Watch Japanese Crew Clean a Train in 7 Minutes

How fast can you clean a Muni or BART train? Dateline journalist Charli James went on the Shinkansen bullet train in Japan to film how the crew cleans the train in just 7 minutes. The crew even has a secret button to turn all the chairs around. At the Tokyo train station, 323 trains arrive daily to carry 400,000 passengers.

I can only imagine the Herculean task to clean our trains and buses, knowing what goes on the seats and floors. Is it just me, or are we all fantasizing about this for Muni and BART?

Coolest bus shelters in a tiny Austrian town

austrian bus stop1

A tiny Austrian town has built some of the most intriguing bus stops we’ve ever seen. The town of Krumbach (population 1,000) approached some international architects to design bus stops in exchange for a free vacation, and the results are pretty delightful. The bus stop above is from Ensamble Studio from Spain. More from City Lab:

Association kultur krumbach, the village’s nascent cultural organization, approached seven international architects with an unusual proposition: design a bus stop for us and we’ll give you a free vacation in Krumbach.

Every single one of them said “yes.”

By summer 2013, all the designs had been submitted and construction began. The international architects — Sou Fujimoto (Japan), Wang Shu (China), Rintala Eggertsson Architects (Norway) , Ensamble Studio (Spain), Smiljan Radic (Chile), Architecten de Vylder Vinck Taillieu (Belgium), and Alexander Brodsky (Russia) — collaborated with over 200 local designers and craftsmen to erect each distinct structure.

austrian bus stop3
Bus stop by Smiljan Radic (Chile)

See the rest of the photos at City Lab.

H/t: Muni Diaries reader Charlie L.
Photo credit: Yuri Palmin, Adolf Bereuter

Elderly woman beaten after exiting Muni bus in Chinatown

chinatown bus attack victim
Police are asking for your help in finding the assailant who attacked an elderly woman as she got off a bus in Chinatown last week. The victim’s granddaughter is also posting on social media, hoping to find the attacker who struck her grandmother on Mother’s Day, ABC7 reports.

According to police, the 77-year-old victim was struck at least twice in the head as she was getting off a Muni bus in the Chinatown area on May 10. The assault occurred sometime between noon and 2:30 p.m., possibly on Stockton Street, and the victim remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. According to police reports, the suspect was described to be a black female.

The victim’s family has agreed to release these photos to the public in hopes of finding the attacker.

Investigators believe a Good Samaritan led the injured woman away from the side of the bus after the attack and helped her sit down on the sidewalk. Police would like to talk to him or anyone else who may have witnessed the crime.

The victim is a frequent rider of the 2 Clement, 3 Jackson, 30 Stockton and the 45 Union/ Stockton lines, and often travels between the Japantown and the Chinatown.

If you have any information, email Sergeant Trevor Kelly at Trevor.Kelly@sfgov.org, the Anonymous Tip Line at (415) 575-4444.

Private bus service Leap Transit shut down by state

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Turns out Muni isn’t that easy to avoid.

After determining it was operating without the proper license, the California Public Utilities Commission has shut down private bus service Leap Transit, the pay-per-ride service that ferries commuters between the Marina and the Financial District allowing them to bypass the crowds and ickiness of Muni.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Leap had been granted its “authority to operate,” but didn’t yet have the proper license to run the bus line. Leap announced Tuesday that it has suspended its service after the CPUC sent the company a cease-and-desist letter.

The article cited a post on Leap’s Facebook page in which the company said it hopes to be “back on the road in no time.”

leap facebook update

In the meantime Leap customers, guess we’ll be seeing you all on the bus.

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