Muni Diaries

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.”
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Image courtesy StreetsblogSF (click to embiggen)

There’s a new Muni map, you guys. StreetsblogSF has the story:

The complex web of San Francisco’s 82 municipal transit lines has been made more legible through a sleek new layout that will grace Muni shelters early next year. As we wrote in June, the map was developed over ten years by two volunteer cartographers, David Wiggins and Jay Primus, who also happens to be the former manager of SFPark.

The map “helps visualize the service hierarchy,” making it clear “where there’s more service, and where there’s less service,” as Muni’s operations planning and scheduling manager, Julie Kirschbaum, put it in June.

Read more over at StreetsblogSF. Still looks pretty confusing, but how else are you gonna manage such a mess?

Let us know what you think of the new map in the comments below.

Join us at Muni Diaries Live on 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 Jamison Wieser

So, the Giants won the World Series. Teams that accomplish this rare* feat typically hold parades in their hometown so that their fans can: stand/sit around for hours hoping for a chance to see their heroes in the flesh; actually experience confetti.

* if by rare you consider that this will be the third such parade in San Francisco in the last five years hey-oh!

The Giants’ World Series parade is happening at noon today, you guys. Here are the details and how they will affect Muni service:

A parade and celebration will honor the World Champion San Francisco Giants along Market Street and at San Francisco’s Civic Center tomorrow afternoon. Baseball fans are encouraged to celebrate safely. To facilitate an enjoyable experience for all, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all transportation in the city, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), is encouraging attendees to ride public transportation to and from the World Series celebration.
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Photo courtesy Market Street Railway

(We interrupt your Giants hangover to bring you this important notification.)

Who doesn’t love old buses? Look at those cute suckers up there.

Our friends at Market Street Railway clued us in on this weekend’s Muni Heritage events. “Along with the historic buses, special streetcars and cable cars will operate on Muni Heritage weekend as well, and there’ll be a number of events in the plaza across from the museum: music from a Muni combo; young actress Johnnae Saunders as Maya Angelou, 16-year old San Francisco streetcar conductor; cable car bell ringing exhibitions; chances for kids to color their own historic streetcar and ring that actual cable car bell; special transportation book and memorabilia sales, and much more.”

From SFMTA’s press release:

During Muni Heritage Weekend, visitors will be able to ride and view historic streetcars, cable cars and buses that are rarely seen on city streets. In addition to these vintage vehicles from around the world, there will be exhibits, children’s activities, cable car bell ringing demonstrations, live music… and much more.

Free gift bags that include passes, memberships, gifts and discounts from sponsors such as PIER 39, Ghirardelli Chocolate, the Exploratorium, SF Conservatory of Flowers and the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums are valued at $150 and will go to the first 100 families each day. Also enter a raffle to win one of five Muni Heritage Premiere Prizes.

SFMTA has more info over at their website.

If you go, please to send us your photos of these awesome little ol’ fellas.

Join us at Muni Diaries Live on 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!