No one rides BART better than me, believe me
What an unlikely transit rider Donald Trump is. Thanks @sactoerik for the Drumph pic!
Cat on a leash getting on Muni is totally normal
On Twitter, @Smooches415 asks: “People who walk their cats?!?!?! Really????? And you want to bring it on the bus?”
Good questions for cat ladies everywhere, and all I can say is that I can see absolutely nothing wrong with this picture! In fact, this woman is living one of the many dreams that I have still yet to make into reality. Others include: training a shoulder-riding cat, wearing sunglasses while chillin’ in a cat stroller, and a cable car-shaped cat tree, all while wearing a very fabulous cat blazer.
If you’re going to live out some of these cat lady dreams for me, here are some tips for taking your feline on Muni.
Poop-cleaning neighbors still need Muni’s help
The management at the apartment building at Post and Leavenworth has gone above and beyond in keeping their block nice and not-too-smelly, extending even to the Muni stop in front of the building. But when the Muni stop poop bandit hits your block, it’s just all too much. Here is their PSA sign that doubles as a cry for help.
Muni: We cleaned the seat (poop) as best we could. Please sanitize the seat and concrete – it smells. Thank you!
Hey 311, help a neighbor out.
Oh, and guess who helped me spot this sign? Driver Doug, who happened to be driving the 3-Jackson on my morning commute today!
Muni to test boarding two trains in a station at the same time
For some time now, it’s been rumored that Muni/SFMTA would test a new technique, formerly known as double-berthing, and now called “double-boarding.” The last update, if you can call it that, that we got was in December, when we linked to a Hoodline post saying that the testing had no timeline.
Then, yesterday, Hoodline reported a tip they received that Muni is set to start testing this week.
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose told us via email today that double-stopping will be tested during morning and afternoon commutes today at the three stations. He continued: “This is a new rider convenience tool that manages congestion in the subway and ensures that riders don’t have to wait for a train to clear the subway before exiting their vehicle. At these stations, the first train will stop further down the platform (closer to the end of the platform).”
Read the Hoodline post for full details. It will be interesting to see whether and to what extent double-boarding actually makes for a more efficient Muni Metro system.
Photo by Christina B Castro
Video: BART efficiency expert Mandy Hu learns to let go
Storyteller Mandy Hu had it down to a science. Not only could she perfectly time walking or running to catch those evening BART trains back to San Francisco. She also had a catalog of other passengers she could reference in order to best navigate the crowds.
Then one night, working late, she was thrown off-schedule by a coworker whose immigrant experience really struck a cord.
Mandy delighted the audience at Muni Diaries Live in April. Watch the video of her story above.
SFMTA: Undercover and uniformed police lead to drop in Muni crimes
Do you feel safer on Muni lately? Crime on Muni has dropped 18 percent from February 2015 to February 2016, according to SF Police Department Lieutenant Tim Paine. In a report by the SFMTA, the SFPD’s Muni Task Force, Muni Enforcement Team, and K-9 unit are using a combination of uniformed and plain-clothed officers on Muni to dissuade crime.
Wait, undercover police office on Muni? Here’s more from the report:
The Muni Task Force, or MTF, consists of plain clothes police officers who conduct covert and overt operations. They ride the lines as undercover officers doing active crime enforcement to target pickpockets, narcotics dealers and other illegal criminal behavior known to plague certain Muni lines and bus stops. Muni Task Force members also handle follow-up investigations where necessary.
The SFPD says that surveillance cameras on Muni buses also provide them with photos “as clear as a high school yearbook picture” of suspects, whom the police then distribute across the department.
Still, fighting, vandalism, and theft remain the top three illegal activities on Muni vehicles in February 2016, according to Paine. So keep your eyes up and your phones down, everybody.
Photo by torbakhopper