20 posts tagged “transit”

You can still ride for free on BART during Spare The Air days -- but only until 1pm, and I couldn't be happier about that. The transit agency said that between all the complaints from regular riders and the increase in petty theft on those days that enough was enough. I've had the occasion to ride on two free BART days so far and I vowed to swim across the Bay and then walk to my destination before I'd consider doing it again. Crowded, late trains turned into instant rolling asshole conventions thanks to bored teenage kids with nothing better to do. No thank you.

SFGate: Spare The Air trims will limit free rides

Also joining in on the 1pm cutoff are Caltrain, Altamont Commuter Express and all ferry operators. All other transit agencies will continue to allow all-day joyrides.

As I discovered during my move from Seattle to San Francisco, wifi in the car makes the trip -- and finding stuff along the way -- much, much easier. Tom set up his own wifi solution (a Sprint EVDO router), which is trivially easy to do. Since mobile wifi seems to be the sort of thing that is quite handy when traveling, it makes sense that Avis is now offering it with car rentals from SF International Airport.

SF Supervisor Aaron "sources say" Peskin is offering a ballot measure that he says will improve MUNI. The unions are already screaming a blue streak about it, which means it just might be effective, if approved by voters.

We're a little funny, a little kooky, here in California. One of our wacky beliefs is that the people who represent us at the city level should actually live in that city. The San Francisco City Attorney isn't quite sure if SF Supervisor Ed Jew (whose offices and home were searched by the FBI last Friday for clues in a corruption investigation) actually lives in the city. The Chronicle helpfully points out that water to his primary San Francisco residence wasn't turned on until 60 days after residency requirements kicked in, and that neighbors rarely, if ever, see him or his family in the neighborhood.

I can admit that sometimes I'm too self-conscious for my own good, and that I especially hate making mistakes or looking like a complete fool in public. Whenever I'm in a new place and situation, I tend to hang back and watch what other people are doing before I dive into the fray, so that's why I really like this quick list of San Francisco "guides for n00bs" as written by one Yelp contributor. I think I'll do my own Yelp reviews in this format from now on.

If that's not to your taste, perhaps you'll appreciate a subjective list of "REAL Chinese food in the Bay Area."

MUNI means business: Nat Ford sent out a diplomatic (and leaked) memo to his management team requesting "that everyone participate in representing the best interests of our organization, the City, and our patrons by following SFMTA's standards for performance." In the business world, this are usually the type of memo that arrives a few months before mass firings begin (at which point everyone realizes "oh shit, management means business" and real change occurs).

Bay Area foodies are kinda-sorta-yes-really pissed off at Slow Food maven Carlo Petrini for slamming the organic wares of the Ferry Building's farmers market as being tailored for "a clientele whose social status was pretty clear: either wealthy or very wealthy".

In the why-bother department, a major hotel chain approached Rosas Farms about using their organic and grass-fed beef in that chain's restaurants. All went well until they demanded all incoming meat be irradiated as part of "a risk management thing." The Rosas showed the hotel executives the door and Erin Rosa wrote some informative words about irradiation.

Democrats may be the Congressional majority (by a slim margin), which at least allows us some point-and-laugh room

when the more shrill of the wingnuts start ranting. This time, Sadly, No! mocks the latest utterances of Debbie Schlussel -- she's some sort of columnist, I guess -- who has decided that Muslim doctor = medical terrorist. Stay classy, Debbie.

And speaking of things that make wingnut conservatives scream, read an excerpt from Al Gore's upcoming book The Assault On Reason.

In the latest chapter of the ongoing serial known as Oh My God Best Buy Sucks, the kids over at Consumerist feature a letter from the latest happy customer victim of the Big Blue Box. It's titled Best Buy Stole My Computer and I think you can figure out the contents on your own.

This Link Lounge is not brought to you by Dee's Nuts, the salty snack treat that's been filtered through a pair of breasts.

MUNI had a few contractors over for show and tell at City Hall today, showing off models of proposed bus shelters to replace the aging structures you now see throughout San Francisco. I snapped about fifty semi-blurry camera photos, which you can see in this set at Flickr.

My favorite:

There was also this proposed BART/MUNI entrance, which I am in favor of being adopted:

The professional pictures from SFMTA's photographer should be available on the official Web site by Monday afternoon.

Or you could see them at City Hall, they're on display tomorrow, too.

SOMA developers get an overdue bitchslap from the Board of Supes. Who knew they'd have a problem with builders creating studio condos for the rich abusing a post-Loma Prieta rule designed to ensure ample housing supplies for the poor. On the other hand, one might make the case that a $350K studio condo is affordable housing in San Francisco.

Tenderloin residents march on City Hall over crime issues. Less crime is always a good thing, but after my own experiences in trying to get the City's attention in a pre-dotcom SF for similar problems in the Mission, I hope you'll pardon my jaded response that the only reason TL residents get press coverage and official attention is that the number of professional white people living there has reached a critical mass.

