Let's be clear here. I showed the driver a valid pass, and he then demanded that I reboard the bus anyway. This is a ridiculous reason to shut down a bus line. The driver wasn't handling a problem, he was -creating- one. By the way all, on the side of the drivers, I have been told by some of them that they get into trouble if they don't enforce Muni's punitive rules. So what is happening here is that the elites who run the system are pitting the workers against the people, creating unnecessary tension and conflict. They are forcing drivers to be enforcers and teaching them that riders are dead beats, to divide us against eachother and purposely perpetuate a lousy system that everyone hates, so that most continue driving, thereby filling the pockets of the fossil fuel, auto, tire, and road construction corporations. Recent slanted studies performed by Muni, ostensibly showing that large amounts of money were being lost through fare evasion, were completely debunked before the Board of Supervisors, and Board President Peskin went boldly out of his way to openly deride Muni for their bullshit... (The conclusion was that at absolute most, 15% of fares were being evaded, and probably less. Muni was claiming around 70% at one point, and local newspapers ridiculously printed this as fact.) It is time to act. The planet is burning and universal mass transit would cut CO2 increases by a huge amount. Third time's a charm sounds good to me. Let's do it. Eric Brooks lucretiam2000@yahoo.com wrote:
Dear Eric,
Rita does not drive a car and has no drivers license. She rides muni everyday and 5 days a week, Bart to Oakland for work. She is a strong advocate for public transportation and knows the muni system inside and out. Don't make assumptions about people you do not know. It is probably the same assumptions you make about the muni driver who was trying to do his or her job the best way he or she could.
I have been on the N Judah many times and seen drivers trying to handle huge crowds of people all trying to jam on limited cars. That is not easy and if you felt slighted by this particlular driver, write a letter to muni with your complaints. I am amazed at how cool under pressure these drivers can be given some of the lines and over-crowededness that happens especially on the weekends. Nancy
--- Eric Brooks <brookse32@netscape.net> wrote:
With all due respect.
Do you actually ride the buses very often?
I doubt that you do.
It has been pretty much standard practice for most drivers to let people board on the back of the bus when there are long lines because it -massively- speeds up the running of the system. Also, many riders are extremely poor and cannot afford to pay to ride the bus. They routinely get on the back to avoid having to pay; and to avoid the deep indignity of having to beg the driver for a ride.
The only time this situation changes is when Muni directors decide that they have to crack down on those who avoid fares, and declare that everyone has to board in front, to force as many to pay as possible, whether they can afford it or not. This puts an incredible slow down on the system as everyone is forced to slowly file into the front of buses, no matter how crowded. This leads to the inevitable huge service delays that are always a problem, especially under such punitive conditions. People get frustrated with such cattle car conditions, and stop riding. It also amounts to an extremely regressive tax on those who can least afford it. There are even drivers during these crack downs who force all riders to -leave- by the front of the bus at the -busiest stops- in order to keep people from getting on in the back and this -doubly- slows down an entire bus line each time it happens. Furthermore, poor riders caught boarding the back or without transfers have actually been fined and even assaulted by staff and police during the most recent fare crack downs. And all of this, especially with slower runs transporting fewer people, can actually -reduce- revenues.
Muni should be funded by fuel and parking taxes which encourage people to abandon cars and trucks for -much- more environmental transit, not by poor riders who are already having enough trouble just making ends meet in this insane war economy in which federal and state governments are chopping the hell out of city supports, including transit supports.
I purposely refused to go along with the driver's absurd request to make it extremely irritating to both the driver and Muni to implement such draconian policies which will inevitably hit the poor right in the gut.
The harder all of us make it for them implement this 'zero tolerance' policy the more likely they will be to give up on it quickly and search for -legitimate- funding sources which tax automobiles in order to get people to favor transit.
Finally, we have this little list called the 'Ten Key Values'... I was upholding at least three or four of them with my protest action.
*Many* more of us need to do the same, so we can get Muni off the backs of the poor, and after the tail of polluting auto drivers, where they belong...
Eric Brooks
ritagoldberger@yahoo.com wrote:
Hi Eric,
I guess I don't see what your problem is. If you don't want the fares to go up, then you should be in favor of making sure that all people who do ride pay. If the revenue from fare collections went up, then maybe the fares would not.
Muni has a rule, except on the Metro lines, that people need to get on at the front door to pay their fare or show their pass or transfer. I do not see why this is so bad. The driver can't make an exception for you and not others. I do not see why you think he was unreasonable. Is he going to let you get on the back door because
you're
white and showed him a transfer? If he lets you get on the back door, then he has to let everyone on. And I have seen crowds get on all at once at some bus stops. The driver can't catch everyone and get them to show him their transfer or pay their fares.
People complain about how nasty the bus riders are, but is seems to me that they showed great restraint in waiting patiently with you on that bus
for 10 minutes while you held them all up by refusing to do what they all had done.
And ultimately, you did have to get on the front
door
of the next bus, anyway.
Rita Goldberger
--- Eric Brooks <brookse32@netscape.net> wrote:
Apparently the new Muni director has issued a
crack
down order on fare collections.
I boarded a Muni 49 bus at Van Ness and Market tonight by the back door (with current pass in hand) because the front line was really long. The driver immediately started laying on a patriarchal authority figure routine, so I decided to go up and show him my
pass.
Even when I showed him the pass he demanded that I leave the bus and reboard in the front announcing "Nope. New policy. 'Zero Tolerance' for people boarding in the back!" To which I replied that I had zero tolerance for Muni's idiotic rules, and I refused to reboard, instead going to the
back
of the bus and sitting down to talk to my mother on the phone. The driver then shut the bus down, holding both it and the 49 behind it (held at the other light) paralyzed for at least
10
minutes; afterwhich I saw another bus that would get me to where I needed to go, left his bus and boarded the new one.
Guys. We -must- organize a transit riders' union immediately to put a stop to this nonsense before it gets totally out
of
control -and- the fare goes up to $2 or even more.
peace
Eric _______________________________________________ San Francisco Green Party Active Members List To unsubscribe or edit your options, go here:
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