Make Your Own Velvet Rope on the Bus
Think it’s hard to get your own seat on the bus? Our brethren in Washington D.C.’s Unsuck DC Metro blog saw someone who, well, took it to the next level. From Unsuck DC Metro:
This past Saturday morning, I boarded the Blue Line train to Largo at Pentagon City and saw this sleeping passenger across the aisle from me.
He had taken his belt off and tied it to the hand rails on his seat and the seat in front of him.
Read more of this post at Unsuck DC Metro.
Saw more antics on the bus? I dare say that San Francisco, with Muni presiding, is the capital of bus antics, what do you think?
Weekend Photos: Fashion Statement
Photo by Brandon Doran
In Muni news this week:
- Gavin Newsom nominates Muni rider with background in finance for SFMTA opening (Under the Dome/SF Examiner)
- Muni has ideas for spending, but needs millions (SFGate)
- Muni operator in West Portal crash had dicey record (SF Examiner)
- Opinion: Things are Going Better for Clipper (Akit’s Complaint Department)
- Price Tag for Full Restoration of Muni Service: $22 Million (BCN via SF Appeal)
- On Muni Time Capsule, we looked back on the Transbay Terminal after its “hump” was demolished last week.
- And here’s SF Appeal’s SFMTA Weekend Advisory for you.
Oh, by the way: Our deal dealer Scoutmob just alerted us to their half-off deal at Grub. The word on the street is that this is the home of the lobster hash. Yum.
Enjoy these photos and your weekend!
Photo by Bhautik Joshi
Photo by Steve Rhodes
Photo by Julie Michelle
Photo by Troy Holden
Photo Diary: Poetic 5-Fulton
A detached 5-Fulton heading outbound on Market this morning, with an advertisement acting as caption.
Muni to Cease Surprise ‘Short Turns’ on Metro Trains
Photo by Joe Gratz
SF Weekly reports the dubious news:
Muni will end its practice of surprising riders by curtailing service mid-route, according to a new report delivered to the Board of Supervisors. The practice, known in the industry as “short-turn,” occurs in response to situations where light-rail trains bunch up because some are behind schedule. In order to avoid a bottleneck in the Muni Metro Tunnel running underneath Market Street, managers and inspectors will sometimes turn a rail car around mid-route, leaving surprised passengers high and dry to wait for the next train.
When I read the article, I kept hoping this new “policy” would apply system-wide. Alas, no. Not the case. In my experience, the 49-Van Ness looooves to make unannounced stops at Market, or sometimes 14th Street. That practice will remain, it seems. So hang onto your Magic 8 Ball for those bus rides, folks!
Read the rest of SF Weekly’s article.
Bus stop graffiti diary: ‘Those Funky Lords’
Muni rider Charles on the image above, which he captured:
I think it was a Bebe ad, but I can’t find an image of the original. What I find interesting is not so much the artwork but the fact that the poster was removed, modified, and returned to the shelter. (It’s also possible it was taken from elsewhere and then installed here. I didn’t notice it until after it had been painted on.) It’s on the north side of the shelter (i.e., not visible to traffic on that side of the street) and is less obviously graffiti than the tags often applied to the empty building next to the shelter, which may help to explain why the poster has not been replaced. Street artist Kaws did similar — and, in my opinion, much more interesting — work beginning in the 1990s.
The shelter is at Van Ness at Clay.
Seen interesting things on or around Muni? ‘Tis always the season to share on Muni Diaries!