The N-Judah Chronicles

Apparently someone at the Newsom for Governor campaign decided that it was time for a press conference to talk big about crime on Muni, especially after the reports of children being stabbed and so on. The Examiner reports that we've got some Big Talk from the "Mayor," and as always these reports fail to take into account recent history.

After all, it was Newsom who looted Muni's budget time and again for other departments (and for his own office) to suit his own political needs. As a result, maintenance has been taking a hit and whoops! Suddenly you have a lot of inoperable cameras that ensure there's no way for the police to catch the bad people.

If the Mayor and his MTA board had perhaps paid more attention to Muni during the entire time he was in office, maybe things could be a little better. That would assume, of course that the "Mayor" wanted to do his job, instead of goofing off at work and running for higher office. Let's hope that in the future, people in SF will look past "name ID" and maybe take a little more time picking out a chief executive.

There's only one declared candidate so far, and while I'm still waiting to hear more, it is unusual to see a candidate actually stake their reputation on making Muni better. I mean, talk about taking a risk! Hopefully this might lead to a whole bunch of people running who will all try to outdo each other in making our city better.

Ok perhaps that's wishful thinking. But hey, a guy can dream can't he?

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We took some inspiration from the real Fail Whale, as well as a parody found on Flickr with DC Metro.

Lauren is a great person to hire if you're in need of mad designing skillz, check out her extensive portfolio here.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Because I set my phone to "silent mode" I missed a call from Reader Jennifer, who spotted this accident, which involved a car hitting a passenger departing an N Judah train last night. Fortunately the injured party has no life threatening injuries and is recovering at a nearby hospital.

However, this incident illustrates one of the biggest hazards of riding the N, or any public transportation - the hazards of de-boarding when you're basically being dropped off in traffic. I've had more near-misses and seen too many accidents at 9th and Irving, usually caused by drivers who are driving too fast down Irving and apparently can't wait the few minutes for people to leave the train and have to run over people, just so they can run over MORE people at the crosswalk.

It makes me wonder just how stupid one has to be to get a driver's license in this state anymore. When I was a car-commuter, it would never occur to me to try and clip people walking across the street, no matter how many angry horn honks I got for not taking a right on red. My attitude was that it was my car, and my safety on the line, and I wasn't going to risk killing civilians just so Mr. Horn Honker can make his turn 2 minutes faster.

Likewise, I've seen so many people who apparently don't know the rules on left turns, again, especially at busy intersections like 9th and Irving, I have begun to wonder if they're going to have to ban left turns entirely at the intersection. People making left turns don't seem to understand that they have to yield to oncoming traffic first, then make their turn. Instead they cause traffic jams trying to make turns and cut off oncoming traffic. This is good for no one: drivers or walkers or bikers.

It'd be nice if we had some system whereby people could learn how to driver smarter, and then perhaps have a state agency that had the task to issue some sort of certificate, or license, that would be earned through a test of some sort. As driving is a privilege and not a right, you'd think that maybe, just maybe, we could have a way to better educate people on how to drive. (I'm still amazed at how STUPID some people are when it comes to finding parking - I used to own a car that was tough to fit into SF parking spots, and I found a legal space most of the time.)

I know it's crazy and I'm sure the loud angries in our midst would freak out if we ever did such a thing, but watching how clueless drivers can be, I have to wonder if it's better than having lots of accidents and seeing auto insurance premiums go up. Couldn't hurt.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)

This meant I got a lot of work done way earlier than normal, so I decided to take advantage of the uniqueness of being free in the middle of the day to do some mundane errands. So I decided to take the 44 to Safeway. What could possibly go wrong?

I got to the store and I think everyone else who was buying 10x as much stuff as I was had the same idea, because despite my super-organized shopping, I had to wait forever in line. Fine, it happens. But then I kept watching 44 after 44 fly by on Routesy, and I began to wonder if I'd be stuck waiting for 30 minutes for a bus. Instead it was only 22, but I had a tri-tip and some other perishables like vegetables all sitting in the hot sun.

