The N-Judah Chronicles

I spent all morning running errands downtown, so I took an F-line to Safeway on the way back. While awaiting the N at Church and Duboce, some of the preliminary work for this weekend's Construction Marathon was going on.

First, there was a 1 car N that sped by inbound, PACKED full of people. But next was an actual 3 car N, also going inbound right behind it (but not taking passengers).

This is a rather rare sighting, in fact in my entire time in San Francisco I can't recall ever seeing one (or if I did, those brain cells pushed the memory out to remember some Battlestar Galactica trivia). From what I've been told, 3 car N's (or any LRV line) were supposed to be more common during rush hour, etc. but they had trouble staying together, etc.

I have some notes about this from the article last year, but I'll be damned if I can find them. Hint: don't reorganize your filing system in such a way that everything is where it's supposed to be, and yet you still can't find anything quickly!

Also, this tweet about Snowpocalypse SF 2011 seems to be quite popular arount Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr...

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There's a few things you should know during NonSnowpacalypse Friday...obviously today is Critical Mass day, so be aware of that as you plan your trip home if you're downtown.

More importantly, there is major construction at Duboce and Church this weekend that will affect both the N and J lines. The MTA sent out this bulletin detailing just what is happening. Read it carefully - when the N is replaced by a bus it is significantly slower because it has to cut through Haight Street (and then you realize WHY they built the Sunset Tunnel!). Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll just post the bulletin so you'll know what's up?

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates Muni, has scheduled rail maintenance work on Church Street and Duboce Avenue on Saturday, Feb. 26 and Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011.

Muni will adjust service on the J Church and the N Judah rail lines for the weekend.

What to expect:

Muni J & N Line Subway Service
· J and N trains will operate in the Muni Metro Tunnel between the Embarcadero Station and Castro Station.
· Train destinations signs will read: Shuttle Train.
· Church Street Station is the transfer point to street level service to the outer terminals for both the J and N lines.

Muni J Line Street Level Service
· J Line customers can continue their trip at the regular outbound stop on Church Street at Market Street.
· J Line trains will service all stops between Church and Market streets and the Balboa Park Station.
· The last inbound stop will be at Church and Market streets, and customers can continue downtown by transferring to the Shuttle Train in the Church Street Station.
· Accessible service for customers with disabilities will be provided by the J Supplemental Shuttle Bus. The northbound Shuttle Bus will depart from 18th and Church streets. The next stop will be at Market and Church. The southbound Shuttle Bus will be at a temporary terminal on Church Street just south of Market. The next stop will be at 18th and Church.
· Transfer locations for the Muni 22 Fillmore bus route are at the Church and Market streets islands.

N Line Street Level Service
· N Judah Line trains will not operate between Church Street Station and Ocean Beach.
· N Line customers can travel by Shuttle Bus between Ocean Beach and Church Street Station, then transfer to inbound subway service. The only missed stop will be at the east portal of Sunset Tunnel.
· Inbound and outbound N Line customers can catch Shuttle Bus service at the temporary terminal at 14th and Church streets

Other Service
· Muni Route 22 Fillmore bus customers should expect delays. Electric trolley coaches will serve the route during the day, and Owl service will be on motor coaches.
· There are no changes to service on K, L, M and T line trains, Muni N Owl Bus and Route 37 Corbett service.
· Look for extra Shuttle Trains running between Embarcadero to Church Street Station.
· Please look for directional signs to temporary bus stops.
· SFMTA Ambassadors will be in the area to provide information and to assist customers in making connections on Muni bus and rail service.

CONSTRUCTION
What to expect:
· Duboce Avenue between Church and Fillmore will be closed to motor vehicles all weekend.
· Vehicular traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction on Church Street between Market and Hermann streets.
· Police officers will be on site directing traffic.
· Some street parking will not be available in or near construction zones, specifically on Church Street between Duboce and south of Market.
· Residents close to construction will be subject to some noise.
· Local access will be granted.
· Local businesses will be open.

So, to sum up-everything's "normal" today (Friday), construction is on Saturday/Sunday, and the N will still work in the subway, it's just that once you get to Duboce/Church, you have to board a bus outbound (and vice versa).

As for snow, if it does snow (which it isn't) just be prepared for assorted unpredictable mayhem, similar to when it's sunny, it rains, it's windy, or there's Giants fever.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Friends, hear me out on this one: Earlier today I read Yet Another Tweet about people clipping their nails (fingers and toes) on Muni. Now, for the life of me I can't even begin to understand how this happens, or why.

