Photo diary: That’s not a dead body on top of that bus!
Photo by Julie Michelle of i live here:SF and Caliber SF
It’s a Muni closet.
It only looks like it is… it’s just a random pile of clothes thrown up there, like a rolling closet.
Fare Inspector Holds Passport and Frisks (update with SFMTA comments)
Photo by Flickr user Cold Cream Coffee
While things are looking apocalyptic for Muni, Muni rider Bill sent us a disturbing account of a fare inspection. Here’s what Bill wrote:
At about 6 p.m. tonight (2/1), I listened to a fare inspector on the 8x (bus #6238) ask a rider for his pass. Then the inspector asked him for ID. Once the man produced an Irish passport, the inspector then wanted to know where the man lived in San Francisco and how long he had been in this country. And then, while still holding on to his passport, she headed for the door with instructions that he follow. As the bus pulled away, she had started to pat the guy down.
Can a fare inspector request ID and hold onto it while they question and pat you down? The whole thing just didn’t seem kosher.
This sounds horrible. Positively Draconian. Did anyone else reading this see this go down? Surely a complaint can be lodged, with route, bus number, time of day, description of the POP officer in question. 311. We’ve sent questions to SFMTA for their official word on what fare inspectors can and cannot do, so stay tuned as we update this post.
We got in touch with SFMTA’s public relation officer Kristen Holland, who said that a fare inspector can ask to see your ID “for the purpose of writing a citation.” However, “The transit fare inspectors are not authorized to search Muni customers or their personal belongings.”
Another update from SFMTA: So far they have received no official complaint regarding this incident.
‘Trains are moving, but moving slowly!’
Goddammit, Muni! Please start working again, so we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.*
Muni rider Christian reports on the scene this morning at Castro Street Station:
Everyone looks jaded as they experience more ‘inbound delays’ in the Castro.
The announcer says: “Trains are moving, but moving slowly!”
MTA released a statement indicating that, as of 7:55 a.m., N-Judah trains were backed up in the Sunset due to a “non-Muni accident” at Irving and Arguello. And the dominoes, they fall …
No word from MTA on reported backups at West Portal. At least it’s not raining? Yet.
* of course the irony here is that, were Muni to, you know, “work,” we’d lose half our content, especially lately.
Missed Connection: Work From Home Muni Girl
Photo by Flickr user revger
Photog “revger” snapped this picture on the shelter of a streetcar stop. The anonymous Muni Romeo said:
Work from home Muni Girl,
I should have asked you to join me for tea! Raincheck? (followed by phone number politely blurred by revger)
Yeah, you should have! Hope you got in touch with her, Muni Romeo.
Got another missed opportunity on Muni that you’d like to reclaim? Muni Diaries is here to help.
Who’s the Muni Love Bandit?
Last year I spotted the same sign on the 47, and just this week rider Jeff Schwartz sent in another one that he spotted on an outbound 71 bus. I just want to know: who is this romantic bandit changing the signs and making our day just a little bit brighter?
Raise a glass of OJ and wish Muni a better week
Because really, how could it be any worse? And when we say better for Muni, we really mean better for the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on the public transit system every day.
But before we get there, we’ve got a little catching up to do. Over the weekend, we received the following from Muni rider Darryl:
Although it’s probably not much of a surprise, but I think this week was probably one of Muni’s worst weeks for service since Brown was in office.
There were unexplained delays 3 out of 5 days headed between Castro Station and downtown. The usual 100-200 people waiting at rush hour.
[Friday] at 8:50am I took a snapshots [above] of almost the entire Muni fleet stuck between Van Ness and Embarcadero outbound at morning rush hour. Luckily got to work only 15 minutes late, but I feel sorry for anybody trying to get outbound or get anywhere later. No shuttles, no ETA, no explanation.
And to follow up on last Friday’s accident involving a pedestrian getting struck by and trapped under an M-Ocean View, Muni rider Allen showed us more from the scene, seen below. Go here for the original post, which includes photos sent in by Christopher. (The victim is alive, but reportedly in serious condition.)
The week was enough to dampen our attempt at keeping up rosy Muni dispositions. That’s saying a lot. At one point, we even condoned the use of taxis. Oh lord, forgive us, as we know not what we do.
So yes, here’s hoping the worst is behind us, and we can all get back to smelly, crowded, hot, wet trains and buses that get us to work only 12 minutes late.