The 44 finally shows up and it is packed to the rafters, worse than I've ever seen. There was no way I and 4 bags of groceries could get on and the Muni driver even shrugged and said "Man, I apologize but there literally no room at the inn." Well, at least he was nice about it and got all Biblical. The next bus wouldn't even arrive for another 24 minutes.

Yay. And I needed to get home fast because I needed to jump back on a project for a client. Double Yay.

So I decided it was such a nice day, I'd just walk it. This is something I'll do with 1 bag of groceries, but not 4. I figured at the very least, I'd be almost home by the time the 44 would even show up. And it's some exercise.

However, I didn't plan on the fact that here's some goofy guy with his black "I [Skull] LA" t shirt on, walking through the scenic beauty of Golden Gate Park with 4 bags of groceries in tow. I think every old lady and tourist had to stop and stare as I made my way past the bandshell and over to the Science Center on the way home. Right about then all I could think of was the theme from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" playing in the background, and I just kinda said "frak it", smiled, and decided to enjoy the walk outdoors, Muni or not.

I did beat the 44, and I got home and nothing went bad. Overall a nice diversion on what turned out to be a great day, weatherwise (and we all know how much we like to talk and/or freak out about the weather, right?) and now I'm getting back to work.

Cue credits.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

The SF Appeal has a complete list of Muni advisories for all the festivities this weekend. This is going to be a scorcher of a weekend, so be sure to put on some sunblock, stay hydrated, and have fun!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Every day I get an email bulletin from SFPD Captain Paul Chignell of the Taraval Station, which details major incidents of crime around the neighborhood. Most of it tends to be people driving on 19th with expired tags who turn out to be drug dealers posessing large quanities of drugs, car thefts, and burglaries. However, there are some other times when there's some really disturbing incidents, such as the one here that details how a 14 year old kid was assaulted and robbed at the N Judah stop at 9th and Judah. Read here for the details:

09/16/09 6:45 pm 9th Avenue and Judah

A 14 year old boy was waiting for a streetcar and had in his possession a saxaphone inside a black case. A suspect walked up to the boy, kicked him in the groin thereby knocking the victim to the pavement, grabbed his saxaphone and fled the area on foot.

Officer Christopher Smith arrived to take the police report. While he was taking the report a person called the victim's father as the name and address and phone number of the victim was on the black case. The person said that he had the saxaphone and would need $250.00 to return it to the victim.

Officers Rex Calaunan and Rolando Escobar, Taraval Station officers working in plainclothes, took over the investigation and contacted a Tactical robbery abatement team. The officers made contact with the suspect and arranged a meeting at the Walgreen's store at Lombard and Divisadero. When the suspect approached Officer Calaunan, who was posing as the victim, the suspect was advised he was being detained.

The suspect tried to escape but was arrested. The stolen saxaphone was found nearby. The suspect, who lives in the Western Addition, was arrested for an illegal dagger, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and a probation violation. The investigation continues as to the identity of the robber. Case #090957245. This was excellent and thorough police work.

I have to say I'm finding it a bit disturbing that kids seem to be an increasing target for crime now, since it's presumed they won't fight back or something. Whatever the reason, it's really f*cked up and I really hope that this guy gets thrown in jail. I know that is at odds with the policy downtown, but so be it.

Also, the SF Appeal reports of more stolen smartphone incidents. It's very easy to be so absorbed in whatever it is you're doing on your iPhone, Blackberry, etc. that you become unaware of your surroundings. Always be aware you're in public with an expensive piece of fence-able product, and change your headphones to something NOT the iPhone/iPod white ones to be safe.

UPDATE: In Friday's SF Weekly blog, word on the street is that 40 undercover cops are going to be working some of the more problematic lines on Muni. This is good news. FINALLY someone is at least doing SOMETHING....