Seriously. I mean, are people's lives so busy they can't take the time to take care of this part of their personal hygiene at home? REALLY? I mean, I can't even imagine sneezing on a Muni bus (I've literally de-boarded the N when I have a cold or whatnot) because I don't want to annoy my fellow Muni Owner/Riders on the N. And yet, the Nail Clipping Brigade is one of the most constant complaints about Muni, up there with #munifail, short turns at 19th Avenue, a dysfunctional management, and the constant "pay more/get less" frustration that Muni Owner/Riders experience every day.

Our friends at Muni Manners pointed out just how rude this is a while back, and anyone who writes about Muni has confronted this human rights violation. (OK, "human rights violation" may sound a bit trite as people are litereally dying to defend Real Human Rights, so perhaps we can qualify this as a "San Francisco Human Rights Violation" because really, it's not like anyone's dying over this, but it still sucks.)

Earlier today, I posted this mild tweet suggesting that perhaps Muni could raise some cash for the cash-strapped system by issuing a fine to said evil-doers per nail clipped. Needless to say, said tweet generated quite a response.

But let's be serious for a moment - I'm no fan of parking fines to pay Muni, yes, but fining those who make our collective lives miserable, be they traffic scofflaws on various wheeled entities, or those who abuse Our Muni with vile behavior, such as vandalism, urine and nail clippings? I say go for it. Yes, it's Our Muni, but as owners we have responsibilities as well as rights. Maybe if we provided a better carrot/stick approach, everyone would win?

Yes, I'm being a bit satirical, but it's worth considering. I realize this offends people of the "Coddle the Criminal" faction at City Hall, but who cares what they think? Their irrelevance is clear - and our Muni needs some cash. Hey, is it any crazier than selling sodas in the stations? I think not!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If there's one thing you can count on nowadays, it's the fact that the weather of your youth no longer exists. Like shaking a soda bottle and popping the cap, weather nowadays no longer follows the patterns we've been used to. Let's just look at the weather of the past year or so:

- We had a super foggy and cold summer, far chillier than in the past. We had no warm weather from March-September.

- We just had a summer-like heat wave in January/February

- Now we're going to have record low temperatures and the slight possibility of....snow in SF! (We already have snow up in the mountains around the bay.

That's the weather part. Now here's what will happen in San Francisco, based on past weather incidents:

- First, when the snow hits, people will light up Twitter like a Christmas tree. Plan on seeing a lot of twitpics of snow in (insert neighborhood here) with "ZOMG TEH SNOWS!" tweets.

- Next, Something Will Go Horribly Wrong (most likely Muni) because in San Francisco if we deviate even a little from our Usual Weather, people again lose it and either a Muni bus will crash, a car or cars will crash, or something, because in SF, we can't handle any weather changes.

- The news media will regale us with endless pictures and video, because hey, who gives a f*ck about the Middle East or a quake in New Zealand when we can endlessly take pictures of TEH SNOW!

- If the cold lasts more than a few days, then we get a torrent of "I MISS TEH SUNZ! SNOW BAD" tweets.

- Also: all those east coast people we razzed endlessly get to repay the favor.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it is what will happen. As for myself, I figure we'll just get some hail and cold rain...snow at sea level seems unlikely, aside from powder that melts on contact. But you can be sure I'll be taking photos!

PS: Next month I'm going to be taking a cross country train trip from DC to SF (well, Richmond, actually). Whenever I can get Internet access, I'll be posting about my train ride. One thing I could use is some advice about Chicago.

I have basically a day (8am-4pm) layover while I wait for my hotel room on rails, and could use some advice about what to do during that time, since I've never been to Chicago before. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

February 21, 2011

Mayor Ed Lee
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 200
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear Mayor Lee:

A little over a month ago, I extended a sincere invitation to you and your staff to join myself and fellow Muni owner/riders on a ride on Muni as a fun way to discuss the challenges ahead for Muni during your interim term in office. Some dismissed it as a joke, but I was being honest, and thought it would be a nice way to get past the politics that cloud Muni, and replace it with some common sense thinking as we move forward.

Needless to say, it was disappointing to hear that during your term in office, you said that Muni's problems simply were not a priority for you, and instead things like a yacht race for billionaires took precedence over something that everyone uses, like Muni.