In a surprising and unexpected revelation, one of MUNI's most complained-about drivers allegedly ignores passenger safety, continues driving without alerting police or activating emergency strobes when muggings and assaults occur on his runs. ABC7 interviewed the driver for this story, and in my opinion he comes across as a liar.

Wondering why it's going to cost you ten bucks to get into the KFOG Kaboom festival this year? SF Party Party says it's because Gavin Newsom's administration has increased usage fees by 100 percent. Some say this is the latest assault from the Mayor's anti-fun brigade that's killing off street fairs and park events left and right. While I think the trend is somewhat alarming, I have to wonder if there was anything to the fees being too low to be fair to San Francisco. If someone has to pay for all the bridge-and-tunnel types to have a grand time in The City, I'd rather it be the users of the event, thanks very much.

San Francisco's current cable car system consists of one line to Fisherman's Wharf and another line running from Market & California to Van Ness & California. While used by some residents as regular transportation, they're mostly municipal rides for the tourist.

At one time, however, they used to be real transportation and there's no better evidence of that than this wonderful map of what the cable car system was like during the 1890s. Just imagine what it would be like today with a cable car running down Market Street, south on Castro to Noe Valley. It existed at one point!

A bit of trivia that Tom discovered when I mentioned the map to him: The California street line was in private hands until 1952, the last of the private cable car operators to sell.

MUNI Graveyard

Public transportation on Third Street began as a horsecar line and converted to electric streetcar service around the turn of the century. Buses replaced the 15 streetcar line beginning June 23, 1940.

On a regular weekday, buses on the 15-Third line traveled approximately 2,500 miles, taking passengers from City College to Fisherman’s Wharf and back.  After 67 years of service to the public, the 15-Third bus line retires April 7, 2007.

And with that, MUNI ended one of the system's workhorse bus lines, replaced with a shiny new light rail line that took almost 20 years from conception to completion.

Some, including Metroblogging San Francisco contributor Mark Pritchard, have fond memories of people and places the bus connected them with over the years. Others, including a MUNI motorman going by the name of trolleypup on LiveJournal, warn that Monday's commute might be... well, I'll let him say it:

Monday...Muni Meltdown II ... Expect slow going in Metro with the profusion of overlapping service.

I would suggest that tomorrow's commuters take advice from Harvey Fierstein's character in Mrs. Doubtfire:

Alright, everyone... let's pray.

Find out the same way InfoWorld staffers found out their publisher planned to ditch their print vision. Surprise!

Did a totally hot guy knock on your door the other day with a tale of raising money to take a trip with his university rugby team? You've been scammed.

CA Dems would like Jerry Brown to be the next governor of California, again. What in reincarnation is going on here?

Why don't you appreciate the Bay Bridge more? You should, you know. Personally, I appreciate it more by night when it's in lights.

MUNI is officially retiring the 15 line, because the Third Street light rail project is

about to start operating daily. The 15 started in 1940, when it replaced a streetcar line.

Quote Of The Day: Remarking on an Metblogs SF entry about having one's laundry boosted from communal washing space, Jason commiserated with his own experiences, ending with: The next day I got to call into work and say, "I may not be coming in today. I no longer own any pants."

This is cool: Bay Area overnight public transit!

Sure, it's not BART but it's something more than what they had before and it's certainly more than what's offered elsewhere (I'm looking at you, Seattle). But as long as you're near a BART station, a bus will eventually pick you up and take your drunk ass home.

It's payday and I'm  home, sick. So I'm catching up on Tivoed goodness and lots of posts.

Blah blah blah domestic partnership bill passes WA Senate blah blah blah. It's still not marriage so the liberals in the legislature thinking they're doing me a favor can shove this separate but equal bullshit up their collective asses.

AsianWeek fallout roundup: SFist wonders where Samson Wong is. Jon Carroll wonders why Samson Wong still has a job. MetaFilter snarks on Kenneth Eng.

QOTD also goes to Mr. Carroll, in that piece: One has been in the newspaper business many years; one's jaw is agape.

Violet Blue gets hit on by a gay for pay porn star and is, like, omg how gross. What's gay for pay? Why, it's the new term applied to hustlers with above-average looks.

Repossessing cars? That's for small-time proto-thugs. When F. Max Hardberger leaves home, he comes back with cargo ships.

Anonymous Bart Rager says what we probably have all thought at one time or another.

Kink.com held a peep show, and many people came. Which is to say they threw an open house and people checked out the inside of the old Armory. I always wondered what it looked like on the inside.

One Man Star Wars (YouTube). This is a live show, and reviews have said it's somewhat funny.

Thank goodness we don't have to worry about illegal immgrants for labor any more, we're putting our prison population to work!

Among the many things one can buy in the world of Second Life: Penii.