SF Schools Ready for New Fitness Program: MuniFit

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Joggers, Tram, Early morning at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco
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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The dog as hot as Handsome Montana man and other great Muni tweets

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It’s no secret that we at Muni Diaries love animals. So naturally it caught our eye (and heartstrings) to see @pickupabook post the photo above and tweet about the “Prettiest thing I’ve seen on the Muni… Handsome Montana man excluded.” Makes us wonder what Handsome Montana man looks like.

Here are some more of our favorite Muni tweets of the past week:

“when i look in the mirror i look like a stoner with a bad cold = solo muni seat!”
by @powerboybass

“An elementary school aged child just peered over my arm to look at my Twitter feed while on #Muni. How cute and nosy!”
by @lsh

“Muni at rush hour is like playing Twister in an earthquake, except yr hands go on metal bars instead of fun colorful dots.”
by @mikemccaffrey

“The guy next to me on muni just made the young girl kiss his iguana (named Anna). Oh, sf.”
by @sfbaily

“said to me on muni: Guy: Did your lip piercing hurt Me: No Guy: I was going to say if you give me 20 I can torture you.”
by @cantaloupebeard

“Stalled on a #Muni train. What exactly do I need to do to turn this thing into a Coors Bullet Train?”
by @zachb

“drunks in orange on #Muni. Welcome to baseball season!”
by @ckblack007

Follow Muni Diaries on Twitter for the never-ending fun that is Muni on Twitter.

Category: Aww: Cute on Muni, diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags:

Paper Fast Pass Through the Years

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Image courtesy samsast

Today is the last official day to use your paper “M” Fast Pass. As always (and this practice will continue in the future), SFMTA will grant a three-day grace period at the end of the month, so the absolute, drop-dead last day you can use a March 2011 paper “M” Fast Pass is Sunday. But today is March 31, and this month’s pass is the last that the agency will distribute on paper passes.

Let’s take this opportunity to usher the beloved Fast Pass to the netherworld, as we once did with Muni routes that were about to be taken out of service.

A few tidbits about the paper Fast Pass:

  • Ken Schmier is the man who came up with the concept of the Fast Pass. He’s also the mind behind NextBus. Strange, right? But also, not. This happened around 37 years ago, to the best of our knowledge. The first passes went on sale sometime in 1974. The earliest we could find an image of (below) is October 1976.
  • In a blog post from Chronicle Books, designers for the book publisher lamented the lameness of the Clipper card’s look, and paid homage to the beauty of the paper pass.
  • In 2009, local artist John Kuzich opened his Fast Pass exhibit at the de Young Museum. Kuzich asked for people’s passes on Craigslist, then assembled them on panels in really interesting and beautiful ways.
  • Muni Diaries commenter Dexter shares his recollections of the history of the Fast Pass: “I do remember that it came out around 1977 or so and the early ones just featured graphic designs. Later Fast Passes had odd-shaped cutouts to prevent counterfeiting (later removed). Then they switched to photos. I had a collection that was lost when I moved.” Too bad.
  • And of course, in November, we unveiled our first Fast Pass memorabilia product: T-shirts at the Muni Diaries Etsy store, and onesies and hoodies with the same logo available at Secession Art and Design in Bernal Heights. We also have very cool Fast Pass-looking Clipper Card holders at our Etsy store. Look for an awesome new design of cardholders very soon.

Check out these photos of the Fast Passes through time (presented mostly in chronological order) and how San Franciscans have incorporated images of the paper Fast Pass into our favorite holidays. Long live the Fast Pass!

1976 muni fast pass by cranky old mission guy
Photo by Cranky Old Mission Guy


Image courtesy samsast

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BREAKING: Fast Pass prices going up in July

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April 2009 Fast Pass
Photo by eviloars

The SFMTA just announced a fare increase beginning in July 2011, mostly felt in the passes that the agency issues.

“A” Fast Passes, which allow riders unlimited Muni rides and BART within San Francisco city limits, are currently $70 per month, but will increase to $72 per month.

On the eve of its last regular day of usability, SFMTA announces that “M” passes, which are for Muni only and are currently $60, will increase to $62.

Other passes will also increase. Cable car rides will go from $5 to $6 per ride.

See all the new fares here (PDF)

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