But rather than hurl political stones, I'd like to simply offer a few suggestions as to why this year Muni needs the full attention of yourself, the Supervisors, and the general public. Maybe you could take a look, and realize that Muni's not on the road to glory, but in fact an agency beset by management problems and long term financial problems not solved with slogans or gimmick fixes:

- Proposition G will allow, over the long term, for changes in work rules that can help make the system more efficient and cost-effective. It is not a cure-all for the agency's woes, as "operator pay" is not the single driving force costing the agency. However, for G to succeed, the SFMTA must be prepared to conduct a collective bargaining session that is successful, and right now we don't know just how prepared the agency is to re-negotiate a contract that hasn't been negotiated in decades against a union leadership that is openly hostile to the agency and Muni's owner/riders. (Note how I said "union leadership", not union members, because the great majority of Muni's operators do a tough job well and deserve a better union leadership than what they have).

- Muni's very well paid CEO, Nathaniel Ford, has been shopping for a new job for the last several years. He is clearly not interested in working here anymore, and the disarray the agency shows now reflects this. It was reported that he's a finalist for a job in Washington DC, and if he leaves, it'll be on the eve of the aforementioned negotiations. We can't have a management vacancy at a time like this, and we need someone at the top who wants the job and is able to do it. To ignore this is to ensure more failure.

- The chair of the MTA Board, Tom Nolan, is clearly out of his depth, as a former suburban politician. The fact that he actually said "Family trumps Transit First" ("family" defined as wealthy people whose nannies need parking permits in already-crowded neighborhoods) shows that he just doesn't seem to understand how different San Francisco is from San Mateo County. (not to mention that his remarks shows clear contempt for families that can't afford "nannies" and need a reliable, affordable system for their families to thrive in the City). Find a way for him to graciously leave the stage and replace him with someone who takes a more balanced view.

- Muni's fiscal woes are no state secret. They are, however, caused primarily by the multi-year looting of the agency by the State of California, and the outrageous looting of Muni funds by the previous Mayor to other departments have been the primary reason the agency is in such trouble. "Gimmick" funding, such as increased parking ticket fines, will not (and should not) fix Muni's woes. Only by creating honest, long term, predictable sources of revenue, will we replace all those state dollars the ex-Governor and Democratic legislature looted over the past 7 years. Without your support, any proposals that might help us for the long term are likely to die.

We cannot put off these problems until the next Mayor takes office in January 2012 and let Muni idle like a bus stuck in traffic, for a year. There are many important issues competing for your attention, but to push Muni's problems aside, like a political football no one wants to touch, just makes the problem worse.

As a world traveler, you've seen plenty of other places, often without the unique benefits our City offers, build mass transit systems that are truly "world class." There is no reason that Muni can't be in that league, it is only because people have chosen to make the system a national joke. That's not good enough for me as one of the hundreds of thousands of owners of Muni, and it shouldn't be good enough for you, as both a Muni Owner/Rider and one of the people in City Hall charged with doing the people's business.

As always, feel free to contact me at the email address listed above. Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,

Greg Dewar
The N Judah Chronicles

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Oh, here we go again.

Once again, the Road to Hell Paving Crew (aka obnoxious city politicians) are firing up divisive rhetoric on an emotional issue to advance their personal political career. In this case, it's "Supervisor" David Campos, who has done a great job whipping up emotions and catering to the extreme left in his district over the issue of free passes for low income students. It makes for great politics (who DOESN'T want to help "low income kids?"), but it makes for lousy policy.

That's because it sets a precedent that an affordable Muni system is only for a few people, narrowly defined as "poor," while the rest of Muni's owner/riders, who have been stuck with spiraling Fast Pass and fare costs, are being set up to take even higher fare increases in the future to subsidize the so-called "free" passes. This continues San Francsico's tradition of being a great place if you're extremely poor or extremely rich, but everyone else gets screwed over. How "fair."

This isn't the first time a So-Called Progressive has invented a new way to de-fund Muni with feel good ideas. Nor is it confined to So-Called Supervisors. Our Allegedly Moderate Ex-Mayor Newsom was also playing politics with the "free Muni" idea, even though every analysis proved it to be utter bullshit.

I'd like to offer a few alternative takes on this. First, if Muni had simply bothered to collect the fares it was owed, the last fare increase would not have been necessary, thus ensuring that youth from all parts of San Francisco wouldn't have had their fast passes raised. Muni's fare enforcement plans were finally gathering some traction, until it was stopped by...."Supervisor" David Campos (and the same rent-a-mob he packed the hearing with last week.)

News Flash, Kids: When people steal from Muni by stealing fares, the people hurt most are the poorest owner/riders. That's because when the thieves steal, fares go up, thus hurting the poor. This is logical, but we all know how far logic and reason go down at City Hall.

Second, as it stands, the SF Unified School District can't even get the current program right - 12,000 eligible students weren't getting passes they were entitled to, because of bureaucratic bullsh*t.

