Category: News

Photo by Jeremy Brooks

Never underestimate the multi-tasking abilities of a big city bus driver. And there are few better examples, perhaps, than Ephraim Henry, a New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus driver who authorities say pulled over his bus last month to stab a man believed to have been sleeping with Henry’s wife. According to the New York Daily News, Henry, 30, was headed on an empty bus back to a bus depot in Queens when he spotted Oscar Williams, 48, driving a Honda. Both men slammed on their brakes, got out of their vehicles and began to fight. During the scuffle, Henry allegedly pulled out a pocketknife and jabbed Williams in the arm.

Henry was later booked on suspicion of assault and criminal possession of a weapon. A source told the paper that Henry had some disciplinary issues on the job, noting “I wouldn’t say he was a stellar employee.”

Guess we can feel grateful when our Muni driver just stops randomly simply to pee.

h/t: Gawker

Remember how fun it is to drink? Now you can do so with fellow transit enthusiasts and celebrate last week’s defeat of a nasty, anti-public transit proposition.

The SF Transit Riders Union is hosting a “pub”lic transit crawl (get it? get it?). They’ve cleverly dubbed this one “To L and Back,” as it will take place at various points along the L-Taraval line.

Here’s the schedule:
6 p.m.: The Residence, 718 14th St at Market and Church (Near Church Station)
7 p.m.: Philosopher’s Club, 824 Ulloa St at West Portal (Near West Portal Station)
8 p.m.: Parkside Tavern, 1940 Taraval at 30th Ave
9 p.m.: Riptide, 3639 Taraval St at 47th ave
~10 p.m.: L Taraval into the night

And here’s the nifty pricing plan:
$40 = 1 year of Membership + 4 drink/raffle tickets
$30 = 4 drink/raffle tickets
$24 = 3 drink/raffle tickets
$18 = 2 drink/raffle tickets
$10 = 1 drink/raffle ticket
$ 0 = come along for the ride, all you need is your bus pass!

Read more about “To L and Back” at SFTRU’s website.

Photo by Jeremy Brooks

• Sunset Tunnel Track Work Began Last Friday (Hoodline)
• Nick Josefowitz Unseats 24 Year Incumbent James Fang With Promises Of Late Night BART Trains (SF Appeal)
• SFMTA Wants Stop Lights, Not Signs, To Keep Muni’s 5-Fulton Moving (Streetsblog SF)
• SFMTA hit with $140,000 damage bill in World Series celebrations (SF Examiner)
• Not Your Ordinary GPS—Tracking Your Ride (SFMTA’s Moving SF Blog)

Here are results of the three transportation-related measures on yesterday’s San Francisco ballot, via the Department of Elections (PDF):

Prop A: San Francisco Transportation and Road Improvement Bond
Yes 110,153 71.23%
No 44,488 28.77%

Prop B: Adjusting Transportation Funding for Population Growth
Yes 93,289 61.14%
No 59,305 38.86%

Prop L: Policy Regarding Transportation Priorities
Yes 57,168 37.67%
No 94,572 62.33%

And up above: A dog in a backpack on Muni. Previously: Cat in a backpack on Muni.

h/t Muni rider M Rioux

Join us at Muni Diaries Live this Saturday, Nov. 8, for a night of true, hilarious, weird, and sweet stories that can only happen on Muni! Grab a ticket and we’ll see you there!

Photo by Takashi Hososhima

Heading to the polls today? We should hope so! There are three transit-related measures on today’s ballot. How did you vote on these?

Prop A: San Francisco Transportation and Road Improvement Bond. ballot text
StreetsblogSF on A: “A promising step toward building out the safe, reliable networks for transit, walking, and biking that San Franciscans need.”

San Francisco Chronicle on A: “If you ride Muni — a category that includes just about everyone — then the idea of better service should interest you. This measure would spend $500 million to dent a $10 billion-plus backlog of improvements. The bond measure has money for street repaving, repair yard upgrades, and more transit and bicycle lanes.”
Read more