Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
We found this great wedding shot on Instagram by Mariel Villaluz, who photographed the beautiful bride and groom at the Muni stop. I love that the groom is looking to see when the bus is coming. I hope they’re not late for something important.
By the way, here’s more ideas to take your wedding (or just any party) up a notch by making everything Muni-themed (Fast Passes on little boxes of Muni-shaped chocolates? Check, check, and check).
Here’s something that us lucky San Franciscans rarely experience: 95 degree heat on the subway platform. The New York subway platform is at least 10 degrees hotter than it is outside, so on a balmy 85-degree day, poor New Yorkers endure 95-degree heat while waiting for the train. In this video, the ever-so-cheery actors at Improv Everywhere embraced the heat and turned the subway platform into a spa. Watch what happens when cranky riders happen upon an impromptu spa, with heated rock massages and infused water.
Going to the East Bay this weekend? Don’t try to take BART there. In case you missed all the posted signs at BART stations (and here), BART is closing transay train service this weekend to repair tracks near the Transbay tube, so plan on taking AC Transit or the ferry if you must get out of the city. The West Oakland station will be closed and trains will not run between West Oakland and Embarcadero.
From BART.gov:
BART will offer lifeline bus service between 19th Street in Oakland and the Temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, but the buses are intended only for those who have no other options. The buses will carry customers from 19th Street Station in Oakland to the Temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco (a 2 block walk to the Embarcadero Station) or from there back to the East Bay. There will be no additional charge for the bus. The bus bridge will cause 1 to 2 hour delays for some customers.
Accommodations will be available for people with disabilities.
There will be some shuttle buses from West Oakland Station, which will be closed, to the 19th Street Station for West Oakland area residents only. These shuttles will pick up and drop off during BART operating hours and will be on 15 minute headways, departing both sides (West Oakland and 19th Street) at quarter hours. No fares will be collected on this neighborhood shuttle for West Oakland residents. We are not able to keep West Oakland Station open during this work because we can not easily turn trains around from that station. With only two tracks, there would be very significant delays in the East Bay if we attempted to run trains through West Oakland during the work.
Service will resume August 3. BART plans another closure to repair the tracks over Labor Day weekend.
Photo by jlotto415.
Do you like history? I like history.
Peter Hartlaub, Muni Diaries Live veteran and Chronicle writer, sends us the harrowing 1913 tale of a runaway streetcar, a “heavy motor truck,” and a bread wagon. No humans died, though two were injured. And the bread wagon’s horse became the first Muni fatality (that we know of). From SFGate:
“A runaway streetcar careening down three city blocks. A wagon full of bread that is obliterated into splinters and croutons. Terrified passengers, and a new driver in total control despite his massive head wound.”
Whoa! My favorite part might be that the “motorman” for Municipal Railway lived in a hotel.
Check out the post on SFGate for more exciting details. #cantmakethisup
Image courtesy SF Chronicle
The walk to pick up the bus looks normal enough. Maybe it’s because Muni rider Ileana asked to go “off the grid”?