The N-Judah Chronicles

-$60, if you only wanted to ride the bus, the Metro, the cable car, or an express bus, and

-$70, if you wanted to ride the bus, the Metro, the cable car, an express bus, and BART within the city (the BART fare was previously included in the cost of a Fast Pass).

This "compromise" was designed to give you the illusion that you could "save money" if you didn't think you'd be riding a BART anywhere within city limits. However, several problems came up in the process:

-Many retailers would run out of the $60 passes, so you either had to leave and find another, or pony up the $70, regardless;

-It was recently revealed that Translink users who loaded a Fast Pass on their cards not only were being automatically re-upped at the higher level, but now, many machines downtown (which you must use if you've got a Commuter Card benefit) were not allowing for the $60 option;

-And of course, the inevitable confusion and the hassles at BART gates when people didn't realize what they'd done by picking the $60 pass.

All in all, it was a way to give out the illusion of "opting out" of something you don't use. That really doesn't make any sense, because a transit system is not a buffet which you pick and choose - it's a comprehensive system with different modes of transit that when, properly managed, all work together to create an efficient system.

But then came today's epic FAIL of a vote by an ineffective MTA board led by a former politician from the suburbs. NOW, we have the following system, whereby the cost has been raised to:

-$60, which allows you to only ride the bus, or Metro and;

-$70, which now allows you to ride the bus, the Metro, the cable car, an express bus, and BART within the city, and ride the Express buses. (Otherwise you'll have to pay a $5 premium for the cable car and the Express buses) (source: SFMTA twitter account).

Really? And they're cutting service 10% and making Night Owl service a once an hour joke? REALLY?

The MTA bureaucrats who came up with this plan should be ashamed of themselves. They're essentially raising the price of a useful Muni Pass that used to cost $55 to $70, all the while giving off the illusion that they really only raised the cost of a pass by $5. By removing most of the things we'd been getting (like better service, and being able to use BART and Cable Cars and Express buses), they've made the lower cost pass a useless joke.

The MTA should have been more honest and either raised the cost of the stupid pass to $70 (so they don't have to print multiple kinds of passes and f*ck up Translink) or split the difference and raised it to $65. To do so with these Calvinball like rules, all the while of course subsidizing drivers of private cars, and subsidizing other departments with Muni money that others called shenanigans on, is flat out bullshit.

Don't even get me started on how confusing the tourist options have become. That's a whole other game of Calvinball!

NOTE! Was there a better way to balance the budget without cutting service, and all the other lame-ass ways the MTA chose to go? Yes there was - SPUR took the time the MTA didn't to come up with a better budget which you can read about over here, in PDF format.

Did the MTA even bother to look at it or listen? Hell no! Of course not. That would mean they'd be responsible managers of the Muni system we own. Epic FAIL.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

I just got some video from a Loyal Reader who had shot a little "on the scene" video of yesterday's stall on the N, and for posterity's sake, I thought I'd post the videos here.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Location: Entrance to Farmers' Market 9th Avenue between Irving and Judah San Francisco, CA US View Map When: Saturday, March 20, 9:15AM

Please join us for the third Inner Sunset Park Neighbors' (ISPN) Sidewalk Sweep! We'll be tackling trash and graffiti throughout the neighborhood. This represents the third clean-up supported by the ISPN and by the Department of Public Works and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. The Inner Sunset had approximately 120 volunteers at the November event (pictured here). Volunteers tackled nearly 60 blocks on which they picked up trash, painted graffiti, and removed old signs and tape from public spaces.

Volunteers are needed to make the March Sidewalk Sweep a success.
Breakfast and cleaning supplies will be provided for all volunteers. Children who volunteer will receive a certificate of participation. You'll also have the opportunity to sign up for the ISPN and to join the city's 311 graffiti program if you haven't done so already!

The clean-up will be followed immediately (at 12:00) by a free barbecue at the Blackthorn at 834 Irving (between 9th and 10th Avenues).