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

JWG's Muni fast pass collection

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Today's not been a good day for Muni. This morning we had a car wreck at 6th and Irving on the N. Then later, a big truck jacknifed at 19th and Judah. Then, it seemed things were ok, but now, we're in the middle of a meltdown once again. UPDATE: Theoretically all is well now. Fingers crossed and wood knocked.

This is one of those Fridays where if you can take your time getting home, do so. Go see a friend for a coffee or a cocktail. Maybe check out some store or park you'd been meaning to. Just don't expect anything to get fixed anytime soon.

As always, I'm retweeting updates at Twitter, when I can. Feel free to tweet or text or email any craziness you see out there, or post away in the comments. Either way, take a breath, relax, and just accept this is the reality of Muni these days....

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Also, here's a fun fact - the guy who designed the logo for the Academy is also the guy who designed the logo for the recently departed Culture Bus. No kidding!

Enjoy the weekend!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So this week they're making repairs and upgrades to the unit next to mine, which is awesome, except for the fact that the three guys working can only work well if they yell a lot at each other. Between that and the drilling and sawing, it's been too noisy to work at home. So, while escaping to one of the many wifi locations in the neighborhood, I saw this flyer advertising free NERT training, starting in October and thought, "Hey that's kinda important, I should blog about that."

If you're not familiar with the term NERT stands for Neighborhood Emergency Response Team, and the goal is to teach people what to do in case of an emergency and work together with proper training. The classes are free, and taught by San Francisco firefighters. In the aftermath of a disaster, having more people who know what to do, and be there to help out can make all the difference.

I've always been a big advocate of disaster preparedness, but I'll admit I've been a bit lax in stocking up my new place with water, food, first aid kit, etc. and seeing this flyer kinda gave me the mental jolt to do that this week. We can count on another earthquake hitting us for sure (we're approaching the 20th Anniversary of the Loma Prieta quake after all), but any sort of disaster might require us to be ready to take care of ourselves and others while first responders deal with a crisis.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Daily Dose?

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

While checking the morning mail, the AlertSF system indicates that the Bay Bridge in fact opened at 7am this morning after all, despite the delays. Woo hoo!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It turned out to be a sunny Labor Day after all! What are you doing on this wonderful holiday weekend?

I'm headed to the movies this afternoon...if you've taken any good pictures this weekend, post a link in the comments!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so I had this great post about this thing with the 11 year old kid stabbed by some homeless mental patient asshat all written up, despite my 2 blogging rules: 1-don't blog when you're mad and 2-don't blog after happy hour and 3 beers with friends, especially when said topic pisses you off bigtime.

Then, of course Movable Type found a way to crash and kill what was an actually well written post. So now we're about to violate rule 3 which is "don't post when your crummy CMS killed your post and you can't recover it from auto-save." And frankly, the topic at hand is such that I can't let it go, and I don't need someone judging me for having a few beers after work. What's being said still matters so spare me the judgment.

All I'll say for now is this: it is inherently f*cked that we have a DA who won't prosecute a case unless it's a slam dunk, lest her "record" not reflect a perfection not attainable in the real world. This allows the habitual misdemeanor criminal to blossom into the felon of today.

It's also inherently f*cked we have a Mayor who could give 2 shits about any of us, but worse, was too busy raising money for negative TV spots to pay attention to his own City. It's a major fail when those stupid cameras, the ONE TIME THEY NEEDED TO WORK ON A BUS, failed in this instance. Why? Because douchebags like our Governor and the Democrats have been killing transit funding for years. Blood is on your hands, Arnold! And the collaborator Democrats, including those from OUR OWN CITY. (Sorry, kids, you don't get a pass anymore).

And it's double f*cked that Muni got looted by the SFPD, and yet, apparently can't police Muni like they say they did (Thanks for nothing, Progressive Supervisors Chiu and Avalos) and in the end, after all the bullshit posturing, a kid almost died on Muni. Oh and hey, thanks for nothing coalition of Reagan and the liberals, who decided that people shouldn't get treatment for a medical illness and instead, we should let the streets be the "hospital."

