Well, whaddya know. No sooner did we lavish praise upon the SF County Transportation Authority than Nat Ford, head of Muni, decided that he might be interested in committing a hostile takeover of the SFCTA... thereby making the TA as flawless as Muni. Good idea! If our agency was melting down, and there was another one making us look bad, we might want to buy it and run it into the ground, too! (That's......

Bashing Gavin's plans to pay for his staff members (and lobbyists) from the MTA budget isn't just something us local folks can do. It's something everyone can do! Like a U.S. Senator. A Republican Senator. From Oklahoma. Wha?...

An elderly woman was struck by an outbound N-Judah this evening around 5:45 p.m. at 9th Avenue and Irving Street. Over at N-Judah Chronicles, fittingly enough, Greg Dewar was downing a pint at Blackthorn Tavern when the collision occurred. While having a pint at the Blackthorn Tavern, awaiting the beginning of pub trivia, Bobby, the owner alerted me to a situation just outside the door. It seems that at 5:41 pm (according to sources......

Remember that story our Muni Security Guy told us about that fracas between some security dudes and a bus driver? Well, you got comments and we got responses and we also got further updates which we'll post later. And remember, if you have any further questions you'd like to ask either our Security Guy or Bus driver, just drop us a line at jon@sfist.com ...

Blah blah blah soup kitchens blah blah fun-runs blah holiday schedules. All that stuff's fascinating, of course, but here's what we really want to know: Muni, where can we find all the hottest Xmas shopping deals? Aside from Dress Barn, of course. Fear not, shoppers, for Muni's assembled a guide to holiday buying, starting on the day after Thanksgiving and extending to late December. Thanks to the MTA, you are now fully prepared to......

Where the hell is 19th and Sloat? Oh, it's in, like, Southie. Near the Golf Course District. Anyway, the intersection is getting a left-turn arrow, hooray! Nineteenth is an insanely deadly stretch. A young lady died at this particular intersection a month ago; meanwhile, negotiations between the MTA and Caltrans to improve the intersection languished in their SEVENTH YEAR. The traffic on 19th is so fast and so thick that it's like an interstate......

Oh this is just hilarious. Muni is predicting bus disruptions in the Castro on October 31st; but they can't say that it's because of Halloween, because the city continues to pretend that Halloween isn't going to happen this year. So now, in a semiotically treacherous move, they're saying that the disruptions are due to No-Halloween. "No Halloween in the Castro. Possible delays and re-routed lines," says the MTA website. "Due to the cancellation of......

Muni inspectors and dispatchers went all French yesterday and called a sickout. Their union, the Transport Workers Union, Local 200, is currently in contract negotiations with the Powers that Be and obviously it's not going as they are hoping. Basically, an arbitrator went in and set the terms of the contract and the Union is not very happy with it. Thus the sickout. ...

Remember mid-June, when we posted video of a driver pulling over and wandering into Walgreen's to do some errands? There's new news to report! Well, actually, there isn't -- Muni has just officially admitted that they failed to capture any data relating the to incident. We submitted a report to Muni about it (it's number 226478, in case you care); meanwhile, Sunshine-champion Kimo Crossman requested that Muni turn over footage from the bus in......

We'll get right to this week's post in which our Security Guy once again asks questions that were asked in our last post, but first, we just wanted to remind you that if you have any questions you'd like our security guy to answer, send them to editor@sfist.com ...

Oh how we hate that high-pitched whine generated by held-open subway doors. It hurts, but of course, that's the point -- it's supposed to make you let go of the door so the whole train doesn't have to wait for your giggling gasping slowpoke friends. But maybe it hurts a little too much. Here's an item on the SF County Transit Authority's agenda for tomorrow's meeting (10:30 am, Room 263, City Hall): ...Chairman Dufty......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

In today's installment, our new Muni Driver gives us his views on how to improve Muni. We'll get things started right away but first, a reminder. If you got any questions you'd like asked, send them to editor@sfist.com. ...

In today's installment, our Muni Driver takes a look at the Transit Effectiveness Project and gives us his thoughts on it. As always, drop us a line if you have any questions you'd like answered. ...

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Since we had so many questions asked of our Muni Security Guy last week, we decided to split his comments into two. Today, he answers the few remaining questions that were asked. And away we go... ...

