Category: News

Photo via Telegraph UK

A London tube passenger nearly suffered the most painful commute of his life last week when he discovered a scorpion hitchhiking a ride on his bag. According to the Evening Telegraph, the man was in the Victoria Station and began screaming when he spotted the arachnid, alerting London Underground staff. The creature was captured in a plastic box and has since been identified as a Centruroides, a particularly venomous species that may have come from the Carribean. The article quotes a London Zoo expert who said the discovery was bizarre and lamented the fact the scorpion “has been exposed to such a stressful situation.”

Stressful for the scorpion? I would have probably lost my lunch. Thank god we only have bedbugs on BART to deal with.

h/t Telegraph UK

Our correspondent Laura O (of @caltraindiaries) sent the photo above to us at 6:46 p.m.: May Day protesters are blocking all buses on the corner of 16th and Mission. People holding black flags and signs protesting anything from police brutality to education have taken over the intersection. The southwest entry of the 16th Street BART station is closed. Laura says that about 20 buses are blocked from passing through, and there are four people doing a sit-in at the intersection. The 14-Mission and 49-Van Ness are stuck on Van Ness and is stopping along South Van Ness instead, as of 6:58 p.m.

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It would be hard to imagine a San Francisco without cable cars. But in the early 1950s, the city nearly moved forward with plans to replace the city’s famed trolleys with buses. The fight to save the cable cars was captured in this very cool 1954 news reel that British Pathé recently uploaded to its YouTube channel along with thousands of other videos. Interesting tidbits: cable cars are “no bigger than an automobile,” and can apparently fit 120 people.

Also in the British Pathé collection is a 1946 video showing cable cars, streetcars, and motor coaches speeding around San Francisco and drivers undergoing reaction tests. Sadly, there is no sound.

Got any old photos on Muni or memories you’d like to share? Use our submission inbox or send us an email.

h/t: CurbedSF

Photo by Todd Lappin

• Muni speeds up bus trip times with new traffic light timing (SF Examiner)
• Muni equips Metro trains with safety barriers (SF Bay)
• Muni Reports Sharp Drop in Crime, Smartphone Theft (KQED)
• Muni inches forward — on-time rates improve a bit over last three months (SFGate)
• SF considers strategy to boost Muni service in low-income, minority neighborhoods (SF Examiner)
• San Francisco to Explore Boosting Late-Night Transit Options (KQED)
• How To Bring Your Backpack On Muni/BART (SFist)

Photo by lynnfriedman

In this week’s transit news:

• Muni bus catches on fire in Rincon Hill neighborhood, no passengers were onboard (KTVU)
• Alleged DUI driver arrested after crash into Muni stop (ABC Local)
• Another proposal to give us late night transit hope (SFist)
• Central subway cost controversy, reported by SF Weekly’s Joe Eskenazi (SFWeekly)
• Muni floats focus on low-income riders (SFBay)