That is unacceptable and I'm not willing to chalk that up to "shit happens." NO. We are the United States of America, we are San Francisco, we are a civilized society, and I'll be God-damned if kids getting stabbed on Muni, or illegal immigrant gang members killing familes is EVER CONSIDERED AN ACCEPTABLE RISK OF LIVING HERE.

Not cool, and now, I need to cool off. But I dare one person to say the kid had it coming. Because that is mega-f*cked. A lot of people in City Hall are On Notice. And not in the funny snarky way, but in the "you're a pack of jerks and someone got hurt, and this should never have happened" way.

Update: Folks, I owe a bit of an apology to y'all as my poorly worded rant is being taken the wrong way. When I brought up the illegal immigrant issue, it was meant only to say that City Hall is spending a lot of time and money worrying about the "rights" of criminal illegals, instead of worrying about us, the taxpaying law abiding residents (regardless of status). I'm not some right wing douche who believes in deporting everyone with a non-European name. But I AM upset that we have a lot of resources devoted to protecting a few criminals, when we really should be protecting all crime victims in our city, regardless of who they are.

Again, I'm sorry about that, and upon reflection I shouldn't have reacted so negatively. I never wanted this blog to become 100% negative, and yet, I let it happen. So again, I apologize.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)

This all comes on the heels of a major reorganization of Muni, one that several Muni watchdogs have suggested may actually improve accountability, and move functions around so that there's more coordination, and less of the "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" kind of confusion. We'll take a wait and see approach, but it's at least nice to see some attempt to make the agency a bit more functional.

More importantly, I think Reader M's experience with responsiveness is important to note. Mayor Newsom has checked out of being Mayor of San Francisco, and isn't going to be the source of anything of importance regarding Muni (aside from light and breezy press conferences to make him look good), and his MTA Board Members seem to take his lead, so I'm not too hopeful they'll be doing much either. But it is nice to see some folks at least try, and maybe that can start the long process of changing the culture of FAIL that seems to grip City Hall, in the City That Once Knew How.

Read the letter, and the response from Muni and Sup. Dufty's office after the jump:

I sent this e-mail to Nathaniel Ford, Gavin Newsom, Carmen Chu and Bevan Dufty on 09/01/09 the same day the announcement about Muni reliability came out. I also had sent you a copy along with the responses, but to the wrong e-mail address (it didn't come back as unfowardable, though). I was totally surprised by the quick response I got from David Hill & Bevan Dufty (also below) but ZIP from Mistermayor's office-not even an electronic acknowledgement. Carmen Chu is out of town.

While the Mayor and Mr. Ford are busy patting themselves on the back, saying MUNI is more reliable than ever, consider this:

Myself and the rest of the people in the Sunset are sick and tired of being disenfranchised by the ridiculous lack of service on the N-Judah in the evenings.

Whoever is responsible (IF ANYONE) is responsible for controlling the frequency of the
streetcars at night is either deliberately creating a mess EVERY NIGHT or is unbelievable stupid or incompetent and SHOULD BE FIRED!!

I have attached screen captures showing how EVERY NIGHT at around 9 PM (21:00) for
some reason, nearly every streetcar on the N-Judah is west of 19th Avenue.

At first I thought it was only on Giants’ game nights-BUT IT’S NOT! Sometimes the trains then sit out there (beyond the East Portal tunnel) for nearly an hour before they start back downtown, with one train after another breezing through Civic Center station later in the evening. In the meantime, there are NO OUTBOUND TRAINS! It is usually then fifteen minutes or more before they begin coming back outbound from 4th & King. When one finally arrives, it soon fills up with 3X the number of passengers it should be carrying, while the earlier and later trains are running NEARLY EMPTY!

