Recap: MTA Town Hall Meetings

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Muni Buses For Scrap
Photo by Whole Wheat Toast

Last Saturday and this last Tuesday, SFMTA held “town hall” meetings to inform the public of upcoming proposed service cuts and fare hikes, as well as to offer the public a chance to give MTA feedback on the cuts and hikes. Here’s a recap of the meetings from the vantage of everyday transit riders who attended:

At Saturday’s meeting:

Julianne Nigro, 22, worried that her commute from Treasure Island, where she works at the nonprofit drug treatment center Walden House, to her home in Potrero Hill would take hours. (Via The Examiner‘s report on the meeting)

and:

Howard Woo, 79, pointed out that while the price of his Muni Fast Pass increases, his social security benefits stay the same.
“Does the director of Muni ever take Muni himself?” Woo asked. “Do they know what we need as a rider? I don’t think so.”

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Category: News

‘T stands for terrible T line!!!’

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Coming on the heels of Tuesday’s Central Subway groundbreaking ceremony, here’s a gripe about another of MTA’s recent new products, the T-Third. Muni rider Frankie has the following to say:

The T Line may be the worst thing Muni has ever planned. Coming home everyday at 5pm waiting at the Carroll station can be maddening! Eight times out of ten, the train takes half an hour to forty minutes at RUSH hour! Some trains will not even stop at Carroll but will stop at Williams. Or some trains in the other direction (on the way to Bayview) will end their destination at Williams and then return downtown. Wasn’t this line suppose to be serving the Hunter’s Point/ Bayview better? This line is only serving the Bayview/Hunter’s Point symbolically. The 15 line is sorely missed. The T-line was a HUGE waste of money. Not to mention how SLOW these trains are as well. Couldn’t some of the N Judah trains continue to Sunnydale as well? SF Muni has ALWAYS been notoriously unreliable and the T-Line is the perfect example. I’m sure I am not the only one who despises the T-line.

So, T-Third riders, let’s hear it: How has Muni’s newest toy fared for you?

Category: diaries

Life-threatening injuries in Muni-pedestrian incident (update)

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Update (4:55 p.m.) From MTA:

Final Update

As of 4:17 p.m., the scene below has cleared and all Muni buses have returned to their regular routes.

According to San Francisco General Hospital, the pedestrian is in critical condition.

Per normal procedure, the Muni Operator (hired in 2000) involved in the accident has been placed on non-driving status and will be tested for drugs and alcohol.

The investigation by the San Francisco Police Department and the SFMTA is ongoing.

Original post: This just received from MTA:

Muni Service Alert

As of 1:41 p.m., an accident between an outbound (southbound) 9 San Bruno Muni bus and a pedestrian on San Bruno Avenue at Burrows Street is causing the following Muni buses to be re-routed around the accident scene:

9 San Bruno
9L San Bruno Limited
8X Bayshore Express
8AX Bayshore Express

The injuries to the female pedestrian are described as life-threatening by the San Francisco Fire Department.

The San Francisco Police Department and the SFMTA are investigating the accident.

We’ll get updates in here as soon as we receive them.

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Demagnetizing Issues with TransLink Cards?

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Translink Card
Photo by AgentAkit

Muni rider Katy G. asks the following:

I am trying translink for the first time and was wondering if there are any demagnitization issues with the cards. I carry an electronic ID for work, a smart phone and would like to avoid that hassel.

Surely they’ve got to be better than BART cards when it comes to demagnetization. Surely.

Any TransLink cardholders out there care to weigh in?

Category: News

Share the Sounds of Muni with Street Sounds

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Rider Joanna told us about a website called StreetSounds that chronicles the sound landscape of U.S. cities to a “sound map.” You can upload audio clips from your everyday life and download clips from other users.  Joanna, who does outreach for the site, also happens to be a public transit fan. “Anyone who lives in San Francisco knows that Muni is a big part of the sonic world here,” she says. In fact, one of her first uploads was a clip recorded from the 21 Hayes, she told us.

StreetSounds is an offshoot of The Smalls, an online “curator” of independent films. StreetSounds says that there will be an independent film competition based on the sounds submitted, so stay tuned for that.

I checked out the site and heard clips  of BART swooshing by, a spoon scraping the bottom of a cereal bowl, a sidewalk musician playing keyboard, and boots clicking down Jackson Street. I love the idea of an audio cross-section of the city, sort of like the Muni playlist that we did awhile back. We’ve gotten some great and always unexpected sounds from your daily Muni rides, like a Metallica singalong, mispronounced street names, and a music video incorporating the sound of an articulated 71 bus.

So what are some of your favorite sounds of your life in San Francisco, and aboard Muni? StreetSounds and Muni Diaries want to know!

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