Mission Mission

Has anyone else ever jumped on the 8x at 6th and Harrison thinking it was like, a 9 or something? I’ve done it twice now, once four years ago and another time yesterday. It immediately starts changing lanes, and then your heart sinks as you realize it’s getting on the freeway. In the end, I made it to my destination (Dear Mom) in about 45 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. But you can imagine how powerless I felt.

Also, the bus driver laughed at me.

In an effort to help out the city of San Francisco as well as all of us Muni riders, one Mission resident and his crack team of programmers took to the internet and did in one weekend what city officials said would take 5 years to complete. SFGate has the details:

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has every intention of spending a few years and untold dollars creating its own, more robust version of the tool. But the team hacked together the basic parameters of the SMART Muni app in a 48-hour stretch in late July, fueled by pizza and beer.

Read on.

Previously:

• Pink-clad superhero team unsticks a stuck Muni bus
• Man vs. 14 Mission vs. being punched in the face
• Flight to San Diego faster than Muni ride from Lower Haight to Downtown

[photo of H.P. Mendoza by Amber]

This Wednesday night Muni Diaries invites you to once again grab a drink and not only listen to other people’s stories of the wackiness that is life on Muni, but to jump up and tell your own!

The evening will be a mix of returning MDL storytellers and opportunities for audience members to take the mic. That story about that time that that stuff happened on Muni? Get up and tell it!

Wednesday, 9/28, at The Elbo Room (647 Valencia St.) – Open mic signup starts at 6:30, show is from 7-9pm. $5 at the door and free drink with admission.

More at Muni Diaries.

Previously:

Young love on Muni

Muni is obviously trying as hard as possible to compete with Caltrain.

[Photo and Title by Neil See]

Thanks for the photo, Kerry F.! (Larger original after the jump.)

(more…)

Wow. This is a helluva lot better than the average Missed Connection. Best of luck, lovebirds!

(Thanks, Kim!)

Hampshire House yesterday spotted this enterprising young man making the best of a long wait for the 27.

More importantly, what do we think of these newfangled portal-into-the-center-of-the-Sun stop signs they’ve started installing ’round the ‘hood?

[link]

Says an enthusiastic editor at Design Sponge:

This is such a clever, chic display of old bus passes that I’m tempted to traipse over to San Francisco to amass my own collection — bravo to SF Muni for making such awesome-looking tickets and for using great color combos!

– and then discontinuing them forever! Read on for the whole story on how this display was made and why and, of course, the “before” shot.

[Thanks, Kristina!]

Margaret sent this in and said it was found at the 24th street BART.

At first this was puzzling to me. Then I realized that if you’re waiting for the T at 24th and Mission, then you’d have enough time to have a plaque made about it, ’cause it aint showing up anytime soon.