Weekend Photos: Munimals

puppah
Photo by blarfiejandro

I swear I’m not going all Anne Geddes on you (for the record I think that woman’s disturbed), but I can’t help it — I’m a sucker for dogs and cats. These cuties are certainly a reprieve after this week’s Muni news:

– Drivers overwhelm March Against Muni (SFWeekly)
– For a minute there it was close, but MTA Board takes more service cuts and fees for transfers off the table (StreetsBlog SF)
– SF Chronicle has an editorial about SPUR’s alternative budget proposal: “SPUR has made a good-faith effort to advance the discussion. There is plenty to hate in its package, but it is certainly preferable to an unthinking across-the-board service.”
– The Chronicle also reports that “public anger over Muni grows.” Uh, duh.
– Accidents: the 5-Fulton hits bicyclist and keeps going. M-Ocean View hits pedestrian Thursday (SFAppeal)
– State Legislature could restore millions in funding to MTA (StreetsBlog SF)

Tomorrow is the Muni Summit (reports the Examiner) at 8:15 a.m. at the Women’s Building in the Mission.

Enjoy your weekend!

7d_2010_02_0128
Photo by Flickr user engnr_chik

Well heeled rover on the J line
Photo by Flickr user pamalamadag

A beagle on Muni?
Photo by Flickr user azza-bazoo

365 Animals #42
Photo by Flickr user pup ajax

Allow us to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: the faces of Muni riders

Muni Monday
Photo by Flickr user Justin Beck

Being a Muni rider has been a tough gig lately, with fare hikes, service cuts, accidents, and a slew of other changes sure to affect many of us. With SFMTA being in the middle of that budget crisis, we’re looking at some pretty harsh proposals (i.e. get the chopping block out) on how to get out of this mess. And, coming as no surprise to readers of Muni Diaries, public opinion of Muni is plummeting.

But in my search for more news updates and going through our submissions, I found so many great photos of everyday Muni riders that speak volumes about why public transit brings out such strong emotions. Through the lens of these urban photogs, I’m reminded that riding Muni is one of the few experiences shared by most San Franciscans: yuppie, hipster, hippie, homeless, average Jane and Joe. It brings out anger, frustration, and impatience. Yet instead of just swearing to drive, walk, or ride our bikes, we still get on the bus every day because we depend on it, as much as we depend on our morning coffee or shower. It’s more than a means of transportation: it also brings out stories that are funny, gross, weird, poignant…everything that makes living in our city unique.

Yeah, some parts of that experience make you shake your head — or even your fist — but other parts of it can sometimes make you smile. So, let me interrupt our regularly scheduled programming and share some of those images taken of and by your neighbors on the bus.

Twins
Photo by Flickr user ptwheel

More photos after the jump. And other great Muni photos can be found in the Muni Photos Flickr pool.
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Muni Bus Hits Bike on Market and 5th


Photo by Andrew Sarkarati

A 5-Fulton bus hit a bicyclist this morning and kept going, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Andrew Sarkarati at MissionMission has a first-person account when he arrived at the scene shortly after the collision.

Passengers yelled at the bus driver to stop, but the driver kept going, reports SFWeekly:

Multiple eyewitnesses on the street confirmed to SF Weekly that the cyclist — whose identity we were unable to ascertain — was hit by the bus, which continued onward. The victim, who was talking to police and appeared to be moving, was loaded onto a gurney and taken away in an ambulance.

Both the Chronicle and SFWeekly are reporting that the bus ran over the front wheel of the woman’s bike, and that there’s no indication that the bus made contact with the bicyclist. Judson True, spokesperson for SFMTA, told the SF Chronicle that the driver should have stopped:

The bicyclist was conscious and appeared to have a scrape on her head as she was loaded into an ambulance in a neck brace. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, True said.

We’ll keep you posted.

Muni Considers No More Transfers (Or It’ll Cost You) (w/update)

Updated collage
Photo by Flickr user cbcastro

Update (11:37 p.m.): SFGate reports that the MTA board today rejected the measure to charge for transfers or cease issuing them at all. Streetsblog SF also has the story. Good news for riders!

Original post: I wish I had a more cheery post to bring you, like, here’s a picture of a really cute kid/dog on the bus or something, but alas, that is not today.

At today’s budget meeting, the SFMTA considered either getting rid of Muni transfers or charging 50 cents for each transfer to close up the budget deficit for the next two years. The Chronicle reports that charging for transfers could generate $7.5 million; getting rid of the transfers altogether would get MTA $20 million. SFMTA has, by the way, $100 million in projected deficit for the next two fiscal years. A proposal to cut Muni service by 5 percent is also on the table, reports San Francisco Business Times.

Streetsblog’s Michael Rhodes wrote that many of MTA’s ideas would be “politically difficult” to execute, and that “eliminating free transfers is almost certain to be stopped in its tracks.”

The MTA board is set to vote on the budget next month, so these proposals are still just ideas right now.

Meanwhile, you might have heard about the alternative transit budget proposal from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) [pdf], which a Chronicle editorial has called, a “spread-the-pain” approach. That’s certainly preferable to Muni service cuts that transit riders will be facing soon. Right?

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