World Series Ups the Shoupian Ante

Taken by a friend at Pier 38.  I wonder what SFPark is doing...

Our Muni

I'm writing this on an inbound M car, stopped in between Civic Center and Powell stations.  It's stopped here because of unspecified "mechanical problems."  While the doors were open, back at Civic Center, the operator encouraged everyone to get out and take a bus or streetcar down Market to their destinations.

By my count this is the third delay caused by 'mechanical problems' in as many weeks - and that doesn't count the residual delays that linger after the 'problems' are fixed.

After the operator made his announcement, most of the people on this car took his advice and left; a pretty apt metaphor for a system that's seen its readership shrink significantly in the last few years along with its budget.

Is this what we want for our Muni?  Or do we want to invest in a system that actually meets San Francisco's transportation needs?

NLCS Brings Sane Parking Pricing to SF

Via a Facebook friend this morning, before game 3 of the NLCS.  This photo was taken two blocks away from the ballpark.

Last Chance to Register for the Peak2Peak

Today is the last day to register for this year's Peak2Peak walk.  This year's walk will take a new route from the 24th Street BART station to Land's End - across 13 miles and over 10 peaks.

Check out my review of last year's Peak2Peak for photos of some of the amazing sights to see along the way.  Registration gets you lunch in a peaceful meadow on Mount Sutro, and the chance to win some cool raffle prizes.  Proceeds go to support Walk San Francisco, which is an awesome organization that does a ton of great work to make SF a better place to walk (I'm on the Board of WalkSF so I'm totally not impartial, but I mean it).

Sign up now before it's too late, and I'll see you there!

It's a Smaller System

Muni used to carry around 700,000 trips per day.  Well not anymore.  Have we reached the right size yet, Mr. Ford?

Race to the Bottom

Today Streetsblog featured this Urbanophile post in response to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's decision to kill the ARC rail tunnel into Manhattan.  It's a pointed denunciation of the cut-to-the-bone (or prune-to-the-trunk) governing philosophy of this generation's Republican Party, and one quote really stood out to me:

But as I noted before, if you can’t afford your infrastructure, and you can’t afford to provide basic services, what you’re really saying is that you can’t afford to be state and are holding a slow motion going out of business sale.

Worth remembering as Election Day nears.

Words to Live By

“You can’t spray people with pepper spray just because you’re having a bad day,”  - SF Police, via The Examiner

Hat tip to Mikesonn

Walk to School Day

Posting is still slow, and I apologize to anyone put off by that, but I wanted to take a moment to remember that today, October 6th, is Walk to School Day.

If you missed a chance to join your neighbors walking to school today, then please try to make a point of practicing Walk to School Day everyday.  Safe, active streets must be safe and welcoming for the smallest among us, and an active childhood is much likelier to be a healthy childhood than one spent in the backseat.