What's got 60 feet and no gas? Muni's new trolley buses, one of which hit the streets of San Francisco this week.

This is according to the SFMTA, which on their MovingSF blog says that Bus #7261 (which you can video tour above) "cruised along the Embarcadero" and "looped along Market St. as part of the burn-in process to make sure the bus is in-service ready."

7261 is the first of a new group of 60-foot trolley buses the transit agency has ordered from New Flyer, "the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America" according to their website. "The second bus is anticipated to arrive by the middle of November," the MTA writes, and "after that, we expect delivery of two to three coaches per week."

Reactions to the tour were mixed, but take into account that commenters on a transit agency's blog are often, bless their hearts, extremely [cough] direct. A sampling:

What do you think? Will these new coaches make your ride on one of Muni's 14 trolley bus lines more pleasant, more of a pain, or do you expect no difference at all?

Related: New Muni Trains To Start Service Before End Of The Year, Finally

Wow! Python snake found on @VTA bus last month now up for adoption at @PeninsulaHumane in #Burlingame. His name? #Rumplesnakeskin! #BayArea pic.twitter.com/mhoKAlqYSk

— Chris Nguyen ABC7 (@ChrisNguyenTV) October 24, 2017

A Samuel L. Jackson-worthy tale of squamate bus adventure is approaching a happy ending this week, as a snake that terrified passengers of a Bay Area bus is now ready for a new forever home.

The ball python, which has since been named "Rumplesnakeskin," was discovered on a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus on September 27, ABC 7 reports.

Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA spokesperson Buffy Martin Tarbox tells ABC that "No one is quite certain how the snake ended up on the bus," which was passing through Palo Alto at the time of the incident.

According to SF Gate, "After the scaled creature was spotted, the driver pulled over at the Encinal and El Camino Real stop in Palo Alto and asked passengers to disembark."

An animal control officer picked up the snake and took it to Palo Alto Animal Services, where it was held for nine days in hopes that it might be claimed by its guardian.

The two-foot-long snake, which news organizations identify as "he," is now at the PHS/SPCA. And though he's not on their available "exotic animals" page yet, Tarbox says he's now looking for a new family.

According to Wikipedia, ball pythons are non-venomous constrictors that are named as such because they "curl into a ball when stressed or frightened." They're the smallest of the African pythons (average length is 3-4.5 feet), making them a popular pet.

"Rumplesnakeskin is a very friendly snake and likes to be held," Tarbox tells ABC 7. "It is clear he was someone's pet, but no one came forward to claim him so he's now looking for a new permanent home."

Does a look at Rumplesnakeskin stir your heart? If so, you can meet him at the PHS/SPCA's Center for Compassion (1450 Rollins Road in Burlingame) on Monday through Friday from 11 a.m.- 7 p.m., or between 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday. And if you adopt him, you'd better send us pictures!

Related: Portland Python Thief Shoves Snake Down His Pants

A bus driver who attempted to document a transit lane violation was attacked Thursday evening, and police say the suspect remains at large.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, the incident happened at 6 p.m. Thursday, at Mission and 22nd Streets.

Police say that the 49-year-old male driver of the bus (as of publication time, SFPD had not confirmed if the vehicle was a Muni bus or a private shuttle) was forced to stop when "a vehicle was blocking [the] marked red bus lane."

The bus driver got out of his bus to take a photo of the offending vehicle with his cell phone, police say. That's when the suspect, a man in his 20s, got out of the errant vehicle and asked the bus driver "what he was doing."

The suspect then shoved the driver and ripped the phone from his hands, dashing the device against the ground, according to the SFPD.

The suspect then fled in a van, police say. As of Friday morning, he has not been tracked down, and no arrests have been made in this case.

Related: Man Attacks Muni Driver, Runs Off

As part of the Muni Forward initiative, a brand new bus route has been proposed for 16th street. The line, which would be numbered 55, would overlap with some 22-Fillmore service on 16th Street.

A decision on the bus from the SFMTA Board of Directors is expected to be made tomorrow. If approved, the bus would begin running on January 31st. Service would operate seven days a week from around 6 a.m. to midnight, with weekday daytime service every 15 minutes and service every 20 minutes on weekday evenings and weekends.

Street improvements are also on the table for the 16th Street corridor, with a community meeting planned for January 14th to discuss transit-only lanes for buses. That way the 22 could, you know, go less slowly. Muni says the proposed lanes would lessen travel time by about 25% along that corridor.

Here, the stops along the proposed 55-16th Street route:

Eastbound (to Mission Bay):

• 16th/Mission
  
• 16th/Shotwell
  
• 16th/Harrison
  
• 16th/Bryant
  
• 16th/Potrero
  
• 16th/San Bruno
  
• 16th/Rhode Island
  
• 16th/Wisconsin
  
• 16th/Missouri
  
• 16th/4th Street *UCSF Benioff Childrens’s Hospital & UCSF Mission Bay Campus
  

Westbound (to 16th Street Mission BART):

• Mission Bay Boulevard South/4th Street
  
• 16th/4th Street
  
• 16th/Wisconsin
  
• 16th/Rhode Island
  
• 16th/Vermont
  
• 16th/Potrero
  
• 16th/Bryant
  
• 16th/Harrison
  
• 16th/Folsom
  
• 16th/Mission *BART
  

Muni riders who prefer the unobstructed first row of front facing seats had better brace for disappointment, as new fears over sliding-rider lawsuits have the transit agency cutting off access to all those seats by mid-June.

