— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
This probably goes without saying, but I'm already more apt to trust that hungry seat for feet with my life than most Muni drivers.
[Photo by Lohkay | via Muni Diaries]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
This van owner was literally own his knees begging for mercy, only to see his hopes and dreams disemboweled by the sharp tip of a marker. A cold world, indeed…
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Awwww shit.
According to the newshounds at the SF Chronicle, 16th and Mission smells like a urinal:
The B in BART doesn't stand for “bathroom,” but it smells like it could at the 16th Street Mission Station.
Commuters wrinkle their noses as they walk across either of the two street-level plazas at 16th and Mission streets, where loiterers have few qualms about using the plazas as an open-air restroom, neighbors and officials say.
“The elevator becomes an easy-access urinal or worse,” said Tony Sustak, a Richmond resident who commutes to the station daily. “The real dregs take a dump in public. They're not discouraged by the crowds passing by.”
…The plazas are power washed nightly, but the washers are often forced to wash around a group of several dozen people who sleep on the plaza, Allison said.
BART retrofitted and redesigned the plazas in 2003 and 2006 to make them more aesthetically pleasing. The hope was the community would take ownership of the plazas and crime would drop. But, after a brief honeymoon period of cleanliness, the old crowd and habits came back, BART board member Tom Radulovich said.
Sustak called the plaza improvements “a waste of money.”
“They just spent $4 million to make a fancier urinal,” he said.
Shocking!
[SFgate]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
In case you have been wondering about the reason for the new tire tracks all over San Francisco we've been seeing recently, it turns out that DC shoes (which I think is an American Eagle for skateboarders or whatever) filmed some sort of a drifting reinterpretation of Bullit. And if you can get past the fact this is a giant commercial, it's not a bad watch.
(And should you be interested, JJ San has a bunch of shots from the video's filming in Potrero Hill, including the crazy helicopter-camera-thingy they used to get the aerial shots.)
(Thanks for the tip, Jeff!)
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
As you may remember, a herd of motor ponies was spotted a Sunday Streets a month ago. Turns out this wasn't a fluke Burning Man art hellhorse test drive, but rather the realization of Mission Pony's quest to “bring horses back to the Mission District”:
Not so long ago, El Camino Real — the Mission Trail — brought people to San Francisco on horses.
Mission Pony aims to help people relive those olden days in a thoroughly modern — and totally fun — way.
Their thoroughly awesome website says they are in the midst of “building and plotting,” so I guess we can expect more of these beasts to hit the streets soon.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
It's even got a SFMTA plate frame and an irately impotent asshole behind the wheel, so you know this parked-on-the-curb Hummer is legit.
[Photo by Mike Kahn | via Muni Diaries]
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
This Muni bus driver doesn't think he makes enough, being forced to take on the job of multiple other professionals and what not. Let's see how much this fella should really be paid:
That brings his grand total to $432,000 a year. Seems fair, no?
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
BART's rush hour ban on bikes has always been a real pain in the ass for us spry folk wanting to do things in Oakland—a silly pain in the ass, at that. It always seemed to me that given bikes are such an integral part of the way so many San Franciscans get around, why not dedicate at least one bike car at rush hour? Just cram all the bikes in the last car of BART (much like Caltrain handles it), leaving the non-cyclists to get all sweaty and asphyxiated by squeezing into the other 8 or 9 cars like they ordinarily do.
But such an idea has not been without its notable detractors within BART itself, which has always dashed our hopes of all-hours bike access on BART.
However, much to our surprise, BART changed their tune and has decided to test the feasibility of allowing bikes on BART during rush hour. And not just on the last car, but on all available cars:
BART will launch a pilot program to allow bicycles on board trains all day long on Fridays in August. The idea is to see how allowing bikes on trains all day, including rush hour, will affect passengers and train operations. This pilot program does not change bicycle rules for Monday through Thursday, or BART’s prohibition of riders boarding with bikes in the first car or crowded trains remain in place.
Of course, it isn't a given that this will become permanent, as BART will be interviewing people to make sure cyclists aren't being dicks on crowded trains or slowing everything down:
Evaluation of “Bike Fridays” will occur on each Friday. The evaluation will help determine if the pilot is extended or if BART continues to restrict bikes during peak periods. The evaluation will include feedback from riders, both cyclists and non-cyclists, and an analysis of operational issues, such as the amount of time a train remains at each station to accommodate bicycle boarding. Any suggested changes to BART’s bike rules will go to the BART Board for discussion.
Finally, the SF Bike Coalition also gives us some advice as how to make this permanent:
The success of this pilot is contingent in large part on bike riders being courteous and respectful to all BART riders on these pilot Fridays. Here are a few reminders to help us convince BART to make this pilot permanent (also good advice for every time you ride BART):
- If the car is full wait for another train, and do not try to wedge a bike into a crowded car.
- Refrain from holding doors to get your bike inside, as this delays the train.
- Be mindful of your fellow riders and make your are leaving other people adequate space.
- When possible use the designated “bike space” on the cars that have it.
- Yield to pregnant, disabled and elderly passengers.
- A complete list of bikes on BART rules are here.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Want to cruise through the lonely Nevada desert, past the art cars, steampunk monsters, and tumbleweeds at a slow speed and a hum? This guy has it all figured out.
(Oh, and there was a whole herd of 'em.)
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
I know you're bummed because it's summer now and there's not much snow left in the Sierra to crush, but there's a (somewhat, relatively) new sport in town: Freebording. You can carve and slice and fall on your ass just like you're snowboarding, but do it while bombing down Dolores on your way to beers and hot cocoa in the park. It's like snowboarding, but in traffic. They've even got one helluva video showing how it's done (and the legal implications of doing it):
I suppose you should go out and buy one, as I guess this makes bicyclists the two plankers of the streets. Plus, they're made right here in San Francisco.