There is NO attempt at PACING or SEPARATING trains on ANY route, often 2 or 3 K Inglesides will show up in a row, then 2 M Ocean Views, 1 L Taraval and yet still NO N-JUDAHS! There also seems to be a dearth of J-Church trains.

On the other hand, the station agent in the evenings at Civic Center should be given a raise, a promotion and a medal! She TRIES to be helpful, often calling down to see what’s going on, but they (WHOEVER THEY ARE) have ( at least on 2 occasions I’VE witnessed) lied to her, telling her they are sending out N’s, then changing them to another line halfway to Civic Center or completely running them through the station as “OUT OF SERVICE” She eventually becomes as exasperated as the passengers waiting sometimes 45 minutes (OR MORE) for a streetcar whose frequency at that hour is supposed to be 12 MINS!

I think perhaps breaking up the little party that goes on in the “command central” or whatever it is at Embarcadero Station would help! They even put chairs outside on the platform to kick back in-while they’re waiting (for what?)!

Perhaps some drug and alcohol testing is in order, as I cannot imagine how anyone could (or would) screw up something that should be as simple as stringing beads on a shoelace in a Kindergarten class! Red train, blue train, purple train, orange train!

Also, as long as I (think I) have your attention- despite Nathaniel Ford’s assurances otherwise they are STILL kicking people off of the N-Judah at 19th Avenue to turn trains around & send themback downtown (and MANY MANY operators are STILL TALKING ON CELLPHONES while operating their trains)!

Just last night, Aug.31, it all happened again- no trains for a LONG time, then they all came streaming back downtown, then sat for 15-20 minutes before coming back out. Then they ran a J followed by an N, then another J and another N. Needless to say, the first J & N were packed to the gills while the second pair were EMPTY! Then, they threw us off of the first N at 19th Avenue-over 130 people-I COUNTED THEM-THERE WERE STILL NO EMPTY SEATS ON THE TRAIN-were inconvenienced by this MASSIVE STUPIDITY!

The driver was VERY RUDE, shouting “GET OFF THE TRAIN-THIS IS THE LAST STOP!” No apologies-no explanations-AS USUAL! Then again, AS USUAL, we not only had to stand there waiting while she threw everyone off the second car, but also AS USUAL had to sit and wait while she turned the damn thing around! I’ve never seen her before, maybe it’s all about creating phony OVERTIME?!

Totally Frustrated & Truly Very Angry,

Reader M

David Hill's response:

Mr. Radtke, I am sorry for the poor service and inconvenience on the N Judah . I am David Hill, Interim Chief Operating Officer (appointed to this position last Monday) and I am now responsible for the LRV, Cable Car, and Streetcar service. Your complaint was forwarded to me by Mr. Ford and I understand your frustration.

I have put a plan of action in place beginning today which will indentify and correct the problems on the N Judah . I have directed staff to assign 2 MRO Inspectors to be mobile up and down the N Judah Line from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM (7 days a week), until further notice. I will receive daily reports. There are many service related issues with our rail system and I am trying to work through them all. It will take some time, however, it will get done.

Please feel free to contact me either by email or my cell (415) XXX-XXXX to discuss this further. As you can imagine I have so much work to do and I am in soooo many meetings that require my input. In addition, I also manage all Bus Operations. So if I am not available by phone just leave me a voicemail and I will return your call ASAP.

Sup. Dufty's Response:

Michael

I am sorry for the disappointing service you're seeing on a consistent basis.

David Hill has just been named Interim Chief of Operations and Service Delivery.

In my first contacts with David I have been impressed with his commitment to changing practices that lead to the service gaps and dysfunction described in your message.

I serve as Chairman of the SF County Transportation Authority and am asking our Program Oversight Consultant, Luis Zurinaga, to look at your issues of bunching and turnarounds, among others. He will help me ensure that we are responsive.

I am also copying Julie Kirschbaum who led the SFTEP process as she can outline changes that will improve N-Judah service.

