Twittering the Meltdown

Some choice tweets  from this morning’s seemingly ongoing debacle:

meganallison Cole&Carl ib N: no

Plug1 12 train N/T backup heading into the Metro Tunnel. Muni meltdown is in full effect!

AgentNano Ok looking through Twitter chatter, looks like there are still Muni Metro delays due to a control issue with the underground.

rowenoftc RT @nbcbayareacom: Muni RIDERS! Slow subway traffic on ALL LINES because of a problem with the train control system. (Mike Inouye, Trx Guy)

AgentNano Muni problems started at 7. Muni alerted the media am hour later.

AgentNano Muni problems for all Metro trains underground due to a problem with the train control system.

Send us your Muni Meltdown™ stories … once you reach peace of mind. Or not.

Good morning, here’s my crotch

hangingon

As Muni Diaries has documented before, sometimes people pull out their penises and stick them in your face on the bus. OK, that just happened once (as far as we know), in one of our most popular penis-in-public posts yet.

Perhaps more often, there are more tame crotchal offenses, including crotch-on-the-shoulder guy.

As the Muni Ladies have noted before, you (well, all of us, really) must use proper crotch etiquette when you’re standing on the bus. So I don’t know who told this guy he could do the  “Sugalumps” song from Flight of the Conchords during my morning commute, but it’s just across-the-board unacceptable.

It’s pretty self-explanatory. I was sitting on an aisle seat for about 40 minutes, and was occasionally treated to a shoulder bump with this guy’s crotch. It just happened a few times, and ultimately wasn’t a huge deal, but it’s a pretty huge offense of the aforementioned etiquette rule. I don’t care how tired you are (which he demonstrated by leaning both elbows and head on the top horizontal rail, letting the rest of his body flap around like a marionette); keep track of your body or you might get woken up very, very quickly with my elbow next time.

Photo by WHAT I’M SEEING from the Muni Photos Flickr pool

What’s On Your Muni Wish List?

MUNI
Photo by Troy Holden

If you had a few million dollars to spend on Muni, what would be on your wish list?

I can name a couple of things that we often talk about on Muni Diaries: on-time buses, safer drivers, and an improved Nextbus system. But that only scratches the surface of issues for Muni riders.

I know there is a significant segment of the transit-riding community that this blog will probably never reach because these riders have no computer access at home. They don’t have the luxury of sitting down to browse around the internet.

I was prompted this morning by the KALW radio program Your Call. Today’s show asks what should be done with the $495 million federal stimulus funding allocated for Bay Area transit agencies and road projects.

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3 Things I Love About My Morning Commute

1. The Wave-Hello Guy. If you walk to BART on 16th Street around 8:30 a.m., you’re likely to pass him. He’s always smiling wide and waving hello to everyone who crosses his path. I assume he is going to Creativity Explored, but really I have no idea. He’s a white guy, probably in his late thirties, balding with a black backpack. He gets really happy if you say hello and wave back. It’s a great feeling. Today when I waved back, he gestured for a high five, and I gave him one. Maybe it was silly, but I couldn’t help smiling as I walked on.

2. The silence. I love being surrounded by people who are all in the same quiet state. There’s a sense of togetherness and peace. (Yoga might be getting to me). But really, as long as it’s not crazy-crowded like getting on a train at Church and Market, it’s nice to sit among strangers and just be quiet for little bit before the bustling of the day starts. It’s a moment of pause. Some people read, others think and daydream, and some even dose off — which to me is also a sign of feeling safe in your surroundings.

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