Please help make this clean-up the best yet! RSVP via email to tenpiecesoftrash@gmail.com.

Ellen, Bill, Brittany, Walter, and the entire ISPN Clean Team

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The irony of this, along with a string of accidents and other big ol' fails, on the eve of a vote Friday where (surprise) the MTA will vote to jack up fares and cut Muni service 10% or more, is not lost on me. Remember all those "hearings" where people poured out their hearts and their ideas to help Muni? Well they were pretty much for show, as I predicted, and the MTA could give two fraks what you or I think.

Obviously, this has many people worried, and Dave Snyder, formerly of SPUR, is organizing a new group to give you, the owner of Muni, a stronger voice. For now, they've got a temporary site at muniriders.org where you can join an email list and find out how you might get involved. I don't know a lot of the details, but as I find them out, I'll pass them on. Remember, we are the owners, but we have to act like owners now, and not just buy in to whatever snake oil interest groups or politicians peddle to us.

Speaking of spin, as we all know, the TWU operators rejected some proposed changes to pension rules and such, but it's also becoming clear that many operators didn't have the proposal explained properly to them. Several that I talked to in an informal poll basically confirmed that, and had many questions that never got answered, and regretted their vote, once they realized the effects of that vote.

To say this is the latest in a string of PR blunders for TWU would be an understatement, and the leadership didn't seem to understand the tense climate they're now operating in. That is, until I heard the news they hired Eric Jaye to provide consulting services for TWU.

Needless to say, this is important - Jaye is one of the better strategists out there, and if there's a campaign battle to be fought, well, he's one of the guys you'd want on your side and not on the others. (Full disclosure - 2 years ago I worked as a contractor for Mr. Jaye's company, but do not do so now, nor will I in the near future I'd imagine. However, having seen his work, all I can say is he's a hell of a lot smarter than I or most in that line of work).

Finally, something fun: the Inner Sunset Facebook Group folks are having one of their famous bar meet ups at Yancy's on Thursday at 8pm. These events are fun and Yancy's is literally right in front of the N outbound stop on Irving and 9th, so why not stop by if you can?

And, if you want to express your solidarity with your fellow Muni owners, why not buy one of our many products this week? Zazzle currently has a 22% discount if you buy 2 items in one order (use code TWOTWENTYTWO when checking out), and will also offer you $5 off your next order if you send in a picture of yourself with your purchased items! Check out the Zazzle.com site for details.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Starting today, the Department of Public Works will begin work making several improvements to Irving Street, between 4th and 9th Avenues. The intent is to improve pedestrian safety with "bulb-outs" at several points, and build curb ramps in several locations. I've got a call in to DPW to get a bit more of an idea of exactly how this will all look (They kindly returned my call, but I was unavailable, so we're in "phone tag" mode right now), but I'd heard about this idea for some time, and it's designed to make that busy section of Irving better for everyone.

I did find out one thing - the work, which will last about 2 months or so, shouldn't have much of an impact on the N-Judah or traffic like some were thinking. The only real hassle will be the loss of some street parking as the crews work on each intersection.

When I get more information from DPW, I'll update this post accordingly!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

It was unfortunate to hear the results of the Muni operators' union vote the other day against some minor concessions to try and help stave off the worst of Muni budget cuts, especially since Muni got some rare GOOD news, as the boondoggle at BART was rejected by the Federal Government, meaning that many agencies will be getting a significant amount of money to pay for repairs and maintenance. But after making a few intemperate remarks on that Twitter thing, further investigation by our friends at Streetsblog indicate this was a big ol' TWU leadership failure to inform their members, one which perhaps should be no surprise.

TWU's leadership has traditionally been on the side of the handful of bad apples, going to court to defend them, instead of supporting rules that would reward the good operators in the fleet. We all know this, and it's no secret than in many cases, union membership finds itself with a leadership clique that is out of touch with its members and the public it's supposed to serve.

