and that one of your legs isn’t still sticking out the door. I have never seen it so crowded as its been this week and they just keep packing people on. – Katy

I felt really bad this morning. The 21 was packed because the first bus that gets people to work around 8 didn’t show up…We must have passed over 60 people on the street waiting in crowds for the bus. – Alice E

You can see details about time and frequency changes in this pdf document from SFMTA. SFMTA says that they are working with the mayor and the supervisors to restore all the service cuts, the Examiner reports.

Photo by Flickr user tbn97

Update 11:17 a.m., Sunday: SFGate reports that police have ruled the death a suicide. The Muni operator will not be held responsible.

A man was fatally hit by a Muni bus Saturday evening on Market and Van Ness, according to the San Francisco Examiner and reports on Twitter. A witness told the Examiner Bay City News that he saw the victim lunge in front of the bus:

Joe Kimbro, a witness who was riding the bus at the time of the accident, said he saw the man lunge in front of the bus as it drove toward the bus stop on South Van Ness Avenue.

“He meant to do what he did. He dove,” Kimbro said. He was sitting in a disabled seat in the bus when the accident happened

The gruesome accident left a pool of blood on the pavement. Read more at the San Francisco Examiner and also SF Appeal.

Other witnesses say that the man intentionally stepped in front of the bus, reports California Beat. ActionNewsSF also has photos of the scene as police taped off the area.

On Twitter, @BrianVanderpol said:

Just got a glimpse of a victim of a muni accident at Van Ness and Market. The wind blew the blanket off. I’m not ok.

We’ll keep you updated.

Photo by Flickr user katiemarinascott

“The nightmare is over.” L-operator upon reaching Embarcadero.

When reader Ben sent us the above short email, I had to laugh. We know it’s not all that bad, though. Rachel from Fog City Notes shared a story of hilarity with fare inspectors this week, and we’re still trying to solve the mystery of why people do what they do when they wait for the bus. A big part of our urban existence happens on public transportation, so the next time you say to someone, “So I was on the bus today…” don’t forget to share that story with us.

Meanwhile, in Muni news:

• Yes on Proposition G Headquarters Opens in the Castro — Fix Muni Now Kicks Off (SF Citizen)
• Muni operators onboard, albeit begrudgingly, for service restoration plan (SF Examiner)
• Some historic streetcars could return to the N-Judah line (Market Street Railway Blog)
• Central Subway travel times disputed (SF Examiner)
• Teen Suspect In Muni Gay Bashing Arrested (SF Appeal)
• Muni chief urges riders to support federal transit funding (Examiner’s Under the Dome blog)
• BART board decides not to increase fares (BCN via SF Appeal)
• Protective streetcar shelter at Geneva nears completion (Market Street Railway)
• Pot Ads on Muni? They’re Already on BART — So Why Not? (SF Weekly)
• Dennis Herrera Running for Mayor (SFist)

Enjoy these photos and your weekend!

Photo by Flickr user Roshan Vyas

Photo by Flickr user David Lytle

Photo by Flickr user eviloars