The N-Judah Chronicles

This week, tens of thousands of folks will be descending upon downtown for Macworld, for what very well may be the last one ever, now that Apple has said it won't be participating in the future. For now, though, in addition to our normal level of MUNI & BART riding folks, we'll have more people added into the mix. For those of you new to our City, here's a simplified guide for MUNI and BART so you can get around and avoid paying huge parking fees and fines.

Macworld is located at Moscone Center, which is just a couple of blocks from the BART/MUNI Powell Street station downtown. If you follow the Wikipedia link, you'll find that pretty much every major bus and train line hits this station (or right above it on Market Street) so it's an easy way to remember how to get to Macworld. If you're staying in a hotel downtown, chances are you can walk to the show, and if you're staying a bit further away and it's raining, you have at most a short bus ride to get to the event.

If you're staying outside of San Francisco, you can either take any BART from the Peninsula or the East Bay to Powell Station, or you can take Caltrain and take an N-Judah train downtown once you're in the City.

There are some other lines that drop you off closer to the action, but after years of giving out directions to tourists I've found that this has been the easiest way to explain where they need to go, without a lot of gymnastics.

Paying for your ride: MUNI discountinued the old weekly pass, so your options are somewhat limited. You can either buy a monthly pass for $45 (which also allows for free rides on BART within the City of San Francisco) and unlimited cable car rides. However, you can also buy a MUNI Passport, for 1, 3 or 7 days. The advantage? Much cheaper than a monthly. The disadvantage? You can't use them to ride BART for free.

A special warning about BART ticket machines: Whatever you do, do not put a $20 bill in the machine to buy one ticket! You won't get all the change you're due, and unless you plan on keeping that ticket and using it until it gets down to $0, you'll be stuck with it. Instead, use a debit or credit card, and buy a ticket for the exact amount that you need. Or, use a bill changer to break that $20 so you're not stuck with an expensive souvenir BART card.

Continue reading "Quick And Easy MUNI/BART Guide for Macworld!" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a weird week of commute-snarling protests and whatnot, MUNI and BART are offering us all a present of sorts for New Years!

MUNI will be giving away free rides starting at 8pm tonight, and they'll be free until 6am tomorrow morning. Likewise, MUNI Metro trains will be running later than usual (until 4am) but only from Embarcadero to West Portal (sigh).

BART will also be running trains late than usual, running until 3am, and if you buy a pass in advance you can pay $6 and ride it all you like (this is a particularly good deal for folks visiting from out of town).

You can try your luck with a cab, but cab service on a regular day in SF is notoriously unreliable and expensive (more so than the cabs in NYC!) and trying to get one on New Year's is impossible. So ironically, you're better off trying your luck with MUNI.

Most importantly, have a nice evening and be safe. Don't drive if you really don't need to, and REALLY don't drive if you've been drinking. You don't want to start 2009 with a DUI arrest, or worse.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes We Can Has Party

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posting from now through the end of the year is going to be light because I need a bit of a break, and I need to do some work to upgrade the system that runs the blog, so I can also update the look and mechanics of the site as well. However, when there's breaking news or reader mail, we'll be sure to post.

First, don't forget our local shopping guide for any last minute gifts you may need. And, don't forget you can still order our "N is Near" and "80th Anniversary of the N" shirts from Zazzle.com at any time. Since they're located in Redwood City, shipping to most places in California is rather speedy.

Next, many people have asked me what I think of President Elect Obama's choice of Rep. Ray LaHood as Transportation Secretary. He never appeared on any of the "short lists" for who President-Elect Obama might appoint, and frankly I barely heard of him before myself, so to be honest, the answer is "we'll see." (And what is up with all this bicycle stuff and LaHood? I mean, yeah, bikes are great, but we will never see the streets filled with bikes, a la Beijing circa 1978, despite the dearest of hopes of bike advocates.)

True, he isn't part of the "anything not a car is Satan's doing" caucus in Congress, but beyond that, it seems as if they had to appoint someone with an "R" next to their name to the Cabinet, and just as President Bush appointed Democratic Congressman Norm Mineta, it seems Obama's continuing this new tradition. The good people at Streetsblog have a roundup of reactions as well.

And now, for some Reader Mail. Reader Karena writes this morning with some interesting news:

Hi Greg, I was taking the N to work yesterday morning and noticed that a MUNI employee was selling transfers. It was probably the quickest boarding at that stop I'd ever witnessed. My train was packed this morning and I couldn't look out the window to see if he was there again. Is someone at MUNI finally listening?

I think they are. Not everyone who rides MUNI is going to buy a pass or have a Translink card handy - there are plenty of people who are only casual users of MUNI and try as we might, there will always be someone paying cash. MUNI's Nate Ford noted at the meeting a few weeks ago that he'd personally observed just how crowded Carl/Cole can get with people trying to pay a fare during the day.

Carl / Cole and UCSF and Irving / 9th get a lot of casual riders, and that's where inevitably you get a bit of a wait. UCSF has patients and visitors whose number of visits don't warrant a pass (or are coming from out of town), and Irving and 9th is getting a lot more people due to the Academy and the park's events. Since we're not going to be able to fund a comprehensive solution and/or make people buy Translink under penalty of death, this is probably the best solution we'll get in the near future.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's that time of year when it seems like there's a holiday party every night, and so on. Here are a few things to remember this weekend you might enjoy:

-Today, actually right now, is the infamous Santarchy thing, which has now spread to multiple locations in town and in the Bay Area. Basically it's a huge mob of folks dressed up as Santa, and causing all kinds of non-threatening mayhem and merriment around town. If you're out shopping today, you'll likely see 'em out and about.

-Tomorrow is the "Yes We Can" house's "Holiday Underground Bazaar." I've already posted something about this before and it's well worth checking out. Conveniently located on Irving at 6th, you can buy locally made crafts for your holiday gift list.

-And, for those of you who don't have a MUNI monthly pass - don't forget that on Sundays from now until the end of the holiday season, you get an all-day MUNI transfer for just $1.50. This is part of the ShopSF promotion going on that offers locals in the greater Bay Area discounts at stores, hotels and so on.

If I see any Santas, I'll post them to Flickr for ya!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The "Yes We Can" House is Awesome

Underground Bazaar December 12th from 12pm to 5pm
25+ Talented Artisans offering their Personal, Hand-Made Treasures!
Pillows, Clothing, Jewelry, Toys, Notebooks, Painted Shoes,
Note Cards, Soaps, Wall Art, Accessories, Candles ... ALL hand made!
*NO charge to attend*
Complimentary Mulled Wine, Hot Chocolate & Cookies

Easy parking in Golden Gate Park, 2 blocks north
N-Judah stops in front of the Event, on Irving at 6th
info: sun4life@free.fr and barbara@barbara.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)