The N-Judah Chronicles

Looks like there's some damaged power lines that are delaying the N-Judah, in and outbound in the Outer Sunset, and buses are being provided to replace the streetcars....plan accordingly!

UPDATE: A Loyal Reader was kind enough to email me right after the wires broke, and took some pictures:

at the n-judah turnaround

just heard a sound like trampoline being detonated
somehow the judah screwed up its wires... you know
the big web of them down here at the turnaround.. they're
nicely tangled now :(

happened at ~3:15pm (4/28)

wondering if we'll see something on the RSS feed :)

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I put the MUNI Alert RSS Feed into Google Reader to see if it'd be useful...and today it was, as it seems there's a derailed MUNI car at the Caltrain Station. As I need to take Caltrain today, well this helps me know that Things Will Be Delayed.

No details as of yet. If you use an RSS reader, you can cut and paste this URL into Google Reader or whatever you use, and be updated on the latest and greatest in MUNI mayhem:

http://www.sfmta.com/rss/announcements.xml

Enjoy!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

o hai for the blog

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

All of today's Olympic Torchy Goodness has been making MUNI hellacious today - the N, of course, is blocked over by the ballpark, and there's new chatter that the torch is going to run down Van Ness instead (where no one is around to actually see it) and there's an army of Chinese and American security forces out there today.

All of the MUNI alerts about the old route along Embarcadero may be moot, and now we'll have all sorts of closures and whatnots on this "new" routing that they just announced to psyche out the protestors. They already closed the cable cars this morning (replacing them with...buses..), and the N isn't scheduled to be online to Caltrain station until at least 4pm.

I decided well in advance to avoid having any meetings or work downtown, so I'm sitting here watching the torch goodness on KPIX's Eye on Blogs and SFist.

If you've got a tale of a particularly annoying commute or other tales from the front lines, post 'em in the comments and let the bloggy goodness continue.

UPDATE: MUNI just posted this alert...allegedly the N is back on line all the way to CalTrain...

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I read this headline on my RSS newsreader, I figured it had to be a joke, but it's not - KGO reports that someone found a way to drive all the way into the West Portal Tunnel, until they got to the part where it narrows and got stuck. Fortunately no trains were running so there was no chance for a major accident.

Still, one wonders the logic, or lack of, that would let someone think "O Hai! Tunnelz, I has them!" and just barrel on through.

Then I remember the infamous Judah's Prius Incident captured by one of the Loyal Readers, and realize, in this town, any-thing's possible.

And now, a re-run, of that famous day on the N last year. Enjoy.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

TO: MUNI Bigwigs
CC: MUNI Union Bigwigs, Mayor N, Board of Supes
SUBJECT: Can We Please Take Note Of A Great Driver on the N Judah Line?

Today I was taking the outbound N home around 4pm and for the first time in a while, we had a driver who not only did a great job moving the train along on time, but also actually called out the stops, the connections, and points of interest for each stop along the N-Judah line.

You know, like everyone's supposed to, esp. in light of that whole Americans With Disabilities Act thing.

Since I was in the 2nd car I was unable to get said awesome driver's number, but I did notice the number on the outbound first car was 1492, so if you could somehow determine who this person is and recognize 'em for a job well done, well, we citizens would appreciate it.

Perhaps if we spent more time rewarding good behavior, and putting good service and efficiency first, instead of silly political shenanigans (Mayor, Board, I'm looking at you), maybe we could have that greenie sustainable city we keep claiming to be all the time.

Sincerely,

The NJC.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After hopes were somewhat falsely raised last year, it's hoped that this will not only ensure safety, but perhaps speed things up for both cars AND trains. (And if you're really that curious here's why it makes that turn in the first place)

After a string of accidents, including the tragic accident last month, and other collisions reported in by loyal readers, and a hapless mini crusade, both here and on Mr. Mayor's "blog", it's nice to just see something happen at all. All this effort, just to get someone to acknowledge a promise made back in 2006.

I really hope they make this work, and if it does work out, I think the politicians and the folks at the assorted alphabet soup of agencies need to hear that if they do their jobs and make something work better for everyone (cars, transit, pedestrians, and residents) that's a GOOD thing, and screwing around, spending our money on foolishness isn't.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today was a nice day. Great weather, and I got done with work early, which allowed me some time to enjoy a free afternoon at the DeYoung Museum, since it was First Tuesday. Wonderful.

