Finally, Brighter News on Muni Fare Gate Problems

Last night, KTVU's 10PM news reported some good news on the progress to fix the new Muni gate problems.

One of the good parts of the news is the SFMTA will not pay for the fixing, it is the responsibility of the gate manufacturers, Cubic Transportation Systems. Hopefully the software fix the company is working on will help stop or heavily reduce the problem of simply waving their hand over the optical sensor.

If Cubic and Muni wants an easy way to solve the sensor problem, just add a button on each gate exit point. When a person wants to exit, they push the button and the gate opens for them. The distance between the gate doors and the end of the gate is too far to reach the button, so it's impossible to "buzz" yourself in.

For you critics who thinks tagging-out is the answer, that's just absolutely impossible. Muni drivers will still issue paper transfers, so how will those passengers exit the system?


Time for some common sense talk...
A random person was interviewed by the news agency and he is complaining that it takes three days to add value online.

Someone get me a hammer, I want to slam it on the common sense button that's buzzing loudly...

You are in a metro station being interviewed, and you bitch and moan about the 72 hour rule? Just feet away from you is a Muni ticketing machine that can add value to your Clipper card and it's available INSTANTLY. Oh, did I forget? They also accept credit cards, just like online.

Remake of KTVU's "Bay Area People" Commercial?

If you lived here in the Bay Area since the 1980's, you should remember this video below...

That's right folks, it's the "Bay Area People" commercial that KTVU produced and something I consider to be a classic showing the brighter and happier days of our city and the Bay. Even if you have never seen this video, it should give you that warm and fuzzy feeling about our region.

The two decade old video shows a lady handling multiple dogs with many leashes, retired KTVU 10PM news reporters, Oakland Police, a couple at the Mel's Drive In at Lombard, a guy in a suit going to work in roller skates (yes, the classic kind), a lady with a flat tire with the 39-Coit bus passing by, a small dance crew at the port of Oakland, and an Asian lady with huge ass KTVU glasses. You can surely notice classic 80's stuff like the old Muni buses and the hairstyles.

I was thinking to myself, isn't it about time for KTVU to revive this old classic by keeping the classic "Bay Area People" song, but re-film all the video portions? For example, instead of the guy in classic roller skates, it's roller blades, and the lady with the "brick" cell phone is using an iPhone.

If you want to contact KTVU and ask them to remake the classic commercial, click here and you can decide to send it by snail mail, e-mail, or give them a call.

Suggest a Better Name for Clipper (TransLink)

KTVU is the first media agency to show the new look to the Clipper card. The color of the card is blue with two white uniquely shaped white colored arrows, and the word "Clipper" on the lower corner in capital letters.

Already, opinion of the name Clipper is not going so well. People on Twitter are posting their anger and it's totally understandable when $1.4 million will be spent on rebranding and promotion. Even people interviewed by KTVU said it is a terrible idea.

What would you name the TransLink card? Or would you even rename it at all?

• I suggested to name it "The Bay Area Card" which is a simple and unique way to identify our region.
• Twitter user "dto510" suggested "Transit Bridge" but also likes the old name "TransLink."

If you have any cool names, just leave a comment or you can Twitter me at user @AgentAkit and I'll update the list on this blog.

Gavin Newsom... Blowing for the Microphone!

That's our San Francisco Mayor! Gavin Newsom is the one photographed here, where he is caught in the position of "blowing" at the microphone.

Gavin stated on "Sarah and No Name's" radio program on Alice 97.3 FM (also shown late night on KBHK 44, also known as the CW Bay Area) that he was laughing into the microphone when some person put that photo on the blog site at the precise moment when he laughed.

Still, I think it's amusing. Say ahhhhh!!

Let's summarize my rants:
Newsom... getting lucky!
Uses so much grease to slick back his hair, on earth day, he used gorilla glue to make it permanent.