We've ridden Muni's new hybrids along both the 27 and 48 routes for a couple of weeks now, and our experience has been slightly mixed. The good aspects are that the buses are sleek and extremely quiet, and their layout seems more ergonomic and conducive to large amounts of people getting on and off on a frequent basis. There are many more straps for standing passengers to grab onto, and every vertical pole has a "next stop" button. The buses are also lower to the ground, eliminating the need for steps, and they appear to be more wheelchair-friendly, although we haven't observed the boarding of any yet. The seats are arranged in a way that makes each one desirable to sit in, and we love that there are now three single-seats as opposed to the old diesels that had only two. The back of the bus is now on a platform -- much like AC Transit's buses, which almost feels theater-like.

[Update: We rode the 48 hybrid again on Saturday after we had read all of the comments in this thread, and here's our addendum:

We had forgotten to mention that three out of the five senior seats closest to the front door also double as the designated wheelchair spot. This means that there are only two remaining disabled seats within reach of the front door, as opposed to nearly six senior/disabled seats on the old buses.

Also, the hybrid on Saturday was especially hot, and it was never in direct sunlight. Half of the windows were closed, but like lhitch said in the comments, we felt way too short to reach them. Ventilation seems to be lacking in these buses, regardless of the A/C issue mentioned in the comments. It might not get hot that often in San Francisco, but the greenhouse effect still applies to Muni, especially when the ventilation is less than desirable.

In regards to the folks who had mentioned how the new buses seem to also lack proper moving-around room, including SFist Jeremy: We noticed that the front area does seem to be constricted by a short wall on the right side that divides the senior seats from the singles and juts way out into the aisle. We're not exactly sure why the wall is there, maybe for wheelchairs, but it definitely interferes with the flow of traffic.

Finally, the back door is a pain in the ass. After hearing in the comments that there was some "laser beam" to sense our hand pushing on the door in hopes that it will open, we lightly touched the yellow part of the door and then waved our hand around. We were the only ones getting off, and another passenger softly yelled out "back door" for us, then finally the door opened. Like jportillo, we weren't sure whether we finally opened the door ourselved or if the driver did...]

See the cons after the jump!

About 24 hours after we posted about how the diesel lines were hidden from NextMuni's view, guess what happened? Muni blinked; someone flipped a switch; and now 32 additional lines have been added to the official site. You're welcome. Don't say we never did nothing for you.

Hopefully this will make up for how we apparently RUINED EVERYONE'S DAY last Tuesday by trying to make fun of some fucking buses. Now let's call it even and move on with our tedious lives.

And if you're still feeling tense, go watch the new Part Three of Brendad Ickson's Welcome to my Home. First thank your breasts, then thank your daddy.

It's the NextMuni map they don't want you to see! Not that there's any reason to keep it from you; Muni just doesn't feel like releasing it.

A few weeks ago, observant Muniwatchers noticed that some diesel lines had been added to the official NextMuni site: the 38, for example. Yay! But some lines still lingered in offline purgatory: the 43, for example. Boo!

But just because the info's not on the official site doesn't mean you can't hack it. This isn't a new discovery, but in case you're not familiar with NextMuni hacks, you might find this URL helpful:

http://nextmuni.com/googleMap/googleMap.jsp?a=sf-muni&r=43

You have to manually zoom in, and the route still doesn't get drawn, and the bus line appears as "null," but anyway: ta da! The hidden data is now visible -- as it has been for weeks -- and you're free to plan your trip with accurate predictions. Our sources report that some 311 operators are aware of this trick, although when we called and spoke to "David," he wasn't familiar with it. (And if you do call 311 for predictions, make sure they're using the satellite data, rather than Muni's fictitious timetables.)

Will the data on the hidden lines ever get official placement on the NextMuni site? Our magic 8 ball responds with the same answer it gives for all Muni planning inquiries: "eh. Maybe someday, if someone feels like it. Who knows?"