So, after a quick client meeting downtown, I hopped on the Mighty N and started reading The Onion, and the train was not too crowded. Little did I know my Larry David Day was going to be starting up fairly soon.

Sometimes people-watching is part of the MUNI experience, but today was not one of them - I just wanted to go to the museum and avoid any MUNI related mayhem. As such, I did not notice the mom with the two kids get on the train at Duboce and Church.

More people got on the train. And all the while I didn't really pay attention to these folks and this noise a few seats away. Finally one of the kids built up into a crescendo of noise. "MOM! Look over there! MOM! Look over there! MOM! Look over there!"

Jeez, kid, why don't you record it on an MP3 and relax the vocal cords. Whatever. I kept reading The Onion.

"MOM! You SAID Dad was on a business trip, but he's not. He's over THERE!"

Ha ha, I thought. Someone's getting busted. This is some serious MUNI Street Theater! I kept reading, looking around for someone who's apparently in some trouble, maybe in some salacious affair or whatnot.

The mom kept shushing the kids, trying to keep 'em in line. Finally the older one (I have no idea how old kids are and can't tell by looking so who knows) says as loud as he can "MOM! He's wearing a black tshirt, he's sitting in the middle of the train, and he's RIGHT THERE READING THE PAPER!"

Oh. Crap. W.T.F???

I did my best to hide. Clearly, I resemble some child's dad, which, while sad for the child and all, does make me feel a little good, but what in the Hell is the Emily Post etiquette for being mistaken as someone's Not At Home Dad by some kid on the N Judah?

I did my best to hid behind the paper, but it was for naught. Fortunately, "Mom" was cool and said "Kids, that is NOT Dad, and I'll prove it."

Oh. Frak. Me.

The woman came over and smile and said "I'm really sorry about this...you do kind of resemble my husband, but I need to prove it, and, um, well I can't get my kid to settle down."

We were winding down Carl Street at this point and frankly I would have been happy to press a magic button and get an ejector seat out of that frakking N just to avoid this very situation. Give me violent hobos any day.

"Kids...this is NOT dad. He's just some guy on the train. Now cool it!"

Just some guy on the train. Hmm. Not bad. I was worried she was going to say something worse, but hey, all in day's work. I wanted to give her a card and say "hey I'm not just some guy on a train, I'm the guy who blogs about the train," but then I realized just how seriously lame that sounds and went back to reading the interview with Will Farrell.

Cue the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme.

PS: The museum was awesome, as always, and the view from the tower was spectacular!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOLCATS p.s.a. on muni farez

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Loyal Reader and blogger friend Melissa just called me a few minutes ago to report on a rather critical accident on a K-Outbound line that's stalled MUNI traffic downtown.

According to Melissa, an elderly gentleman got on at Embarcadero on a K-Outbound line, and the train (which as we know in the tunnel is controlled by computer, NOT the operator) made a very sudden stop, just at the moment that said gentleman's hand was not attached to any handle or bar and he fell down, possibly injuring or breaking his hip. There was a 20 minute wait for the paramedics to show up and move him to safety upstairs. The operator apparently was trying to help as best they could, but got a little grief from patrons, not realizing that machines control the trains in the tunnel (which many people might not be aware of, we're not all transit nerds like me).

As of right now (7:40pm) paramedics and first responders were just about to get him onto a gurney and to safety. OK as I'm writing this and now as of of 7:43pm I just got a text from Melissa that the trains are moving, but delays should be expected.

I think that as we go about our weekends we should hope that said passenger is OK, and be aware there will be some delays for a while as MUNI gets back up to speed.

Thanks to Melissa for her eyewitness account...it's just sad that anyone gets injured on public transit, and more sad that writing about SF transit means talking about mayhem and injuries on said system. If this mayhem, death, and crap continues, I'm quitting, because I didn't start this to write the "let's all talk about people getting hurt and killed blog."

Jeez.

PS: You can read the rest of Melissa's evening, delayed by the K line, over at Beth Spotswood's awesome blog. It's quite a small world here in SF blog land.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The always informative and entertaining MattyMatt at SFist.com caught the latest agenda of the San Francisco County Transit Agency (SFCTA) and at tomorrow's meeting there's some pretty big news - it appears that the much touted, delayed, and awaited for signal improvements to the Irving/9th and Judah/9th intersections are finally being made!

You can go check out the agenda online, and scroll down to Item 13, where you can read more, and download a PDF of the plan also.

