Muni Diaries

L-Taraval Crash This Afternoon

August 24, 2009 eugenia 5 comments

Update (8:36 p.m.): Earthnik sent us this photo (“one more showing minimal damage to the robust Muni train”)

Original post: Our Twitter feed is all abuzz about the L-Taraval crash this afternoon. Reader Kath also sent us an alert from her building guard, who saw the aftermath. According to SFGate:

The inbound L Taraval train was on Taraval Street when it collided with the car heading south on 34th Avenue at 12:09 p.m., Muni said. The male driver of the car was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with unknown injuries.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. There are stop signs at the intersection for traffic on 34th Avenue but not for traffic on Taraval.

Another pic from Earthnik after the jump:

Category: News

Bike Racks, a How-to Rap

August 24, 2009 jeff Leave a comment

Our brethren across the Bay, AC Transit, alerted us to this amazing video demonstrating something most of us need help with — getting your bike into one of those dadgum contraptions on the front of the bus. Why, just this morning, we ran a diary-ette about “mounting” stuff to the bike rack. How timely.

Say it with me now one time: “Bring it down, pull the bar, put it on, put it on, take it off, put it up when you’re done, when you’re done…”

Category: News Tags: announcement, video

Cameras, plugs and actually correct engineering choices

August 24, 2009 jeff One comment

Photo by Devin

Several months back, BART replaced all the cameras in Embarcadero station. I have no idea why — there were tons of cameras in that station already. “Replaced” isn’t the right word, of course, because they didn’t remove the old ones, just installed dozens more, often pointing at the same things. At a guess, the new ones don’t work yet and they won’t remove the old ones until that’s corrected. Or, knowing BART’s ability to do technological upgrades, the new ones will never work properly, so they’ll all stay up, gathering dust and grime and preventing no crime or disorder at all. At a wild guess, the only reasons Embarcadero is so richly endowed with cameras are (a) it’s full of tourists getting their pockets picked, and (b) part of the station is underneath the Federal Reserve Bank, engendering a sort of mutually reinforcing bureaucratic paranoia.

Category: BART, WTF: Weirdness on Muni Tags: BART-gripe, Embarcadero Station

$2 for ladder transport

August 24, 2009 jeff 2 comments

This harrowing, probably-totally-against-the-rules tale arrived in our inbox the other day from Muni rider Christine:

Dear Muni Diaries,

The other day I learned you can’t bring a ladder on Muni.

I borrowed the ladder from a cross-town friend. The 22 bus pulls up, I put my bike on the front, and walk up the stairs with the ladder, and flash my Fast Pass. The driver tells me that I can’t bring the ladder on the bus. Dumbfounded, I stare at him. He tells me it’s “too dangerous.” What?!

Anticipating a very long walk with my bike AND a ladder, I came up with a solution by the time the next 22 pulled up…. 🙂

Camouflaged, my ladder rode happily back to my apartment.

– Christine

Seen contraband on the bus lately? Let us know: muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com

Category: diaries, Funny: Muni LOLs Tags: 22-Fillmore, strange-cargo

Weekend Photo Diary: God and Country

August 21, 2009 jeff 4 comments

Photo by David Gallagher from the Muni Photos Flickr pool

Well, this was a big week for us here at Muni Diaries. On Monday, we gave birth to our first transit-diaries spawn: BART Diaries. That site works just like this one: Mosey on up to read or write about your favorite (or barfiest) time on BART, and enjoy the show.

The week also saw news of Routesy’s return to app-dom. We were finally able to finish our review of the iPhone app, after we were rudely interrupted by phony money-grubbers. Boo!

Category: diaries

Muni Diaries iPhone App Review: Routesy 2.0.2

August 21, 2009 jeff 2 comments

Now that it’s come out of forced hibernation and I have a chance to pick this review up where I left off, I have to say — Routesy sure is one slick iPhone app.

I barely had a chance to tinker with it before it was taken off iTunes, following the much-covered flap between the app’s developer, Steven Peterson, and NBIS, a shady couple of dudes claiming ownership over the prediction data that helps power Routesy.

Well, that was all fine and dandy, but now Routesy is back, and perhaps owing to my sense of anticipation, it’s on top of its game.

Category: News Tags: reviews

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