Third, all Muni owner/riders are entitled to an affordable system - it was the reason the system was created in the first place. Muni has steadfastly refused to consider funding proposals that would eliminate subsidies for auto drivers, stable, long term sources of revenue, and relies on gimmick funding (i.e. parking tickets) as a "solution." Heck, the head of the SFMTA Board was more interested in parking permits for wealthy parents' nannies than ever challenging the status quo (gotta love suburban politics in SF). Why didn't Campos and his crew ever stand up for a better funding for Muni so this whole "issue" wouldn't be a problem.

Oh, right. That's hard work and no chance to make bombastic speeches at public comment time. I forgot, working on detailed problems to solve them doesn't make for good junk mail or headlines.

Instead of engaging in the politics of division, and enhance the downward spiral of Muni, how about using a little capitalism of sorts, and do a good deed for everyone involved? (I proposed a modified version of this to progressive who supported that "youth fare" for 18-25 year olds - which became 18-21 as they bobbled around - and not one progressive would even let me finish explaining it before they said HELL NO. Oh well).

It's a known fact that if one buys in bulk, the per unit cost goes down. That's how Canada gets drugs for so cheap - they're not buying a bottle of aspirin, they're buying a zillion bottles. Hence, discount.

What if we applied this to Muni passes for young people?

Seriously. What if every school, junior high, high school, be they public or private, every institution serving young people all agreed to buy a set number of passes for the students in their institution? Heck, include the many colleges and trade schools too, if they want to participate. They'd buy the passes, in bulk, at a per-unit discount, then would simply give them away to EVERY student, regardless of income. This would eliminate any "stigma" about income status, and it'd be easier to distribute (especially if we get them all on The Clipper). Done and done.

Muni would now have a predictable source of revenue that would be easy to forecast based on enrollment, unlike a sales tax which fluctuates with the economy. The participating institutions would be enouraging more people to ride Muni to school, reduce traffic, and everyone wins. Sensible, right?

Which is why no one will listen. That's the SF way!

One other thought: when I read stories about young people getting stabbed on Muni by other kids, or about gangs of kids punching a police officer, or go on YouTube to see the many, many kids brag about destroying Muni property, I wonder if giving everyone a free pass is such a good idea.

I have some ideas about how to fix this part of the equation (that Campos and his merry minions didn't bother to consider, since they don't mind people getting hurt on Muni, I guess), but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts first.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the coolest gifts I've ever received was a copy of "The People's Railway" by Anthony Perles a few months ago from "Mason Powell." This is not always an easy book to find, especially one in such nice condition, so to finally own a copy, much less have one that only has a few dings from shipping (via a bookstore in Georgia!) is nice.

Perles' book covers Muni from its inception up until the LRV era and slightly beyond. It's particularly interesting because it isn't just a book about trolley cars and nostalgia - there's some detailed coverage about the politics surrounding Muni and the many changes it went through over the years, and its interactions with the old Market Street Railway, United Railroads, etc.

It's also useful to read as we discuss things like the Central Subway, the bazillion dollar project that has the unquestioned support of certain politicians and politicos, regardless of any facts that suggest there may be more cost effective ways to serve Chinatown.

How, you ask? Well there's a particularly fascinating read on the creation of the original F-line (not to be confused with our awesome F-Line of today), which served Stockton Street, and went through the tunnel (built for the line) all the way to Chestnut and Scott for the Exposition.

In other words, we had a line there, we ripped it out, and are now rebuilding a half-assed part of it for a bazillion dollars and it won't serve nearly as many people as a Geary underground would, etc. etc. etc.

I suppose in 50 years we'll be blowing up the Central Subway for another bazillion dollar rail project. That is, if dollars are even used anymore.

Anyway, the book is worth reading sometime, you can find copies in the library that you can examine on the premises. Check it out!

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

Earlier this year, you'll recall that during the faux mayoral election in January, I suggested we use our powers for good and support the proposed Inner Sunset Parklet for 9th Avenue.

Today, I'm once again asking for good people both in the neighborhood, and those who live elsewhere (but still support a city that's livable for people all the same) to come out in support this project -- either by signing the petition, or attending a hearing at the San Francisco Department of Public works on March 2nd at 9am.

If you can't make the hearing because you can't leave work at 9am, please send in a letter via US Mail or e-mail to DPW at the address listed below, and make sure your voice is heard. This project has a significant level of support, and once it's actually done, people will wonder why anyone would say bad things about it. The few who are making some negative noise about it represent no one, and are the types of folks who thrive on negative energy, so they shall get paid no mind after some of the stunts they've pulled, online and offline.

