Apparently there's been a rash of bus-jumping and bus "surfing" lately as ne'er-do-well passengers have figured out how to kick open rear bus doors, in particular on the 14-L in the Mission. The kids have been exploiting a safety mechanism that causes the bus to stop if a rear door is forcibly opened and the bus is going slower than 3 mph, but they're also "riding the surf" according to at least one witness, a young girl who says they're doing as a dare and hanging out of moving buses while they're traveling at higher speeds.
Ten incidents of bus-jumping have been reported in the last nine days on the 14-L, according to the Chronicle, with a total of fifteen incidents systemwide since May 30. The most recent incident, according to the Examiner, was on Sunday night on the 38-Geary. A 12-year-old girl who's witnessed such incidents says it's "mostly gangsters and sometimes hobos" committing the door-kicking.
The rash of these events, and the accompanying safety concerns, means that Muni may now have to spend $1 to $2 million they don't have to retrofit 200 buses with new back doors and door motors.
Meanwhile, the underground remains deeply broken, and cripples the entire city's commute at least a couple times a month.