Pssst! See that black strip on your BART card? Does that maybe remind you of anything? They are very similar to the black strip on all those hard little plastic cards you carry in your wallet right? Like credit cards. Debit cards. Some supermarket membership cards. And we know the implications of those things -- keep them away from magnetic stuff; keep them away from extreme heat, or the information may be compromised. So, back to your BART card -- ever occur to you that the same principles may apply? Geez, people! Think! ...

In today's installment of "Ask a Muni Security Guy" our security guy answers questions that commenters asked last time around. He will also discuss this week's Muni news about budget cuts and their impact on Muni security. And before we go to the post, we'd like to formally announce that "Ask a Muni Driver" will be returning next Monday as we have another driver willing to answer all your questions. As always, if you have......

If good web design gets you all weak in the knees, take a look at the SFCTA's new website. (The SFCTA is like the MTA's little cousin; they handle interesting transit projects rather than the big day-to-day stuff.) It's all orange and pretty and infinitely easier to use than the old version. Meeting agendas! Pedestrian safety maps! Geary committees! It's all right there. (Although friendlier URLs would be nice.) Compare these delightfully uniform navigation......

We all know how effective suggestion boxes are, right? Gavin's tacked one up in city call in digital form on his "blog," or "web log." He's asking citizens to submit lists of "peeves," so he knows what he ought to be taking credit for fixing -- including stuff in which he didn't actually have any involvement. In a newsletter, Gavin's blog editor writes, "One of the original Peeves on ActLocallySF.org was about the inability to......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. ...

In another shocking development, it has been discovered that 40% of the people who board cable cars are not having their fares collected by conductors. Actually, this isn't that shocking considering it was discovered awhile back by Gavin Newsom, Private Dick. In another shocking part of the story, it was determined that the time and amount of crowding on a cable car can affect when and when not a conductor collects fare. ...

That makes $140,700.49 this month to settle claims, or $222,380.95 since February. And it looks like a payoff as large as $100,000 might be coming down the line. We can only get details on two of the cases up for discussion at the MTA's April 17 meeting -- one relates to a lady who in 2005 lost her balance when her bus came to an abrupt stop. She claimed to suffer contusions, post traumatic......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

So we all know Muni is having some budget problems, mainly that in order to work the way they (and us) want it to work, they'll need more money, like $150 million dollars. But they also know that any sort of fare increase will only bring the wrath of God on them. What to do, what to do? ...

(Thanks for the tip, GavinWatch! We can't wait for your launch party tomorrow.) The always vigilant GW tipped us off to a heroic, anonymous San Franciscan who puts a question to Gavin about NextMuni. It's obvious that the mayor's knowledge of the system is gathered exclusively from press releases, rather than actual contact with the computer machine; but still, it's nice to hear him acknowledge that it exists and works great and always has. What's......

People who ride the bus to work every day have nothing better to do than take a very long lunch -- twice -- and head over to SPUR's office to talk at length about public transit policy. Sounds like fun! There's two Muni-related and parking-related meetings coming up and open to the public (no snacks provided, but "feel free to bring a lunch"), so pencil them into your iCal now. If you're the kind......

At next TuesdayFriday's MTA meeting (March 20, 2pm, Room 400, City Hall), they'll be moving to pay off five claims. Most are unlitigated, so we can't look up the details; the other two are vehicle-property-damage cases that are pretty standard-issue, at least for Muni. One, Evelyn Bravos versus SF, involves a $3,000 fender-bender in the Richmond; the other, San Francisco Food Bank versus SF, involves a bus crash that did about $18,000 in damage.......

Now that we've made Muni safe for the handicapped, who's next? Why, children and families, of course; there's no reason they shouldn't suffer like the rest of us. Thanks to a tipster, we've just caught wind of some hush-hush meetings that, despite being nearly totally unannounced, are open to the public. On the agenda: making Muni more friendly for families, kids, and caregivers. So if that's your thing, swing by the brainstorming session with......

If you think riding Muni is confusing and unpredictable, just imagine how tricky it is for folks with disabilities. And that's why the Muni Accessibility Advisory Committee will meet this Thursday, March 15, from 1pm to 3pm in the Mission Conference Room #3075, on 3rd Floor of the MTA offices at One South Van Ness. The goal of the meeting: to set some goals. The MAAC agenda is flexible and open to suggestion --......