Anyway, I wouldn't be supporting this if I didn't think it was a good idea, and in the end this, like the many other improvements that have popped up in the Inner Sunset these past few years, will enhance the quality of life for everyone. So go out there and give it some support!

To send a letter via US Mail, please send your correspondence, signed and dated to the following address:

Nick Eisner
Dept of Public Works
Bureau of Street Use and Mapping
875 Stevenson St, Room 460
San Francisco 94103

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier today I spoke with Mike Sugerman of KPIX News for a report this evening about a recent "list" posted by US News and World Report that ranked various transit agencies and apparently San Francsico came in 6th. Apparently this is a reason to celebrate! USA USA! We're Number Six!

As I indicated to Mr. Sugerman, however, if you do any ranking of major agencies, Muni and SF will always rank in the top 10-ish no matter what, simply because of the sheer number of people who ride it every day. The US News rankings, however were a bit odd - Portland ranked higher than SF, but serves fewer people in a far less dense area, for example. They also compared the speed of BART to DC Metro - but that doesn't account for the fact that BART has so many far-flung suburban stations with low ridership - whereas DC Metro, despite IT'S problems, does a better job of serving the Greater DC area than BART does in some regards. And, if you compare things like "operating cost per mile," well, Muni ranks VERY high in that regard.

I think it's more important to rank Muni in terms of how it's actually serving the owner/riders of San Francisco, which by any measure, has been a mish-mash of stitched together budget games, and has chosen to ignore the $3 million Transit Effectiveness Project (except when to justify cuts). The TEP provided a blueprint to build a system - it was up to the SF MTA Board and the politicians at city hall to find a way to pay for it. But when you have an MTA Chair like Tom Nolan who says "family trumps a transit first policy" (if by family you mean a handful of wealthy people whose nannies can't use Muni because it's not working right), you can't really expect the bumbling politicians to do any better.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Finally getting around to posting another afternoon on Muni, courtesy of last week's awesome weather. I'd been getting up early so I could leave work by 1pm or so, and go outside to enjoy unseasonably sunny weather. Last Thursday I met "Mason Powell" for lunch in West Portal at Bullshead Restaurant for a burger, and then figured we'd flip a coin and see where we'd end up.

I'd always meant to go try Bulls Head, but every time I was in West Portal I wasn't really in the mood for a big burger. I'm glad we finally tried it - I don't know that i could afford to eat here every day, but it was good. After we finished, we walked over to add some cash to "Mason's" Clipper card and ended up decided to go east on the 48.

Muni lines can surprise you sometimes. If you only travel a small portion of any one line, it may not seem that scenic, but if you stay on long enough, they can surprise you. The 48 makes some twists and turns that show off some pretty amazing sights, including a great shot of the City as you wind your way towards Noe Valley. Sadly my photo didn't turn out very good because the bus had to make a quick stop, and it came out blurry. Next time, though, I'll get out and take a few.

The 48 takes you through some interesting neighborhoods, some with bustling streets full of activity, and some, such as the route via Portero Hill, that's quiet and full of nice houses. We ended up getting off towards the end, and flipped another coin that had us going inbound on the T-Third.

It seems like every time I go out that way in the Dogpatch area, there's something new sprouting up, crowding in on "old" Dogpatch. The fact that there are wine bars out there still amazes me a little, even though much of those "new" looking condos are quite old. We also saw the repairs being done on that cruise ship from Hell that made all those tourists miserable a while back.

Later, I'd learn that not more than 20 minutes after we passed by, there was a pretty major Muni failwhale sighting that got people so ticked they started a mini riot..

We decided for fun to get off at Castro station because it's always kind of an amazing feat of mad driving skillz that is the 33 Inbound when it makes that right turn from Market onto Clayton. I need to go back and film when the driver makes the turn and literally comes within inches of a retaining wall before going up Clayton. Again, when you're up in the hills there and you have the time to stop and look around, its kind of fun and relaxing, especially on a sunny day when you can see everything for a change!

Eventually, the bus was so full of people being goofballs, we jumped off and caught a 6 Parnassus home, and then walked to Pacific Catch for happy hour beers. I've always wanted to make a "Scenic Route" feature that would go into more detail and take more photos, but I either don't have a day to devote to it, or when I do, the weather totally sucks and the pictures never come out very good.

However, I'm rethinking how to do this in such a way that might be more fun, so as I come up with some new ideas I shall let you all know.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)