Lastly, Jim Dougherty is the nelatively new Chief Safety Officer and hopefully he can address operator cell phone usage.

Please keep me posted.
B

Sure enough, last night-no bunching, etc. N-Judah's were arriving at Civic Center Station every 12 minutes...We'll see if it lasts, but this David Hill seems to be on the ball! I got home in half the time last night and e-mailed both of them to say thanks and to let them know that whatever they did seemed to work!

The question remains- why was it happening in the first place? And- the fact that "statistics" show Muni is on-time more than ever? I think the SAME SUPERVISORS are doctoring the figures.

Ok, now folks, when was the last time a top level MTA official left their cell phone number to a citizen to make sure that they were listened to? Needless to say, I'm pleasantly suprised. Obviously he can't do this for every single instance, but the fact that a message was sent to the MTA and someone real actually read and acknowledged it is a good first step.

Add your own experiences with talking to Muni, the Mayor, and the Board of Supervisors in the Comment Section. Let's all be nice - after all it is the start of what looks to be a nice Labor Day Weekend. Enjoy the day and have fun.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Also, on Saturday morning, neighbors at the end of the N Judah line have been organizing to give the area a nice upgrade of all the medians and such. You can read about their plans at their website, and they're having a work party, sponsored by Java Beach, from 9:30-12:30. Block by block, the Inner and Outer Sunset is becoming an even nicer place to live than it already is. That's great, and the volunteers who put in the time to do these things deserve some thanks.

On Sunday, we have the last Sunday Streets of the year. Now, apparently some people think Ocean Beach is hell and gone from "civilization" but I thought the last one they did was a lot of fun, and hey! you can walk all the way from the California Academy of Sciences to the SF Zoo, if you so desired.

A few other notes: The San Francisco County Transit Authority (SFCTA) is accepting applications for people to join its Citizen Advisory Committee. If you're at all interested in how the Prop. K sales tax money is spent, or what the SFCTA is doing, this is a great opportunity to get involved.

And finally, a shout out for my friends at the Blackthorn: they now have their own WiFi signal, free of charge! Just a casual glance around the neighborhood indicates that every block in the Irving/9th area ha some sort of free WiFi signal now. Rather impressive!

I'll update this list as I hear of more things going on around town. Have a great weekend!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday around rush hour, I started noticing a lot of talk on Twitter that MUNI was having a particularly bad day yesterday, thanks to reports from some of the Loyal Readers and Loyal Twitterfriends. I've been experimenting with relaying these on-the-scene reports exclusively as re-tweets on Twitter to see how well that works, and because it's easier than trying to update entries when I'm away from the computer and on the semi-reliable iPhone.

In particular, Reader Halsted was stuck downtown and provided some pretty interesting observations as about a bazillion KLMs and Js passed by, but Ns, being the most used trains, were nowhere to be found. (Thanks, Halsted!) Others also did as well, and the picture painted (pixelated?) was one of what is becoming far too common - Muni just seizes up at the one time of the day you'd think they'd try and have it work.

Anyway, I'm almost done with the Twitter experiment - you can see updates in the update window to your right here on the site, and you can always follow me on twitter at @njudah for now. I'm still wondering if this is a good thing at getting the word out fast enough for people, or not. So far it seems to work well, but I also know not everyone is thrilled with Twitter, and I don't like leaving anyone out. I'm always open to suggestions on how to better post content as well as I work on redesigning the site (finally!) and want to have ways for people to participate besides commenting.

UPDATE: OMG! Right after I posted this, I got an email from the Mayor's office bragging about how MUNI is on time more than ever. No, really!

This is an example of how stats don't tell the whole story - they can quote all the stats they want but if you can't reasonably expect to get home from work (like what happened to most people on the N yesterday) , all the percentages in the world don't matter because at that moment, you're stranded. Fine if you're single and don't mind, but if you have a family, or are just single and have ANYTHING else to do besides whistle and wait for Muni, you're outta luck.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)