You know how the Bay Bridge is going to be closed on this Labor Day weekend? And how that means there'll be fewer car-trips into San Francisco? A reasonable person might assume that that'll mean an increased demand for public transit -- but Muni's response to that is, "reasonable people? What on Earth are those?"

Not only is Muni not adjusting service levels to accommodate the bridge closure, they're actually reducing service levels on one of the days. On Monday, Sept 3rd, a bunch of lines will be suspended altogether; and every single remaining line will be operating on a reduced schedule. Of course, this info hasn't gone out to the press; you'd only know about it if you subscribe to Muni's RSS feed. You do subscribe, don't you?

Of course, they're doing this so that they don't have to pay overtime on Labor Day, which is very much in keeping with the spirit on that particular holiday. Good thinking, Muni! Another jorb well done!

Here's a list of Monday's canceled lines: 1AX, 1BX, 4, 7, 9AX, 9BX, 9X, 10, 14L, 14X, 28L, 31AX, 31BX, 38AX, 38BX, 38L, 41, 80X, 81X, 82X, 88.

You got questions, we got answers:

So Ken MacDonald is good, eh? Tell us more.

That I've seen, Mr. McDonald has been very good. He's been out to almost every service disruption in person and not just standing there but getting involved and directing. I do not work directly with or for Mr. McDonald and do not otherwise know him BUT I've seen him out there as stated, doing his job and getting others to do theirs during incidents.

You must realize that just because someone is appointed / brought in / hired, that all is not going to be good or bad. It falls back to the supervisors and their lack of being committed / involved in their job, i.e. I know on at least a few occasions, street supervisors / track supervisors, etc. are on break and refuse to leave their break until the break was over - an hour later. Goes back to what I mentioned of having good, motivated employees.

So many good and thoughtful suggestions for fixing a bureaucracy I hardly ever see when doing my daily Muni rides.

Thanks. If "they" ever find out, they'll spend hundreds of thousands and years to research the "basics" of service before implementation. Common sense does not work in SF for some unknown reason.

Found on Octoferret's Flickr account -- which also features a way boss lineup of old (and somewhat fury-inducing compared to today's) maps and buses -- is a long-forgotten mascot from the '70s, Murray. It seems he just wanted to be your map man. That's all. And now he's dead. We hope you're happy with yourselves.

MUNI should consider re-branding with a fun new mascot. Maybe a bus seat nestling a smiling puddle of water? A tagged window? A mysterious-odor cloud cartoon? The elusive driver's badge number coming to life? A fresh animated face might help us forget moments like this. Or this. Or this.

Thanks, Greg, for introducing us to Murray.

Can't say they didn't warn you.

If you'd like to reproduce this NextMuni bug (which only occurs late at night, after the last trains leave), Octoferret's lovely Flickr stream contains details. Obviously it's an error -- what it should say is "No prediction," which is a far more useful message than an estimate of when the route starts running again.

We predict that this'll be fixed within a few days. Why? Because NextBus is super-responsive when you tell them about problems. Whenever you spot the system acting weird, just send a note to website - at - nextbus - dot - com. For example, we wrote to them about the 33 acting funny, and NextBus personally replied and fixed the problem within a week. Customer service that's pleasant and professional: Muni must hate them so much.

At three o'clock today we tried to take the M out to SF State. The overhead sign at Church Station switched from showing only "K in Seven Minutes" to "Next Trains In Subway - Delayed." We left the station in disgust.

Looks like it's not a whole lot better two hours later. That shot is from 4:45 pm today. There are now nine M trains bunched up on the east side of West Portal, and NextMuni's predictors are showing a thirty-minute service gap out in Oceanview - a gap that should hit downtown right around six! Isn't that map fun? What are those trains doing when they piggyback each other like that? Is the world ready for Breda porn?

Sigh...good luck with that commute, everyone!