According to the Guardian, a Technical Service Bulletin from New Flyer, the company that has manufactured many a Muni bus, warns its customers that "there have been three hard-braking incidents where passengers were ejected from these forward-facing seats and sustained quadriplegic injuries."

New Flyer's memo recommends that transit agencies first "locate the forward facing flip up seats that do not have a “barrier” in front of them"...

...then the agencies are instructed to permanently lock the seats in the "up" position, then to attach New-Flyer-provided decals that tell riders “This seat has been disabled for safety reasons. Please do not sit here.” You can read the entire memo here.

On their website last month, the SFMTA wrote that the transit agency first considered installing a barrier in front of these seats to prevent potential ejections, but that "the area in front of these seats needs to be left clear, so that a person in a wheelchair or other mobility device can get into and out of the securement area."

"Unfortunately, we have not been able to find another solution, and these seats will be permanently flipped up."

SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose tells the Chron that every single one of these seats will be flipped up by mid-June, and that they'll remain that way until those buses are taken out of service, some time in the next four or five years.

[SFBG]
[SF Chronicle]

The way things ought to be : a chicken in every pot and a dog in every jacket. Photo by Erik Wilson.

We're not sure what's more depressing here: the horrible teens fighting on a packed 5 Fulton bus or the poor eyewitness suffering from VVS. Nevertheless, this fight was caught on camera the earlier this week.

Porfirio Landeros, the 5-Fulton passenger who shot this video, describes what went down: "On a really packed bus going to Ocean Beach, a group of girls ended up splitting into teams and eventually, two took it to the next level. This is probably the 3rd altercation I've witnessed on San Francisco Muni since moving here almost 2 years ago. I've also witnessed one iPhone theft and a couple of drug deals, but at least I don't have make a car payment in this city!"

Behold:

The exasperated reaction of the guy at front is priceless. We're not quite sure what sparked this altercation. Does it matter? Later, an officer arrives to cool things down.

A bus driver, it seems, tried going Bullitt with his massive charter bus Friday afternoon, resulting in this scene on Filbert (between Hyde and Leavenworth).

At the time of this posting, the bus remains stuck. A tow is now on the scene. Needless to say, the area is all kinds of messed up at the moment, traffic-wise. Please find an alternate route.

Also of note: CharterPros.net maintains one star on Yelp.

"Night Shelter" by Ariel Dovas.

The man accused of smashing an 8X-Bayshore bus window just after the World Series says he's "very ashamed" of his actions. He also says he's not guilty. Gregory Tyler Graniss, 22, pleaded not guilty on Monday to felony vandalism and willful tampering with a passenger transit vehicle.

SF Appeal reports:

Graniss, who came to court with his parents, spoke only briefly during the arraignment this afternoon. However, his attorney Douglas Rappaport said outside of court that his client acknowledges his role in the vandalism and is asking for forgiveness from San Franciscans.

"The Giants' victory was amazing and it really brought out the best in San Francisco and unfortunately the worst in Gregory," Rappaport said. "He is very ashamed of his actions and very, very sorry."

And get this: the damaged bus, which cost an estimated $700,000 and had just went $300,000 in touchups, won’t be recouped "because the transit agency’s insurance policy doesn’t cover damage caused by arson."

Graniss is scheduled to appear in court on December 17.

Meanwhile, this guy, who helped Graniss in his alleged assault of a Muni bus, is still at large.

Last night at the intersection of Sixth and Market streets in San Francisco, a Muni bus smacked a pedestrian. The incident happened at around 6:15 p.m. The pedestrian was immediately whisked away to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to SF Appeal.

The cause of the Halloween night collision, which coincided with the end of yesterday's Giants victory parade, remains under investigation.

[SFA]

A woman in her 60s lies at San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries after possibly being struck by a 38 L near Howard and Beale on Wednesday night. The incident occurred around 7:45 p.m. "A witness told police the bus was traveling south on Beale Street through the intersection and the woman was standing on an island on Beale Street south of Howard Street," reports SF Appeal. "The witness then saw the pedestrian in the road after the bus passed by the island."

While the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, Muni officials admit that the "collision appears to have involved a Muni bus on the inbound 38L-Geary Limited bus line."

A male pedestrian, who is described as possibly in his 40s, was struck by an inbound 21-Hayes bus near Hayes and Fillmore on Sunday at 10:47 a.m. Witnesses told police he stepped out from between two parked cars and in front of the bus. The man received CPR at the scene and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A Haighteration reader who was on the bus said she saw the man dive in front of the bus' wheel, and another reader said he spoke to a bystander who also confirmed this.

The victim had no identification on him, and it's not yet known what his name and place of residence were. As Muni protocol dictates, the bus operator, who stopped at the scene, will be placed on non-driving status during the investigation.

[S.F. Examiner, Haighteration]