From what I'm reading, this has been fast-tracked to be done in 3 months. The upgrades are being made via Prop. K funds, and the N Judah trains will be getting their own signal, so cars won't have to risk getting rammed by a mega-ton train. I'm guessing in light of recent events this is getting a bit of a push, but you know what? I really don't care why they're doing it - I'm just glad they are, since this has the potential of being a win for everyone - cars, MUNI, MUNI riders, and pedestrians.

I'll keep an eye on this tomorrow and try and post something in between work breaks if I can....this is good news, though, and unlike in the past, someone is spending money and has presented a fairly detailed plan, which in government-ese means that they're more likely to be doing something than not (Funny how money has that effect on a situation.)

UPDATE: Rachel Gordon at the Chronicle has a short story on the Gate website now also.

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

Reader Jeff, who runs the extremely helpful Sunset District Events Calendar, alerted me to a MUNI Town Hall Meeting with Supervisor Carmen Chu. The meeting will be held on January 30th from 7-9pm at the Sunset Recreation Center at Lawton and 29th.

Supervisor Chu has quickly earned a reputation for paying attention to constituent concerns, particularly on MUNI issues, and trying to prod city government to do something. In other words, she's doing the job of a Supervisor, instead of using the job to get higher office or pull shenanigans. What a novel concept.

I will try and attend the meeting but if nothing else I'll post a reminder and encourage others to attend, for sure. If you attend the meeting, be sure to post your thoughts here afterwards, and if you can't make the meeting, try contacting Sup. Chu's office via the city's website.

I think when we have people trying to do something, anything to do the right thing, good citizens should encourage them to do so, and give 'em the support they need. It's much easier for those in charge to invent new ways to mis-spend money and ignore folks - it's a lot harder to try and do the job like one is supposed to.

Update: I couldn't make it to the meeting as I got a last minute assignment for the paying job and had to get it done immediately...so if anyone attended feel free to post comments on the site!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Holy guac! We just got word of news about another potential fatality on the N-Judah line this evening. Reader Jeff writes:

Greg:

News helicopters are overhead right now. Judah is closed off 28th Ave - 30th Ave. I just got home, but it looks like it happened about an hour ago.

My neighbor tells me someone was trying to get onto the train and got caught somehow. Passengers tried to alert the driver, but the train didn't stop in time.

I'm guessing the accident will be on the 11:00 news with all the details.

jeff

I got home around 8pm and missed this incident. This sounds pretty bad, though, so if anyone has info or details, please feel free to post in the comments. I'll be up for a few more hours to post details as they come in.

UPDATE: Bay City News has the story so far....

UPDATE 2:, The Chronicle has more information about the incident as well. This is so depressing.

Continue reading "Reader Mail: Another Fatality on the N Judah" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

aaaa021

Posted by Greg Dewar at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

"Mason Powell," one of our loyal corrrespondents, reports that something is blocking 19th around Ulloa and Taraval, necessitating a re-route of the bus he was taking from the Daly City BART to Irving Street.

Trains don't seem to be delayed (too badly), however. Anyone see what happened?

UPDATE: Flickr user DeathByCamera took some pictures of the incident yesterday and posted them to Flickr and SFist's "contribute" section!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

This morning we had an unfortunate accident on the N-Judah at 7th and Irving today. Several readers posted comments or emails detailing what they saw....for example, Reader Lauren writes:

I was on the inbound train that arrived at the scene of the accident within minutes of it happening. It looked like a white pick-up trunk ran almost straight into the outbound train. There were injuries: I think it was the passenger of the pick-up. The shuttle buses were slow to arrive, so I walked down to Lincoln to try to catch the 71. The buses were so packed that some went by without picking us up. So, it took me about an extra hour to get to work today.

Reader Karolyn also sent in a comment:

This morning at appox 7:25am I arrived at 7th & Irving street saw 2 trains at 9th & Irving there was an outbound & inbound stuck at the corner people were hanging out of the door and the trains were not able to move in either direction. I decided to walk towards 9th but didnot see the car that was apparently hit since I needed to get to work. Decided to catch the 43 or 44 to Forrest Hill Station and there was another inbound N at 9th & Judah the conductor must have informed the people of the accident. Just another messed up day on the N Judah line. So sad when it is something your use to.

If anyone else has cell phone camera photos or other information, please send it in!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reader Patrick sent me an email about an hour ago indicating that there's been a collision between a Honda car and an N-Train at 9th and Irving. As I'm at work I can't just run down the street and check this out, so if any other Loyal Readers have any info to report, please do so in the comments section!