Yellow police tape and a blue glove from a first responder at the northwesteast corner of the intersection of Park Presidio and Balboa

We still don't know the cause of the fatal accident that killed 83-year-old Marina Vafiadis Tuesday night.

What we do know is that the traffic signals at almost all the intersections on the 19th Avenue/Park Presidio/CA State Highway 1 corridor would be more appropriate in Mayberry R.F.D. than a well-travelled route to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Changes are coming, slowly but surely.

Slowly.

Read some lively comments and decide what's the cause of the inordinate delay.

Too much community input? Can there be such a thing? State vs. local conflict? Inertia?

Who will be the next fatality on this stretch of road this year?

Tick tock.

Previously, we asked our Muni Driver how he'd fix Muni. This time around, we're going to ask our Security Guy. And hey, if you got any questions you'd like asked, send them to editor@sfist.com.

How I would fix MUNI. (Disclaimer: I am not an administrative professional but this is my way):

Major realignment of the Divisions / Departments
I would simplify the tree a bit, making the chain of command from top to the entry level classes.

Hire competent Executives followed by Managers
Establish clear guidelines for hiring competent / qualified personnel and more importantly, hold them to the position. This has happened already, i.e. the hire of Ken MacDonald, GM of Operations. He has done a lot of good. The problem are the assist GM, the managers and the supervisors.

Hire competent Supervisors and employees
noted above.

Have parts and equipment in stock for repairs
(there are) problems with finance and contract personnel. Buses out of service due to no parts in stock. Cars out of service due to no parts in stock. For quite a few months there, there was "no money" to acquire more parts. We've had over 50 buses of different types parked or deadlined due to no parts / inability to repair. We've had over 50 DPT carts parked when instead, they could be in the field.

From the 22 shelter on Haight near Fillmore. We're not sure how we stand on anthropomorphizing your beverages, but that ad is pretty funny.

This week's installment: Bus comfort, back door hard-ons, and -- surprise! -- no official MUNI policy.

When do you decide to make an effort to try and affect things on the bus (telling people to move back or making a fuss if people try and enter through the back door). And if you don't do one of those things, why not?

This sort of thing lives in the Land of Personal Preference; there's no official MUNI policy that comes into play on either of these topics.

Drivers who are sour or who hate their jobs (everybody knows who they are) will pass by bus stops, ignore the sickening and dangerous crowding that can happen up front where their mirrors are, etc. etc. But this is bullshit from a safety and public service perspective. Personally, I'm on the microphone as soon as it starts getting crowded asking people to move to the back and make room for passengers trying to get on the bus, as well as asking for those to give up front seats for those who need them more -- elderly or disabled passengers.

But I must say that I've been a passenger on plenty of buses where drivers ignored both the pile-up at the front of the bus and the obvious flouting of signage and common decency. (e.g., 16-year-olds remaining seated in the front and chatting loudly on their cells while Grampa teeters precariously, feebly clutching the nearest pole.) It's inexcusable for the driver to remain silent in such situations.

I have a major hard-on for the back door. Under most circumstances I can't stand it when people come through the back door and will try my best to put a stop to it. Caveat is that if the bus is very crowded I will open the back door to make loading easier. But the truth is that a
LOT of the time there may be only 10-15 passengers on the bus and there're people who insist on trying to board through the back doors. In my experience, this is almost always because they're trying to evade paying the fare. You all know how I feel about that.

Hey how was your weekend? You didn't have to work, did you? Muni certainly didn't: on Saturday, NextMuni showed only one bus running the entire 33 route all by itself. Expected wait time: ranging from an hour to an hour and a half. We were hoping to swing by Cliff's in the Castro (they've got these awesome elephant-shaped teapots), but obviously you can't go shopping in neighborhoods you can't get to. Sorry, MUMC!

So, is this a driver shortage or a NextMuni glitch? It's hard to know for sure. It's also hard to care -- after all, from a rider's perspective, does it really matter? When you log on to NextMuni.com and see something like this, all you care about is adjusting your travel plans so that they don't involve the bus.

