It's a ticker-tape parade of awful file formats! Supervisor Mirkarimi offered up some Muni info in loathsome .doc, but N-Judah Greg helpfully converted it to slightly-less-loathsome .pdf. What's all the fuss about? Why, Muni's proven dedication to excellence, of course! After a town-hall meeting a few months ago, Muni officials committed to some rigorous timetables for Translink and NextBus and all those nifty time-saving gimmicks. Now it's our turn to make some notes on our calendars, so we know when Muni's deadlines are rolling around! Will they be able to live up to their commitments? Of course they will. When's Muni ever let you down?

Translink rollout: For Muni, "late fall/early winter of 2007," and for all Bay Area transit, "2010." Translink is that little swipey dongle that'll let you ride all different transit agencies, without having to get separate passes for each one. By curious coincidence -- and this is true -- 2010 will mark 20 years since the project was first dreamed up.

Monthly passes for sale online: "April 2, 2007." No more hunting for a neighborhood vendor, hooray! Now, how much extra will we have to pay for shipping and handling?

Accepting credit card payment for Muni fare: Contractors for vending machines "selected by early summer." The plan is to install vending machines that'll let riders pay for their fare with a credit card, rather than a handful of change.

All electric bus lines available on NextMuni: "end of March." This shouldn't be so hard, since the NextMuni transponders have been in all of the electric busses for over a year now. This whole time, Muni just needed to flip a switch to make the info accessible online. RescueMuni whipped up a semi-functional hack that let you see all of the electric lines, but it's nice of Muni to finally make it official after all this time.

All diesel bus lines available on NextMuni: "end of August 2007." We're looking forward to seeing our busses online, and we hope and pray that the tech will be half as nifty as BusMonster's.

NextMuni signs at bus shelters: installation of over 400 signs "beginning mid-February," finishing "end of August." Installation will go in the order that the line was added to the NextMuni system, so it'll start with the 22, then the 33, and then on from there.

Transit Effectiveness Project completion: "over the next six months." So, look forward to results in August.

In fact, look forward to just about everything in August. The TEP study, NextMuni online, NextMuni in the shelters, credit card payment for fare -- it's all coming at the end of August like a blockbuster movie. We can't wait to stand triumphantly in September, ticking off all the items on the to-do list and celebrating Muni's elevation from mere transit agency to divine being.