But don't expect grandstanding politicians like Sup. Sean Elsbernd to be part of the solution. He has made a lot of headlines allegedly being Our Friend Vs. The Evil Muni Drivers with his stupid charter proposal. The problem is, Elsbernd doesn't really give a damn about Muni at all - he loyally voted for Newsom's looting of Muni by other departments - ironically something, in a John Kerry-esque flip flop, now says he's against. As for our "Mayor", Mr. Football Bat, well he's off using taxpayer money for another abortive bid for statewide office, and has never liked Muni anyway, so don't expect any help from him, either.

There's some noise being made by "progressive" Supervisors, but again, it's mostly noise made by freshman Supervisors who have proven more adept at symbolic gestures and big talk, but don't really seem to understand what they're up against, nor do they have a clearer idea of what they would do better.

If you, as the owner and rider of Muni are tired of the political games and nonsense that makes you late to work, to school, and to the things you like to do in your daily life, then, I'm sorry to say, it's going to be you, along with your friends and neighbors, that's going to be the one to get us out of this mess. None of the people at City Hall really care about your daily experiences, be they on Muni or dealing with any city department or issue, so you really can't expect them to do much besides respond to a lot of loud, angry phone calls and emails.

If you really want something to change for the better, we're all going to have to find a way to fundamentally change how the MTA is governed and funded so we don't have these perpetual failures every single year. (And sorry, folks, but this whole "don't let the people or the electeds be involved" bullshit doesn't work, it hasn't for a long time, and anyone who continues to be an apologist for it is no friend of Muni owner/riders)

Just as an aside - when I started writing in 2005, major, systemwide failures were not unheard of, but they did not happen with the consistency we're seeing now. It's now to the point where sometimes I don't even want to turn on Twitter or go online, because I don't want to hear about more misery being inflicted by these fools at the top.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

San Francisco Attacked by the Breen in DS9

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Instead, you really should try and push them to consider real revenue measures to plug the multi million dollar hole the state created for Muni (and all transit agencies). We can't plug that hole with a few parking meters and more parking tickets and declining service and fare increases. Until the Mayor and his crew get serious about that, all the pleas in the world will fall on deaf ears. The Examiner had a summary of what other agencies have done in similar situations you might want to read first.

If you can't be there, but want to follow along, you can go to SFGOVTV.org, or watch it on cable TV, or follow any one of a number of people who will live tweet the meeting.

But not all is doom and gloom out there. The other day I was pointed in the direction of this Trulia website by SallyTV, and it's an interesting look at neighborhoods, based on when homes were built. It's rather startling to see an area like the Inner Sunset, which had the majority of homes built before the 30s, and hasn't really changed that much. Other neighborhoods spring up at different times. Try it out, it's fun!

Finally, my friend Joe at SF Weekly called and we had a talk about Twittering Muni. They were even kind enough to post an image of the FailWahle N Judah, which my friend Lauren designed. (Although to be fair, they did repair that sinkhole rather quickly on Saturday, which averted a Hellish commute on Monday.)

UPDATE: I caught up with some twitter coverage of the hearing, and it was nice to hear so many people at least try and offer the MTA some suggestions on ways to find a real solution, and not just complain. Will the MTA Board listen? Probably not, but that's because their boss, King Green Gavin, doesn't want Muni to work, and is committed to destroying the system.

Oh, here's something else to consider- Nate "300,000/year+benefits" Ford gets paid for the length of his contract NO MATTER WHAT. That means he can screw up as much as he likes, get fired and STILL GET PAID. Kinda puts that driver bonus into perspective, eh? I mean, the man makes more than a Supreme Court Judge....and yet he can't explain why a train in the West Portal tunnel in 2010 can't run faster than a train did in the 1930s.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Word from 511.org is that the sinkhole got fixed and the trains are running. HOORAY!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Because I care, and because I know what a pain in the ass Monday's going to be, here's something I found on The Series of Tubes. It's synthetic heavy metal "Streets of San Francisco." Enjoy.

