Snapped by Nancy - former SF Metblogs writer- on the 4 Jackson. And they say SF is the most expensive city to live in?

This photograph was taken at approximately 5pm, on May 8, 2008. A post on Examiner.com states that a pedestrian on 7th street and Mission was hit by the 14L, while crossing the street.

Sorry to be so late in getting this out, but the SF Bike Coalition is conducting a survey to inform their 2nd annual report card on Bicycling in SF. If you have a moment go take the survey, I just did and it only took five minutes.

We will be publishing a second Report Card on Bicycling in San Francisco and we’re eager to learn about your experiences and opinions on bicycling in San Francisco.

We appreciate your time in answering these questions and thank you for your participation. All of your responses are confidential. Please check our website on Bike to Work Day (May 15) to see the results.

Unfortunately, they are wrapping it up very soon, e.g. possibly hours from now, so if you have an opinion, go express it NOW: SURVEY

As I exited the Embarcadero BART/Muni station, contemplating my public transportation frustrations, I noticed the spectacle pictured above.

At first glance, I thought nothing of it. I remembered the construction walls were up for the better part of the year. Once I realized the change in scenery, I hopped down the escalator (I was going up) to snap a a picture.

I don’t know what compelled me. Maybe it was the thought of looking forward to a nice Cup of Joe after expelling myself from one of my most frustrating morning rituals: dealing with the N-Judah on a daily basis. (I mean, come on! How many people can you fit in one train during rush hour?)

It seemed like the light at the end of a very long tunnel. And then I thought of how much better life would be if Muni would invest just as much into running their trains on time, or having an adequate amount of trains during rush hour. Of course, being from the South (as in Southern California), I really can’t complain about public transportation. Muni is by far the best in comparison.

Still, I really do despise the N-Judah with every fiber of my being. But, the bright side is that after waiting up to 20 minutes* for a 30 minute* ride in a sardine-packed streetcar, I’ll get to wait in what I expect to be a very long line of aggrevated train riding coffee drinkers. Oh joy! [/Sarcasm]

The real bright side is that this might mean the lines will probably lessen a bit aboveground!

Check out the San Francisco Business Times article if you’re not hip to the BART/Peets news.

The SF Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) community meetings kicked off this week. On 4/19 at West Portal Elementary was the first meeting, with meetings upcoming on the following dates/places.

In April and May, the TEP will share preliminary proposals for Muni service changes and reliability improvements at a series of 11 community meetings throughout San Francisco. With your help, a revitalized Muni system will not only benefit current transit customers, but will improve mobility for everyone who lives, works in or visits San Francisco. Interpretation in Cantonese and Spanish will be provided, and there will be a Fast Pass raffle at each meeting.

• 4.24 - 6pm - The SF Jewish Community Center - map
• 4.26 - 10:30am - Dianne Feinstein Elementary - map
• 4.28 - 6pm - Southeast Community Facility - map
• 4.30 - 6pm - City College Mission Campus - map

Meetings will continue into May, for a full schedule visit the meetings page on the TEP website.

Related

• SFMB: Pedestrian Hit By Muni
• NjudahChronicles: Oh My God, It’s Finally Here: The Transit Effectiveness Project Report….
• SFMB: Muni Kills Sunset Pedestrian

Early yesterday morning, a supposed drunk driver steered his car into the MUNI Metro tunnel at West Portal and damaged the automatic drive system, forcing MUNI operators to operate each train manually. This is the cause of the major delays along the MUNI Metro lines for a majority of the day yesterday.

This isn’t the first time someone has driven their car into a MUNI Tunnel, either!

Drive safely, folks! And for that matter, ride safely!

photo by pbo31 on Flickr

Details are scarce, but a Muni train ran over a pedestrian in what is being described as a particularly gruesome scene by a Chronicle reporter. I’m not sure but this may be the first muni fatality for 2008, which considering we are just past 2 weeks into the new year, seems early. Especially in light that a pedestrian was struck on the N line just last week.

This quote from the SFGate story is particularly disconcerting: “Janis Yuen, the Municipal Railway spokeswoman, would only confirm that the N Judah train was heading toward downtown and that “a light rail vehicle and a person made contact.”

If being dragged for a couple of blocks under a train is “making contact” then she is right on the money. I hope the total lack of compassion that statement represents is not the majority sentiment at the MTA. But it’s pretty alarming considering Janis is the SPOKESWOMAN.

Tonight at approximately 5:41 pm an elderly woman was struck by an outbound N train as it made a turn onto 9th avenue from Irving. According to various reports she is in critical condition at SF General Hospital. The entire scene was shut down for a couple of hours during the rescue and cleanup.

The 9th and Irving corridor has been a focus of traffic calming efforts by the Inner Sunset Neighborhood Association and the Inner Sunset Merchants Association for at least the past 3 years. Unfortunately the MTA and City’s Investigative periods are not timely, and continue as of today. Combined with the fact that several city departments, including the Police Department and Fire & Rescue do not want to see Traffic calming in the Inner Sunset as they say it would affect response times.
(more…)

After killing an 83-year-old woman on Tuesday, Muni bagged another pedestrian in the Richmond district this morning — a 40-year-old woman who was hospitalized after being struck at 22nd and California.

Look alive when you see one of those diesel buses coming.