SF State/19th Avenue & Holloway Muni Metro Stop: Passengers Jumping from Platform

Would you dare to jaywalk across three lanes of traffic on one of San Francisco's busiest streets?

Let's take it up a notch, would you jump off a Muni metro platform and jaywalk across three lanes of traffic just so you don't miss your bus?

The fact is, this does happen.

View Larger Map

Take a look at the Google Maps image I've posted.  This is the metro platform stop for the M-Ocean View line at 19th Avenue and Holloway, in front of SF State.  You are looking at the east side (inbound) platform.

On some mornings, I notice passengers who just got off the inbound M-Ocean View line decide to jump off the platform and run across those three lanes of traffic just so they can take a shortcut to the bus stop that's on the sidewalk to catch the 17, 28, or 29 lines.  The first time I saw that, it was older Chinese women who was doing this, by risking their own life trying to make it across without getting hit by an incoming car.

While it's entirely possible to jump the platform and make it to the other side, the west (outbound) platform has a fence to prevent people from jumping, especially SF State students finding a cheap way to get across without walking down the ramp and using the crosswalk.  The city has installed fencing from Holloway to Winston to prevent jaywalking, especially at the track junction that was wildly popular and very illegal to get from one side of 19th to the SF State campus.  The city had to install the fencing because there have been some instances where people walking on the tracks was hit by a train or university police had to chase down someone on the active rail tracks.

It makes me wonder, why isn't there any fencing to prevent jumpers for the inbound side of the platform?  I wouldn't dare to attempt to jump from a platform and run across three lanes of traffic on the busiest and most dangerous road in San Francisco just to catch a bus.  I'd rather walk down the ramp and use the crosswalk, even if that meant missing the bus.  It's better for the city to prevent people getting mowed by a car than installing the barrier after the fact when someone's dead or in a coma.

Maybe I should text a tip to SFPD the next time I see it happen; never mind, since they don't read it in a timely manner.

Clipper Card Glitch Screws Passengers Again - When Will it Stop?

Broken readers is just one of many problems.

If you have a Clipper card, you may have been a victim of glitches or problems that are not your fault.  Throughout the years that I've been blogging about Clipper, I've written my fair share of issues and try to get MTC, and Cubic Transportation Systems (the contractor running the Clipper card) to get it fixed.

And while they do admit to their errors and fixes them as soon as they can, the problems continue to persist, like this most recent issue:

Starting on June 1st, Muni decided to end the paper version of the free ride transfers for those who exit Daly City BART and switches to the Clipper card handling the transactions.  This matter was concerning to commuters who used the SF State free shuttle as the transfer policy requires the passenger to ride the 28/28L line bus away from the station within the first hour of exiting the station; by taking the SF State shuttle, the transfer on the Clipper card is void and a return trip from SF State to BART will be charged at regular price.

Muni and SF State worked out a plan, effective August 1, 2012, instead of the one hour policy, it was extended to 23 hours for the first Muni ride.  The reason behind this is students that take the campus shuttle away from the campus, and can still ride the 28/28L line going back to BART with no fear of being charged a $2 fare (as long as it's within 23 hours of exiting BART).  Read story about the change in transfer policy.

But things didn't work out as planned.  As reported by the Golden Gate Xpress, the supposed reprogrammed transfer policy had a glitch and students who took the campus shuttle away from Daly City, was charged a $2 fare for their return to BART when taking a Muni bus.  Muni admitted the error and promised to have a fix by October 26th and Clipper will refund any passenger affected by the glitch.

The problem I have with this is, why do these glitches keep cropping up, and why isn't the contractor (Cubic Transportation Systems) not making sure it works perfectly the first time, every time?

It's not an isolated problem for Cubic, it's a chain of failures due to idiots programming the stuff without testing it.  Here's a list of their failures for the past few years:

1. In August 2012, there was a discovery that happened in 2010 when their cards enrolled with autoload funded their cards, but didn't charge their credit card at the time of the reloading of funds. Passengers were finally charged in August 2012 on their credit cards for the reloaded funds.
2. Back in May 2012, AC Transit passengers complained that when they rode an AC bus, transferred to BART, and took another AC bus, they were overcharged on their fare.  This glitch was the same problem Muni passengers faced before (see below).
3. At the same time, passengers who rode Muni, took BART, and transferred to Muni was also overcharged.  I originally reported on the problem back in June 2011 and while Clipper promised to get it fixed, people were still getting screwed until May 2012.
4. A software glitch delays the implementation of Clipper on Samtrans.  MTC fails to notify public until I broke the news.
5. In October 2010, I reported on the Clipper card readers beeping like crazy and it wasn't fixed until February 2011.
6. In early August 2010, those who linked their Clipper card with Wageworks was very angry when a glitch in the system resulted in pre-tax transit benefit users not getting their passes or funds loaded to their card in a timely manner. (Via my blog and SF Appeal)
7. On one day in July 2010, a software update to Clipper card readers on Muni failed to work properly resulting in disabled Clipper card readers.
8. April 2010, software update disables TransLink (pre-Clipper era) card readers.

