‘Almost Generous’ Muni Theft

February 1981 Fast Pass
Photo by Flickr user Steve Rhodes

Just today we posted about a phone theft on Muni, San Francisco Examiner reports that a group of thieves let a victim keep her Muni pass:

A woman who was robbed by three males at a bus stop at Geary Boulevard and Spruce streets at 5:20 a.m. on July 11 asked her aggressors, who had snatched her purse, if they could let her keep her bus pass and identification card, according to Richmond Station police.

In the end, however, the suspects appeared to have heeded her request. They ran off with a cell phone and credit cards, but then gave her back her purse before fleeing on Geary Boulevard, police said.

Read the rest of the story at the San Francisco Examiner.

Wow, I guess the Fast Pass price hike gave the thieves a tiny dose of sympathy?

Muni thefts can happen anywhere, anytime

Muni Accident At 3rd And Market

Whole Wheat Toast shares this cautionary tale.

Yes, you’ve heard it all the time. Be careful with your fancy electronics such as phones while on the Muni, especially while you’re riding through a sketchy part of town or on a sketchy line. But that caveat is becoming less and less the case.

I was on the 1 heading westbound coming home from Western Railway Museum today (7/16). The bus (5616) stopped at Sproule Street. Then, out of nowhere, a lady screams, “Help! That guy took my phone!”

I turned my head toward the window and saw a man who looked like he was in his 20s, with a hairstyle of Gavin Newsom (without the gel) and looked like Yvan Attai (the taxi driver in Rush Hour 3). Other than that, he was wearing a black sweater turtleneck and black jeans.

After he ran off, the lady ran after him only to stop short of the alley. A couple of people from the bus went to her, and deliberated on what just happened. The rest of the bus, however, was talking about how young he looked.

What about the driver? Oh, he didn’t do anything except he answered a passenger’s question of what happened. No call to Central Control. Nothing.

After a minute, we pulled off, and as I looked into the alley, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I run after him?” The answer was not common sense, but it was because I felt an anger, an unexplainable, intolerable anger.

So, a word of caution: NEVER EVER EVER USE YOUR PHONE ON PUBLIC TRANSIT. NOT EVEN ON COMMUNITY SERVICE ROUTES. The lowlifes who roam Muni all day looking for someone to prey on make me sick. And I’m sure they make you sick too. That is, unless you’re one of those lowlifes.

Transbay Terminal Closes in August

Shoot it now
Photo by Brandon Doran

This amazing photo by Brandon Doran reminded me: The Transbay Terminal, long a bastion of transit and bodily fluids, will be closing next month. As Doran says, “The old terminal is smelly, dirty, and outdated, but it definitely has grit and character.”

Services will be moved to a temporary terminal located nearby, on Folsom Street (bounded by Main, Howard, and Beale streets). The new Transbay Transit Center is scheduled to open in 2017.

Weekend Photos: Eastern Sun

At the Ferry Building
Photo by tweetsweet

I swear, you guys, though I miss Eugenia, I’m kinda getting the hang of and loving running the show by myself. My fingers aren’t as tired from the frantic-pace IMing Ms. E and I do all day, every day. She gets back next week, briefly, before traipsing off yet again and leaving daddy in charge. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

In Muni news this week:

Yes, there will be two Muni ballot measures for us this November. More on that later.

For now, kick back, relax, and enjoy the decidedly un-July-like weather this weekend. See you next week!

muni love
Photo by sxl

next
Photo by telmo32

Muni Rider
Photo by davitydave

Learning West Portal the Hard Way

48 Quintara
Photo by skew-t

Helene, who penned “Beginner’s luck on the Bayshore Express,” has another tale of her early Muni-riding days:

My sister and I had gone into Noe Valley one fine February Sunday. We were checking out bookstores in the area since it was her last day in the city.

After we were finished looking around, I didn’t feel like going back onto the J-Church inbound and transferring to the N-Judah. The 48-Quintara bus stop was just across the street, so I insisted we take that bus line back to Outer Sunset.

We boarded the bus and went up and down the hills. When we got to West Portal, the bus stopped and all the other passengers got off. I was befuddled. Surely the 48-Quintara went out further than West Portal? Why else would it be called the Quintara bus?

My sister and I got off the bus and tried to figure out the situation. Then I decided that maybe the bus in front was going to continue on to the Outer Sunset, so we hopped on. That bus started driving back the same direction we had just came from, so we got off at Portola Drive.

We were somewhat stranded in West Portal, but then we found comfort in another bookstore there. After the Quintara bus shocker, I looked around at the street signs and decided that we could actually find our way out to 19th Avenue by following Wawona or Ulloa. We walked down one of those streets and I felt great relief from seeing the busy traffic go by on 19th Avenue. We boarded the 28 and transferred to the N-Judah to get back home safely.

Later on, I checked Muni’s website and discovered that the 48-Quintara only continued out to Quintara on weekdays. Oops. But luckily, this was just another tale of getting lost on Muni with a happy ending.

Printable SFMTA Memo Re: Broken Clipper Card Readers

In the comments on this morning’s post by Rachel, a reader suggested that we all print out the memo from SFMTA directing Muni operators to let us ride when the Clipper card-readers are broken (to treat the situation exactly as they do broken fare boxes). I thought it was an excellent suggestion, and in the interests of better serving you, dear reader, I’ve posted the memo again.

Click the image to get the jpg by itself. From there, either right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac) and download the jpg. Print it out, stash it somewhere safe, and produce it in the event you encounter an operator who hasn’t got the memo. (I’ll never get sick of whipping out that phrase. Heh.)

And of course, if you ever do need to show a driver the memo you printed out from Muni Diaries, be sure to let us all know!

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