Muni Diaries

Photo by shandopics

We’re in disbelief. A lot of stuff going on right now that leaves us overwhelmed. For one, the clouds and rain have finally lifted, and the sunshine and warmth are pouring in. The SF Giants season is officially under way (never mind last night’s final exhibition game opening night loss to the Dodgers). And, finally, Muni Diaries will be celebrating three years online this Sunday. Yeah, we can’t believe it either.

And a couple more things we can’t believe … well, you know about that already, right? Yeah, you shouldn’t believe them either, because they’re not true.

And so here you go, a no joke roundup of this week’s Muni news:

• Nat Ford Under Fire for Absences and Muni’s Many Woes (The Bay Citizen)
• Area transit agencies are going the wrong way on a one-way track (SF Examiner)
• Man vs. Muni: SF reporter out for revenge takes on 24-Divisadero (SF Examiner)
• Woman fights off attacker on Muni, keeps her purse (SF Examiner)
• Central Subway design in San Francisco deemed inefficient, unsafe (SF Examiner)
• Muni looks to improve J-Church service with evenly timed trains (SF Examiner)
• J-Church, 14-Mission Reliability Improving But Riders Aren’t Seeing It (Streetsblog SF)
• Exclusive Narrated Streetcar Tour May 22 (Market Street Railway)
• Clipper Card Query: Will Failing to Tag Your Monthly Pass Get You Dinged? (SF Weekly)
• Muni chief Nat Ford’s job status still a matter of speculation (SFGate)
• SF Seeks Feedback On America’s Cup Transportation Plan (BCN via SF Appeal)
• America’s Cup Plan Includes E-line Service, Mentions Fort Mason Extension (Market Street Railway)

Enjoy these photos and your weekend. Don’t let a little rain shower get you down. See you next week, as we kick off Year 4 of Muni Diaries!

Photo by jb_brooke

Photo by Telstar Logistics

Photo by franciscophile

Photo by j@ys0n

Photo by Lambert Wolterbeek Muller

In the face of a nationwide child obesity epidemic, the San Francisco Unified School District announced Thursday that it will start a new fitness program involving another city agency — SFMTA (which runs Muni). The new program, called MuniFit, aims to integrate urban activities such as sprinting across platforms, running after buses, and scaling the top of the bus, much like San Francisco Giants fans did during 2010’s World Series run.

San Francisco schools plan to integrate the program in physical education classes starting this fall.

A spokesperson from the SFUSD said that MuniFit is designed to improve children’s attitude toward exercising by combining exercise with activities that young people are already familiar with, such as out-walking the bus.

SFMTA and SFUSD officials say that they hope MuniFit will become popular with adults, not just children. The program, officials say, has the potential to become a citywide fitness trend. A source at the SFMTA told Muni Diaries that once the program catches on with San Francisco residents, it can even make Muni safer. After all, the federal government has recently said that it may consider revising safety rules for buses because of the increase in expected weight for overweight passengers.

At its current speed of travel, Muni can be an effective fitness program component. Trainers who designed the MuniFit program say that an average adult can burn off 1,000 calories (approximately the amount of calories in half of a burrito or five tablespoons of maple bacon latte from Pirat Cat Radio) with 50 minutes of MuniFit activities.

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