Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Photo by Thomas Hawk
Photo via SF Examiner
The SFMTA is testing new train cars with fewer seats in order to fit more passengers. The new test train cars on the N-Judah have seven seats in the front instead of 14, as seen in the photo above, as reported by the San Francisco Examiner.
“Normally on the aisle of the light-rail vehicle it allows for two rows of people, and no one can get in between them,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who that morning boarded the re-configured car at Ninth and Irving streets. “Now you have people holding on to the handrail and an entire row of people could file in between them. To me it seems positive.”
The idea, which Wiener first pushed for in 2011, is that two more people can fit aboard a train for every seat that’s removed. In this case, the change adds space for 10 more riders.
The single car with reconfigured seats is being deployed as part of a pilot program the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is using to gather rider feedback.
You’ll see the new train cars on the N-Judah this month, then on the L-Taraval until June 13. The SFMTA could reconfigure more train cars depending on feedback of the test.
Let’s hope Captain Morgan still finds a place to leave his foot.
Images by anawakas
Graffiti is kinda like cilantro: People feel strongly one way or the other about it. Say what you will, this GIF of some dudes tagging the outside of a Muni bus is neat. The GIF, I mean. Thanks, Internet.
If that doesn’t do it for you, how about these street-art-style renderings of Muni itself?
Via Muni rider Danya
Via Muni rider Danya
Neat.
Muni Diaries Live alum Hiya Swanhuyser spotted a bit of simple, clever adolescent humor* recently. Go ahead: tee hee the day away.
Check out Hiya and others at Muni Diaries Live in August 2012.
Image via the Twitter
* Of which we wholeheartedly approve.
BART rider Jessica W. took the train to her meetings yesterday and happened upon a really great surprise.
As my reward for taking BART I got a live dance performance on the trip back. Nothing unites a train full of people like some Michael Jackson music and moves. Thanks to these talented boys; keep dancing! impressive moves and were full of good energy. As someone who rarely takes BART it totally made my day.
We’re pretty sure that these guys are a group called Bay Area Street Dancers. Here’s a video of the dancers and their double-jointed, amazing moves that a different rider recorded earlier in the year.
And another one to Bruno Mars:
Photo by Daniel Hoherd
Editor’s Note: Ricardo M. was a Muni driver from 1981-1988. Originally trained on the LRVs, he spent six months at the Metro Division operating the K, L, M, N Lines. In the seven years that he worked as a Muni driver, he drove just about all the trolley buses such as the 41, 21, 6, and others. Ricardo sends us this story about a day in the life of a rookie driver.
Driving north on Mission Street, I came up to this rookie bus driver running a “double-header,” slow and late. The rookie and his bus should have been about 10 blocks ahead of me. As a result, his bus was bursting at the seams, and my bus was almost empty.
We arrived at the 22nd Street bus stop together, him in the lead, me and my bus right on his tail. There were a lot of people waiting, and they looked angry and irritable. As soon as the buses stopped (he in the zone and me double parked behind him) the people waiting ran and jumped on his bus.
Here was this poor sap doing all the work for both of us. And now he was making me late too. Through my rear view mirror, I could see another trolley bus about five blocks back. I blew my horn at the rookie, and when he stuck his head out the side window, I called out to him:
“Hey, man, you’re making everyone late. Skip stops! Don’t stop for anyone in the betweens.”
The rookie made a face at me like he didn’t understand, but then he closed his doors and pulled his bus out into the traffic. He went past the 23rd Street stop and double-parked about half a block before the 24th Street intersection and started unloading passengers in the middle of the street.
Obviously, this goes against all the operating Muni rules, and, it didn’t work. The ten people or so waiting at the 24th Street Zone ran into the street heading for his bus.
Just as they were closing in on the rookie’s bus, the rookie slammed his doors shut and pulled his bus into the second lane, away from the running pedestrians. He left them standing there, in the middle of the street, stunned, confused, and completely pissed off. I wanted to pull my bus into the zone, but I couldn’t, that same group of people was blocking my way.
So I opened my doors. As they started boarding my bus, every one of them had something to say. “Did you see that?” one passenger asked as she went up the steps, “He just took off and left us standing in the middle of the street.”
“That’s what he was supposed to do, lady. That’s why I’m here–to pick you all up.”
But another passenger was not so polite: “What the hell do you mean? Man, you bus drivers are all a bunch of assholes.”
“Yes, sir,” I tried to calm the man down, but he wouldn’t let it go.
“I’m going to report you, you idiots.”
I could have explained, but I knew it wasn’t going to matter. The hype was up, and when the hype is up there’s really nothing you can do to stop it.
At times like this, the only thing a bus driver can do is to just sit tight and take all the shit as best as he or she can take it. Hold your breath until the stink passes by.
“Goddamned government employees!”
“I’m going to report you too, you son-of-a-bitches.”
What could I have said?
“Yes, sir. Yes, man. Have a nice day.”
Here’s Ricardo’s story about a wheelchair cowboy. Got stories of your own? Send them to muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com!