For those of you just joining us, I made safety at the 9th/Irving and 9th/Judah intersections a mini crusade, with mixed results. Any pedestrian, motorist, or mass transit rider, however can witness a host of near-misses and other problems at these intersections on a daily basis.

Maybe this accident will move along MUNI's folks, flush with Measure A money and whatnot, to get off their backsides and make good on a promise they were supposed to have fulfilled almost a year ago!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Reader Alexandra writes in with an interesting tale of a blocked entrance at Fillmore and Duboce, a "get it done" MUNI driver, some helpful passengers, and a crabby cabbie. Read on:

On the 9th around 1440 I was on my typical daily commute home...All of a sudden on filmore & duboce the J halts-there's a truck blocking the tracks...driiinnnng drinnnng nothing happens ...by now there's a taxi on the right site blaring his horn.

So the driver gets out with his coffee and it turns out that the truck broke down. The driver then announces over the intercom that he needs some guys to help push the truck out of the way. Oh..and he also tells the obnoxious driver politely to get his ass out of the taxi and help push.

What followed was just this great comical relief. The driver with his coffee, his back against the truck pushing with several guys from the J-Church and then the disgruntled taxi driver. About a second after they push the truck out of the way the muni help truck roars in....and the driver simply tells them that its all done.

When GTD comes to MUNI, everyone wins!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holy Crap!

Whilst writing a snarky post about the MUNI's massive frakups for Halloween-That-Is-Not-Is, I just got whacked by a really serious earthquake!

Wow!

Here's the latest from the MTA/MUNI. I am going to find out more about the quake....talk about live blogging....

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night's rush hour going home was rather eventful. With a Giants game and a 49ers game at the same time, MUNI was rushing a lot of people to a lot of places, with some odd results. At least this time the signs on the N Judah said quite clearly that it was turning around at 22nd more often than not, which doesn't help much if you had to walk from 22nd to the ocean, but at least they were up front about it.

One of our trivia crew, Anna from Metblogs, was coming into the Inner Sunset via BART and the N, and was amazed at the situation, to which I simply said "Well now you know why there's an N Judah Chronicles!"

Odder still was the train I took to head down to the Blackthorn for Brainstormer pub trivia* which was ringing the warning bell as it rounded the corner from Carl to Irving. Now, this isn't that unusual if the driver is worried about pedestrians and the like. What was weird was that the bell kept on ringing after the turn.

And ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and ringing, and ringing....and so on. Apparently the ringer got stuck somewhere early on down the line, and it kept on ringing. Loudly. And after I jumped off the train at Irving/9th, it just kept on ringing loudly, announcing its presence to the entire neighborhood.

Overall, a weird end to a busy day.

*Sadly, our Heroic Team tied for first place, only to end up in 2nd place due to the tiebreaking question about some survey about the number of times the French get it on. D'oh! But we still won enough Schrute Bucks to pay for the drinks next time! And we still had fun! Woo hoo!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Ever had one of those days where you finally get a moment to sit down and ask "just what is in the water around here?"

I am in the process of having one right now, and a bit of it seems MUNI related. Today I had a day where I was up early and had a laundry list of errands, work-related and not, all over the place. You know, the kind of day that's just perfect for a rock-solid system like MUNI. So I got out of the house and started down the list.

Eventually, I had to take an N to Church/Duboce. So far so good, everything went fine. In fact, I had time to sit down and get a coffee and watch the infamous J Church cars go by. Well sort of - it seemed like at least 1/2 were out of service for training, and the rest weren't making all their stops. In fact I got to watch a mini-revolt of people who patiently waited for an oncoming J car at a major stop and wave their fists in the air as it sped on by, ignoring them.

After taking care of a personal errand at mid-day, I had a whole host of stupid little work-related errands, all of which had to be done quickly, and, well, you can guess how that went. If anyone wants to know why the J Church line gets delayed so much, the interminable wait I had at the end of the line while all the trains stacked up is one clue.

Finally, I made it back to Duboce and Church to head back home and do more work. As you can see in the pictures I took, for some reason the stairs wouldn't go down on the second car, so they had to uncouple the cars, do something, then hook them back up, all the while more trains (including a second N) stacked up behind it.

Now, fortunately they were able to fix it, but I decided to get on the next N, since I knew it would not be crowded. That's also when things got really weird.

