Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Icing is so 2010. The cool kids this year are all about planking. They’re planking on Muni. And they’re planking on Caltrain, as captured by rider and Twitter user Scott Brown (above).
Riders of Muni, BART, and Caltrain, we’re issuing you a challenge: Email us your planking photos to us. We’ll post them next week and crown one lucky transit system the best for planking.
Now, go forth and Plank!
Photo by Franciscophile
We got word from the interns at SFMTA that they are conducting a research survey for people age 18 and up on their experience and opinion about transitioning to adult fares.
My memories of paying for youth prices for anything has faded far back in the recess of my mind, but if you are a young person who just started paying adult fare, or if you just have something to say about Muni (and we know you always do), you can give SFMTA a piece of your mind.
The deadline for the survey is Tuesday, July 26. The survey is anonymous and the interns promise it takes less than two minutes to complete.
Photo by SFBC Operations
Current Public Works Director Ed Reiskin is the new executive director of SFMTA, the agency that oversees Muni. Reiskin steps into the job recently vacated by the infamous Nat Ford, everyone’s favorite Muni punching bag. We’re not envious of the task ahead for Reiskin, but what we’ve read about him bodes well.
Here’s what Streetsblog SF has to say about Ed:
Reiskin, a bicyclist and Muni rider who is widely respected by his staff, supervisors and transit advocates, was first appointed to head the SFDPW in 2008 by former Mayor Gavin Newsom, and current Mayor Ed Lee, who was city administrator.
Did you catch that? Dude actually rides Muni. Wise people held this as a prime criteria for the next Muni director.
Other coverage of Reiskin: Examiner, SF Weekly, SFGate, SF Appeal.
What do you think? Are you pleased with this pick for the next Muni chief?
Last week, we introduced you to Cheap Girl Draws, someone we found on Twitter who makes really cool drawings of people and things on the bus. As promised, the human behind Cheap Girl sent along many more images for us. Here are just a couple of teasers. Be on the lookout for more in the coming days and weeks.
Photo by Flickr user jen_maiser
A couple weeks ago, rider Martha told us about a 49-Van Ness that smelled like basil, which was noteworthy because the 49 never smells like something you’d want to eat.
“Muni smells like…” actually shows up a lot on the @munidiaries Twitter feed. Here are our recent favorites.
Yummy
@jessicasuzette: #Muni smelled like strawberries, somebody went to #farmersmarket love clean trains.
Could go either way
@WillieFDiazSF: Someone on this Muni bus smells like Hot Dog juice. Makes me wanna have a BBQ.
@jdaisy: this LTaraval smells like fish AND chips.
The Bad
@cache_theory: the smells of the #sfmuni…urine & moth balls
@RGreenberg: Guy just got on #muni smelling like week-old pants, and fertilizer.
The Optimistic
@fsquared: This bus smells like pancakes and syrup. #wishfulthinking #muni
We’re constantly impressed by your creativity and the, um, evocative descriptions you send. So keep ’em comin’!
Photo by Telstar Logistics
Joshua Kwan is moving to New York, but before he leaves, Muni gave him a surprisingly awesome parting memory.
Even before I got on, I knew it was unlike any other bus I’d ridden in San Francisco. At the initial stop on the north side of 5th St. at Market, there wasn’t a crowd clustered around the stop waiting. Instead, there was a civilized line of commuters waiting to get on.
I thought I was going to miss the last bus, but I was saved by the inevitable (even for this line) rush hour Muni delay. When the bus came it filled up and I started watching it pull off onto Market, then Turk.
Side note: Actually, in true Muni style, the bus that I got on turned out to be the second-to-last one: it was actually 16 minutes late. I noticed this when a totally empty 16X pulled up alongside us on Fell — at which point all the riders kind of looked at each other for a second and grinned, a precious moment.
The first thing that got me about the 16X was the complete absence of the typical Muni jokers — people listening to music loudly on phones and teenagers trying to look tough with their friends. Instead, a few women were chatting about what they’d bought for dinner and how fresh their vegetables were. A man was snoring after a hard day’s work. Another woman was finishing up her paperwork. Total peace.
The second thing I noticed was that this driver was a pro. He would honk ahead of stops to see if people were actually interested in getting on, and if not, he would breeze by. Conversely, he would stop in between stops if he found someone who wanted to get on and it wouldn’t be too big of a delay.
The third thing is that really, the stops were totally secret, which I find to be common with Muni express buses. They were in the middle of the block and most of the downtown stops did not have shelters or even signs on poles announcing that this place was a stop. Only the splash of yellow paint and black stencil on the utility pole – and then again only at some stops – announced to me that this was indeed a Muni stop.
So you can imagine that I felt like I had inducted myself into a secret Muni commuters’ club — business class Muni, if you will, where the riders are courteous, the driver rocks, the stops are secret, and the ride is blazingly fast. I made it from 5th Street and Market to Lincoln and 9th Ave in 20 minutes flat at the peak of rush hour. On a bus. That’s good by *private car* standards.
So, rock on, Muni. And farewell, because I hear the buses in NYC suck compared to you. (But their Metro is better. Don’t take it personally, OK?)
How sweet of Joshua. And yes, you’re better of going underground in NYC.