Fortunately, things were back to normal the next day -- there were four buses on the route, with two of them bunched-up. Wait times ranged from two minutes to an hour. Another jorb well done, Muni!

Since dogs on Muni has been such a topic of heated conversation lately, we asked our Muni Driver for his thoughts.

{Disclaimer: I am not an official spokesperson for anything except my opinion as a MUNI driver, San Franciscan, and daily passenger just like the rest of you sorry sods relying on MUNI to get us to work on time. If you figure out who I am, please, please don't tell my bosses 'cause I want that pension some happy day – assuming there's any money left in the fund for the lowly drivers by that time.}
Dogs on MUNI - some thoughts:

Official MUNI policy is that service animals may ride MUNI at any time, un-muzzled and free of charge, but must be leashed. There is no limit on the number of service animals that may ride on the same vehicle at the same time. During driver training, a full day is given to teaching us the rules regarding service animals. It breaks down to one simple sentence: Drivers may ask you if your animal is a pet. If you respond that no, it's a service animal, the discussion is over. The driver may not question you or ask for any further documentation to prove that what you claim is true.

Unlike service animals, pets may ride MUNI but must be leashed and muzzled or fully caged and do not ride for free - the fare must be equal to that paid by the owner. Also, only one pet may ride on a vehicle at a time. Pets are not allowed to ride from 5am-9am, and are again barred from 3pm-7pm - i.e., commute hours.

Now let's talk about what really happens. I apologize in advance if this becomes a rant, because this is a subject that annoys the crap out of me and I'm liable to lose all restraint on the topic.

True story from a crowded J-Church this morning. We were sitting quietly, a little zoned out, holding the 20 oz. cup of coffee that we'd obtained at our neighborhood cafe with both of our hands, which had become rather cold from time outside. Yes, we had a lid on it.

The J-Church, particularly when it's on the streets heading from Dolores Park up to Market St., is a little herky-jerky. One well-known hazard faced by regular MUNI riders (whether bus or street car): you take a risk if you stand or try to move in advance of the vehicle actually coming to a complete stop. Chances are good you might take a dive if you try it. Hasn't this happened to most of us at one time or another? We recall a particularly embarrassing tumble on the 1 California a number of years ago.

And, yeah, we'll admit carrying a coffee on your morning commute is a calculated risk as well.

So, here's what happened: a woman, perhaps a relative MUNI noob, tried to shuffle closer to the exit door while the car was still in motion, just as it did one of its back-and-forth jerking things. She went flying into the woman sitting next to us, who bravely bore the brunt of the impact -- but then the tumbler continued her descent and knocked against our shoulder and arms, finally balancing herself against our torso. Oops!

In this week's installment, we take on the dog days of summer with dog related questions.

I am so glad you responded to questions today because I came up with a big one yesterday. I was on an F heading up market around 3rd when a regular bus in the opposite direction passed us with the sign saying "EMERGENCY CALL 911". I looked around and no one else seemed to care about this. I've never seen a bus with this sign before so I thought it might mean 'this bus is having an "EMERGENCY" please "CALL 911"'. I know lame, but i thought it might be a way that the driver can alert others without drawing suspicion to whomever on the bus is causing trouble (but i assume they have some other way like a panic button). I didn't call 911 because I figured my muni driver would've done something if it'd mattered, but please tell me what the hell is this sign and what is it for? If its some way of remininding pedestrians "if you have an emergency, please call 911" then i think its a horrible way to advertise it.

This is a way for the drivers to be discrete and have the police notified. Please call it in. Remember the number on the bus, coach, trolley - the direction of travel, where you last saw it and any odd observations you may have seen.

Emergency? Doubt it. It's more than likely just some MUNI ineptitude.
See also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19417968@N00/273582229/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19417968@N00/881294951/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19417968@N00/791638545/

No doubt, but we wish to have these reported, just in case it is the real deal.