As I and a few other citizens boarded, we were treated to an unitelligble noise on the PA system, presumably from the driver. Since this was a MUNI car, it's not like we could understand much beyond something about "a lot of wrecks" and a general comment about "hiring out of town managers." The others on the N and I looked at each other and once we got through the Sunset Tunnel (where, at one point we actually went backwards), we began to wonder if we should get off, lest this be our ride on the train driven by the person who's decided to "check out" and doesn't care who they take with them.

Eventually I made it back to the Irving/9th intersection, where the lack of response to the safety campaign by MUNI and the Mayor reared its ugly head as both a car and an old lady almost got killed by all the mayhem at the green light. After going to the post office where I got more annoying news, I decided to park it, post a blog entry, and take an hour for myself to just relax, before heading out and doing another 2 dozen stupid errands.

How about you? See any MUNI breakdown drama today? Post in the comments below!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hybrid Bus Interior

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

stop global warming ban burning man

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A View of North Beach and Beyond

Continue reading "And Now, Another Crusade: Making Irving and 9th and Judah and 9th More Safe" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So how was your commute today?

The Chronicle reports no major dramas, so far, and my own limited experience has been fine. In fact, today was the first time in like, forever, that I went to Safeway on Market, exited the store and a virtually empty N-Judah car pulled up, around 4ish, and was air conditioned quite nicely! I was shocked.

I took a few pics of a very busy Duboce and Church intersection as several J's were changed to N Outbound, one N was changed to a J Outbound, and so on.

And, in a bit of irony, some hapless volunteers were out at the 9th and Irving N Judah stop trying to get signatures to get Mayor Newsom on the ballot. Somehow, I think anyone running for re-election in this town might wanna consider alternate venues....

How was your day? If nothing else, the weather was really great today! Not a hint of fog, even in the Sunset!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So how was your commute today?

The Chronicle reports no major dramas, so far, and my own limited experience has been fine. In fact, today was the first time in like, forever, that I went to Safeway on Market, exited the store and a virtually empty N-Judah car pulled up, around 4ish, and was air conditioned quite nicely! I was shocked.

I took a few pics of a very busy Duboce and Church intersection as several J's were changed to N Outbound, one N was changed to a J Outbound, and so on.

How was your day? If nothing else, the weather was really great today! Not a hint of fog, even in the Sunset!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

These days, given the N's foibles, I've been "cheating" on my beloved N and taking the 6-Parnassus when it's convenient. Yeah, I know, but I can't wait for MUNI to figure out how to fix the trains and wait decades to get home during rush hour.

Anyway, today whilst taking the 6, when the bus approached the intersection of Haight and Masonic (always a scene and not in a good way) , it turned out we were arriving as the SFFD and SFPD were cleaning up an accident involving a scooter that was leaking gasoline. In other words, there was going to be a delay.

The bus driver took pains to ask the police involved how long it would be before the accident would be cleared up so she could make the left on to Masonic, and assured passengers that she was doing what she could to get us past said accident. She was professional with both cops and riders and reminded us she couldn't just let us out on a busy street on Haight since there'd be a serious risk of someone getting hit by the 71 or the cars.

Now, this is when some of our fellow citizens on the bus chose to act like a bunch of snotty hipster bitches, and started shouting nonsense at the driver, demanding to be let off the bus immediately. Even after several of us told them to pipe down because the driver was on the case, they kept on acting like jerks. The driver made a good point, saying that the injured scooter guy probably didn't plan on getting in a serious accident during rush hour, and that a little patience while the poor guy was carried out on a stretcher was in order.

Within minutes, we were on our way. Hipster bitches got off the bus. I said a special thank you to the driver when I departed, and thought "Hey, why not post at least some positive news for a change."

It's times like these I wish the MUNI driver's union would do more for the driver of bus 5421 on the 6 Parnassus who was trying to help passengers, instead of defend the top 25 jerks who cause all the problems. Seriously.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The one time I didn't compose a posting offline, complete with links and whatnots, and that's the one time my ISP decides to pull a MUNI and crap out on me. I cannot communicate just how frustrating this is. Lesson learned - never compose a complex posting online, and follow the rules one sets out for themselves, in this case don't compose online.

I'll reconstruct it and repost it later on. Meanwhile, I will regale you all with an incident that happened after the infamous Bay To Breakers event yesterday, which according to our friends at SFist had some issues Sunday.

So, there I was minding my own business, heading out from the Duboce Park Cafe towards downtown. As you all may or may not have been aware, MUNI was in overdrive (sort of) providing extra trains and buses and 7 dollar fun rides for all those people after the big race.

