Oh sure, you scoffed. But the joke's on you, scoffy! A majority of commenters on an earlier post were of the opinion that the cautionary "Muni Stories" posters on the buses could not possibly be true, and must be the work of an ambitious hoaxer. There was disbelief that Muni would put up signs about, for example, a crazy man seizing control of the gas pedal -- the take-away being that a ride on Muni could kill you. Or how about the sign pictured at left, in which Central Control is unable to call an ambulance for a stricken rider. Death is everywhere!

But our John-Stossel-Like hunger for the truth was unsatisfied. So we got in touch with Judy Morgan at the SF Arts Commission; and as it turns out, all of the posters are totally for reals, the work of local artist Helena Keeffe. They were even vetted by Muni:

Keeffe worked with Muni staff to identify and interview six Muni drivers for this project. The quotes on both the posters and the bus cards are actual comments by the drivers; the drawings are all by the artist, including drawings of people and locations she noted while traveling on each driver's bus route with them. The project is intended to inform the public about the rewards and challenges of driving a bus in San Francisco, and how drivers become part of the communities in which they drive on a daily basis.

Yes, we're sure that the drivers find their terrifying jobs very rewarding indeed, once everyone's had a chance to take a deep breath and calm down. For the riders, though -- eek! These cards are like a surgeon general's warning on the side of a deadly product.

After the jump: more info about this spooktacular art project.

Here's what the Arts Commission has to say about the cards:

1. The Muni Maps project is part of the Arts Commission's Art on Market Street Program, which has sponsored temporary art projects on Market Street since 1992, including a rotating poster series installed in the pedestrian side of 24 triangular hut-like kiosks along Market Street between Van Ness and the Embarcadero (not the tall round Decaux kiosks). The Art on Market Street Program commissions new artwork by Bay Area artists on an annual basis.

2. Muni Maps, a project by artist Helena Keeffe, is a two part project,
including 24 posters--6 original designs-- in the Market Street kiosks, as
well as 2000 bus cards currently installed in buses throughout San
Francisco. Three of the six original poster designs were adapted for the
bus cards. Keeffe worked with Muni staff to identify and interview six Muni
drivers for this project. The quotes on both the posters and the bus cards
are actual comments by the drivers; the drawings are all by the artist,
including drawings of people and locations she noted while traveling on
each driver's bus route with them. The project is intended to inform the
public about the rewards and challenges of driving a bus in San Francisco,
and how drivers become part of the communities in which they drive on a
daily basis.

3. All poster and card designs were viewed and approved by the drivers, San
Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency staff, and by the Arts
Commission.

4.The Art on Market Street Program is sponsored by the Arts Commission, the
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and CBS Outdoor.

To locate more information about the Art on Market Street Program and this
project, please visit the San Francisco Arts Commission's Public Art
Program's webpages at www.sfartscommission.org/pubart/.

For information about Helena Keeffe's other community-based projects,
please visit her website at www.helenakeeffe.com.

Thanks very much for your interest in the Art on Market Street Program.
Please look for our next kiosk poster project exhibition beginning
November12th, by artists Packard Jennings and Steve Lambert, who are
designing posters of fantastic future visions of San Francisco related to
transit and other urban systems.