And, if you need some catchy foreign jingle for gum stuck in your head, and a whole lotta wasted time, by all means, go to this YouTube channel NOW. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YIKES!

I turned off The Internet for the evening on Friday to enjoy the beginning of Strong Beer Week at 21st Amendment, and after a few hours looked on Twitter only to find out there's a big sinkhole under the tracks on the N Judah. WTF? Fortunately the SF Appeal was on the case while I took a few hours off from blogging.

This is a particularly bad time for something like this to happen - they're going to have to conduct this repair when they were supposed to be finishing off the L-Taraval upgrades (which were delayed due to rainy weather). And, there is going to be some real pain and suffering on Monday, and for the forseeable future as they round up buses to pick up the slack for the broken train tracks. One can only imagine just how difficult that's going to be, and I don't forsee this getting fixed any time soon.

This all comes right after an announcement that Mun drivers, who have been getting the crap kicked out of them as they've been singled out as The Only Reason Muni Has Problems, are agreeing to some concessions that will reduce service cuts. Hmm.

While I've been no fan of TWU (hey read the archives), the endless amount of driver-baiting (while ignoring the big pay of management and SEIU employees, or the "work orders" and state looting of Muni) isn't exactly helping now that we're going to need more people driving buses on the affected portion of the N for at least 2 weeks. However, I'd suggest this - Muni operators can show San Francisco they're here for us in a time of crisis by knocking off with the "don't show up to work unannounced" BS, and step up and help those living in the affected area get to work at a reasonable time. That action would speak louder than a 1000 words out of a politician or union boss's mouth, and I think we'd all appreciate it.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I tried it out and for what it does, it's remarkably simple. The app helps you figure out your transit stop ID# (courtesy of 511.org) and you're up and running. This sort of thing is useful if you have more than one option from your office or home, and want to quickly see which one is not enveloped in a failwhale delay when you're getting ready to leave.

Mr. Sohigian has also developed similar Google Gadget apps for Portland's TriMet system and the Chicago Transit Authority, and will roll out more for other cities in the future. If you have questions about it, you can find him on Twitter at the address listed above.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

No, that's not a dead body on top of that bus! It's a MUNI closet.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

6th/Irving Planter Boxes III

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The original, and notes by the artist, can be found here!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First off, is of course what I've been looking forward to, Strong Beer Month, at Magnolia Brewery (conveniently located on the 71, 6, and 43 lines) and 21st Amendment (a short walk from the N stop by the ballpark).

Given how potent these beers are, you'll want to take a bus or cab home. Over at 21st Amendment, they have as one of the (many) selections a special "strong" version of Elizabeth Street Brewery's Imperial Jack. Loyal Reader Nina and I had a chance to try a variant of this at the ESB headquarters and it's REALLY good. Plus if you get a punch card and try all 12 beers, you get a commemorative glass. How cool is that?

Don't forget that San Francisco Beer Week also starts up on Friday the 5th. There are so many events with so many great things going on, you need to check out their site. They even have an iPhone app to keep you apprised of what's going on.

Continuing the beer theme, if you are at all an aficionado of true Australian beer (Foster's is actually made in Georgia and Texas now), and you live in San Francisco, you can buy Victoria Bitter in the only location in the entire North American continent at the Cellar 360 store in Ghiradelli Square. They even have a club you can join where you can get several cases reserved for you to pick up. If you've ever had this, you'll want to take a 19 Polk over there and pick up some.

I also recently discovered the SF Noobs site, courtesy of a post at my friend and neighbor Julie's awesome I live here: SF photo blog. I've also been reading the Uptown Almanac blog, which never fails to entertain me.

Finally, some Muni trauma. Eric at Transbay Blog has possibly one of the best summations of how badly certain folks at City Hall and the MTA want to hose your daily lives as much as possible. Read it, then go attend a public hearing, and give the powers that be a hard time.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)