Anyway, so as I wait for my N to show up, one pulls up and it is packed, sardine-style, with happy people from all over the city. What I did not count on, however, was seeing the N used as a recycling truck. Yes, that's right. You see, two enterprising individuals took it upon themselves to collect nine huge garbage bags worth of plastic water bottles in hopes of getting the CRV for each. So, intelligently, they chose to take an N on the most packed day of the season.

Yeah. That was my reaction too.

Oh, but it gets better. You see, as I watched these two Rhodes Scholars try to get all of these huge bags off the super-crowded N-Judah, I noticed that one bag was starting to snag on the handrail by the exit. Before I could say "Stop, kind gentlemen, you're about to spill f*cking bottles all over the place," it tore open. Suddenly the stop, the train floor and the sidewalk were covered in stupid water bottles. Of course this delayed things even more.

Finally, I managed to get on the train, while everyone else was trying to kick water bottles out the door. The Genius Duo decided to snap every one of them up, and had no problem reaching under the about to start moving train to grab every last one of them. News flash, geniuses - you can still redeem the bottles if they are flat. You cannot, however, get a new hand if your existing one gets chopped off, at the recyclers.

I was glad to get off the train when I did and go about the rest of my day. I did leave MUNI wondering a few things - one was why it is they can have enough trains to run for BTB, but not for the daily commute. The other was how much it costs MUNI to service all these big special events - and how it is that MUNI riders are the ones that end up shouldering the costs for these things (in both actual costs and lost service) and not those who created the added burden in the first place?

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Today we have another potential MUNI Street Theater production, and it's potentially a grindhouse horror film.

Like all horror movies, it starts out just fine - if you look outside the weather promises to be outstanding! The potential victims go about their day as if nothing will go wrong. And like in all grindhouse horror films, that's usually the calm before the storm.

Now, you can almost count on delays at this point, in particular on our Beloved N. If I wrote about every lengthy delay I've had on the line this week I'd fill up the server with endless tales of woe. Despite the assurances from the bureau-bots that "everything is fine", well, it isn't. Reading the comments and e-mails from Loyal Readers is just reinforcing that observation.

Then, of course, the lovely people of "Critical Mass" will be having their taxpayer-sponsored fun today. You all know what I think of these games, and how the City plays favorites with "fun" in this town.

I'm not one to help the Powers That Be fuel tensions, but instead suggest to those of you who work downtown to take off early today. It's a sunny day anyway - why not cut out of work early with some plausible made-up excuse, go meet with friends elsewhere, and enjoy the day as best you can, instead of fighting MUNI, traffic, and 1000s of angry people (who are still mad about a stolen cookie or something) for hours and hours after work?

That's the best way to avoid MUNI Street Theater: Grindhouse Horror Edition, and enjoy a great Friday! Feel free to post your experiences in the comments section this weekend!

SPECIAL NOTE: SF Weekly is taking votes for their "Best Of" issue and if you are so inclined, I'd love it if you voted the N Judah Chronicles "Best Blog." Drinks on the blog if Mason and I win!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I took a few days off because frankly, after last week's disaster, and the Cylon-esque T-Third Ceremonies (for which I'll post a short article and photos later), I needed a break.

However I wanted to start an open thread here on today's commute, which according to the Chronicle is potentially a disaster as the Giants have an afternoon game, and they'll be trying to cram as many trains in the tunnel as possible.

Given many of the problems people have been talking about, similar to the one that Metroblogging SF writer Jason DeFillippo reported yesterday, it makes me a bit worried.

Post your observations in the comments. Also, feel free to discuss the latest ratings by citizens of MUNI, which has dropped to a C-. Is that acceptable to you as a MUNI rider? Or perhaps should MUNI shoot a little higher?

PS: If you haven't already seen this absolutely priceless photo by Luke Thomas at Fog City Journal, check it out. It was taken during the big Meltdown of 2007 last week. What captions would you come up with for our Fearless Leaders?

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

MUNI Apology, 1981

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

When An Apology Isn't An Apology

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow. It seemed like today we had a Commute From Hell Festival today on MUNI. First, we had a derailment this morning which created endless amounts of fun for everyone. This is on the heels of a less-than-stellar opening of the T-Third, and the confusion caused by the switchover from the N to the T for trains headed to Caltrain.

This afternoon was not much better. When I went to the Montgomery Station to catch a much-needed N around 4:30 or so, I (and a lot of my fellow riders) waited for an N to show up.

While talking to everyone on the platform, many people reported that when their commute this morning was delayed, they were told the cause was not just the derailment but the odd "too many trains in the tunnel" line instead. Curious.

I talked to a passenger who'd been waiting in the Montgomery Station since 4:15 waiting for an N,with no luck. We waited, and waited and waited, until an N showed up at 4:55 or so. Sure enough, the N was already crowded, leaving little room for all the passengers getting on at Montgomery Station.

I quickly did some math and realized that frankly, it didn't matter if I got on or not - by the time the N got to my post office, it'd be closed. So I gave up and went back upstairs to meet up with a friend instead and waited out the storm.

I'd like to hear from more of my fellow N-Judah riders about how your commute has improved (or declined) following the changes to the line, and what (if anything) you were told while you waited and waited and waited....

UPDATE: The MTA/MUNI website is a mess, so I found this link where you can send in your complaints. Sure, they may end up going down the MUNI Black Hole of Non-Responsiveness, but try it anyway.

UPDATE 2: MattyMatt of SFist posted this great video, as well as an apology from MUNI director Nate Ford. Check it out.

I think it is great that Nate Ford has chosen to act like a responsible person in this very crappy situation. Too bad the MTA board, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor couldn't find the courage to do the same.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

This weekend, I took the much dreaded N-to-T switchover to catch a Caltrain to the Peninsula on Easter Sunday. While my experience on the T-Third itself seems to have gone more smoothly than it did for others, those of us waiting for the T had plenty of High Drama to watch as Muni Street Theater made a springtime comeback.

Coming Attractions included this array of confusing signs in the Embarcadero. Several tourists who wanted to take Caltrain were clearly confused and asked me which sign was right. I was not at the Embarcadero on Saturday, the first day of the Big Switch, so I can only imagine what it was like when all the Giants fans wanted to go to the game, and MUNI did its usual stellar job of communicating the change.

Then the main act came into full swing. An N car had pulled up and everyone got off the train, except for this one guy who was hunched over, apparently asleep. The MUNI operator politely, but firmly, tried to wake the guy up and send him on his way, but each time he literally did not move.

You could sense the tension as the operator started to wonder if the guy had died on the train, and as this short interlude extended into the main act, another one backed up behind it, then a T-Third that was due to take us all to the train station.

Continue reading "Muni Street Theater: High Drama on the N and the T" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

UPDATE JUNE 29th: N-Judah service HAS BEEN RESTORED TO THE BALLPARK! If you found this page on Google, please disregard it and read this update instead!

Giants fans! For years you may have been taking the N-Judah to the ballpark to avoid having to park in an expensive lot, or to enjoy the thrill of mass transit with your fellow baseball fans. Yay!

However, be aware of some changes that are timed in such a way that might make things a bit confusing, so as a public service I'm laying it out for everyone to make sure people can get to the game easily.

If you are going to Opening Day on April 3rd or any game on April 3rd-6th, take the N-Judah like your normally would. The train will still go to the ballpark on those days.

Alternately , if you're an out-of-towner on BART (or just not coming from the Sunset), take your mode of transit to town, switch off at Powell, Montgomery or Embarcadero Stations to the N-Judah, and proceed directly to the ballpark.

Starting April 7th, the N-Judah will NO LONGER GO TO THE BALLPARK. So, if you're going that day to see the Giants play the Dodgers, you will have to get off the N-Judah and and switch to a T-Third or a J-Church train somewhere downtown.

Alternately , if you're an out-of-towner on BART (or just not coming from the J-Church or T-Third lines), take your mode of transit to town, switch off at Powell, Montgomery or Embarcadero Stations to the T-Third or J-Church, and proceed directly to the ballpark!

Be sure to take note of which day you're going to the ballpark and make plans accordingly!

You can download a copy of the Giants schedule and make a note if you like. It's easy to forget after making such a habit of taking the N to the ballpark - heck even I would most likely go on "autopilot" and forget, and I write a freakin' blog about the N-Judah! So there's no shame in not knowing - just try and keep informed ahead of time so you're not late to the game!

After years of telling people to take the N to the park, it will not be easy at first to get fans to realize they need to switch and take the T or J instead, but here's to hoping MUNI will post some extra big signs on the 7th for the big switchover!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hey MUNI! What's Wrong With This Picture?

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

Yes, It's A New NextBus Sign, and YES, it WORKS.

So in the spirit of posting some hot, new, reliable NextBus info, here is a picture of a brand new NextBus sign at the corner of 16th and Valencia. Due to my cameraphone's lame shutter speed, the light up board is incomplete in this picture. However, I can assure you, yes it works just fine and looks spectacular.

Enjoy!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being the kind of person I am, I think about all sorts of things. One, though that crosses my mind almost daily as I take the N-Judah inbound is what I call the "Moment of Truth" when it passes through the Duboce/Church intersection and into the tunnel.

Almost every time, it needs to stop just before it enters the tunnel to allow for traffic from other underground lines headed for the stations downtown. And every time it does, I begin to wonder what would happen if the power was cut (due to technical delays or a natural disaster) and suddenly, all of us on the N were stuck in the car.

There's no easy way out. The space between the doors and the sides of the tunnel entrance are extremely narrow, and even if one could override the doors and open them up, it's hard to see how you'd evacuate everyone out, esp. seniors, the disabled, etc. And I've yet to see an escape hatch on top (although perhaps it's just camouflaged?) like one has on a bus.

I certainly hope neither I, nor any of my fellow MUNI riders ever get stuck there, but if anyone has an escape plan email me ASAP!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whenever I listen to the plaintive cries of fare-evaders I wish I could tape the "junkie logic" these folks use to try and explain away why they boarded without paying like the rest of us citizens.

Just the other day I couldn't help but laugh at yet another well-heeled upscale hipster, trying to explain why he didn't have a transfer or a pass in the Van Ness station that utilized such extreme junkie logic, even the MUNI fare inspector had a look on their face of "Oh my God, I've finally heard it all." Trying to remember it properly just gives me a headache.

Then I opened up the Examiner and read junkie logic, boomer celebrity style in the form of Ken Garcia's column in the Examiner. Now, normally I don't spend a lot of time reading Ken's columns since I pretty much know what he's going to say in advance on any issue, but the headline made me curious.

After reading it, it was clear what the problem was - he doesn't mind the MUNI fare inspectors doing their job and applying the rules to Everyone Else, he just doesn't like it applied to his own kid or her friends. While admitting, yes, they screwed up, he feels his kids and their friends should have gotten a mere warning, while you, I, and Everyone Else should get a big ticket and more.

Apparently, fare inspectors are to deduce that kids from the good part of town deserve a pass, while another kid with the same story (and from a part of town Mr. Garcia doesn't like) should get a ticket and a slap upside the head.

After all, shouldn't MUNI inspectors just "know" that "good kids" (i.e. his) deserve a break? And if they don't, that must be because (as he alleges without any statistical evidence) "most" transit inspectors are ex-thugs and not qualified to do their job - simply because, well, they did it "too well." See how junkie logic works? Yeah, my head is spinning too. And not in the good way.

It's not his kid's fault, and it's certainly not his fault as a parent for not buying his kid a bus pass, it's always Someone Else's Fault. (Thank you, baby boomers for that gem of current American life) But if you or I screw up on MUNI, don't look for any sympathy from Mr. Garcia and his band of junkie logic practicioners - it never works that way!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Some days make you wish you'd stayed at home. Today was mine. And it wasn't because of the rain. Rather, it was one of those days where doing the simplest tasks took longer than they should have, and the many irritants we have come to know on the N-Judah all got together and had a Rainy Day Party.

Now the rain is fine, it wasn't that big a deal, just a minor annoyance on way out the door from the 150th day of noisy upgrades and repairs at my building. It's an older building and it's groovy the owners are fixing up all sorts of stuff that needs to be done - but the constant noise + random power outages make it hard to do my work. So I escaped, rain be damned.

After heading down to the Civic Center to take care of some business, I had lunch, and took a look at the NextBus listings for the N-Judah line. Why, in only 25 minutes my N Judah train was due to show up at Van Ness! And I was a mere 10 minutes away on foot! How fortuitous!

Not.

Instead, as is the case every time I use the Van Ness Station and am in a rush, the moment I entered the station, the quantum resonance of the universe changed, and I (along with 100 deep of my fellow N-Judah riders) were stuck waiting a lot longer than 25 minutes or 10 minutes or whatever the heck it should have been, and got to watch an unending conga line of Ks, Ls, and Ms, with hardly any passengers. How does this happen?

Continue reading "Ever Had a Day That Made You Wish You'd Stayed At Home?" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

There Are No Atheists in Foxholes or on MUNI

Special Note: This posting marks the 100th posting here at the N-Judah Chronicles! Woo hoo!