I think I've made my point clear.  MTC needs to force Cubic to wise up and make sure that whenever there's a software or firmware update, that everything is throughly tested BEFORE the public uses it.  For every mistake or problem, people lose money from their Clipper card from errors or overcharges, transit agencies don't generate the correct revenue, and the time wasted for fixing the errors and issuing refunds to those affected.

More Photos of Last Week's Muni Training Bus Accident

The training bus accident (on Akit's Complaint Department) that got fame on SFist, SF Appeal, Muni Diaries, and FAIL Blog... now there's more photos to share!

My co-worker, Anthony, was at the accident site when it happened last week around 10AM. He said he heard a loud crash and learned the bus drove over the smaller (flat) rock, then the bus went over the jagged rock. He snapped all the photos you'll see below.

Here's the photos, enjoy! If you want to see the entire photo set, click here.

The Glory Days of Protesting for Education - Yesterday's Day of Action was Weak!

In light of college and university budget cuts, many students, staff, and faculty decide to organize and have protests. When I look at the "Day of Action" that happened yesterday, there's that feeling that many students, staff, and faculty don't want to participate, and only a couple hundred actually participated at SF State's with only 100 marching from the campus to City College on Ocean Avenue.

Oh the glory days of student protests...
I remember back in March 2003 when a City College student organized one of the biggest rallies ever at the State Capitol building in Sacramento. Literally every single community college in the state participated and was bussed in to march from a parking lot and down the main road to the capitol building. The green circle on the photo is of my sign in Sacramento; I used photos of Governor Gray Davis holding two sub machine guns.

This protest was peaceful, and it was absolutely huge. It got the media's attention and we had tons of politicians on our side, and the protest was such a success that the proposed dramatic budget cuts was drastically reduced.

The next year, Governor Arnold was in his first year in office and we did another march, but since I was now a junior student at SF State, a busload of SF State students joined our community college brothers and sisters for another successful protest in Sacramento. Once again, it was a peaceful event, and I had an absolutely great time.

I'd have to say, those were the glory days of student protests. Large, peaceful, and had a dramatic positive impact on education.

Protests are not the same anymore
A lot of student protests in the past few years have came with a lot of negative publicity, and that bad rap also affects future protests, like yesterday's at SF State.

I'm no fan of building occupations because while it grabs the attention of campus students, staff, and faculty by denying them access to offices, resources, and classrooms, it also shines a bad light on the students trying to make a point that budget cuts are bad.

SF State's Business building's occupation was at the worst time ever, just weeks before final exams for the Fall semester. Sure, there was lots of people barricading the doors, and cheering on the students inside, but it sure pissed a lot of campus folks off that they had to move their office hours to other campus locations and the campus had to spend tons of extra money to relocate classes and have police officers there to finally arrest them.

I remember protesting at SF State when I was a junior (it was a big rally) and students decided to sit in the middle of 19th Avenue and block traffic. I decided to stay on the sidewalk because I thought it is one of the dumbest ideas to block-off traffic on one of the city's biggest corridors. Some even went into buildings and pulled fire alarms to get people to evacuate and join the protesting, and I thought that was a poor decision too.

In Conclusion
When college campuses gets bad raps for protests, nobody wants to be part of it or participate. Sure, I support getting more funding for universities and colleges, but who wants to join a protest where students occupy buildings, get arrested by riot cops, pull fire alarms, and do other stupid stuff?

When campuses have a good reputation of having very peaceful protests, more will participate in future protests because it shines a good image. It's tough to get students to protest as they don't want to miss a class, but when there's a good reputation, professors are more likely to let their students go and participate.

A Local's Survival Guide to PGA Charles Schwab Golf Tournament at SF's Harding Park

The PGA Champions Tour is returning to San Francisco at Lake Merced's Harding Park golf course. I've read over the material and found out this event won't be as bad as other times where streets have been closed-off, certain areas turned into defacto parking lots for the rich and wealthy, and Muni lines were seriously re-routed. With much less traffic and transit restrictions, it looks like this might be a much lower profile event than the other two that snarled the area and made a lot of SF State students, faculty, and staff upset; one huge reason, a one day ticket is only $25, while the last two events charged at least double or triple.

Here's an easy guide to a smooth experience during this golf tourney (whether you are a local trying to get around or just wanting to see golfers wash their balls):

Event dates:

• Held from Monday, November 1st, to Sunday, November 7th.
• Monday and Tuesday is not for the general public.
• Wednesday through Sunday is for the general public to access. Practice round is Wednesday, and tournament play is the remaining days.

Traffic Closures:

• The SFMTA's ISCOTT meeting agenda states in item "R," Herbst road that services the Janet Pomeroy center, National Guard, and the delivery entrance for the SF Zoo will be closed from 6:30AM to 5:30PM each day.
• This is the only noted road closure from the ISCOTT notes, thereby any other closures could be deemed illegal because only ISCOTT can approve city road closures (that is, unless there's an emergency).

Transit Changes:

• Muni's 18-46th Avenue line going to Stonestown will not provide service along Herbst road. Instead, it will continue straight down Skyline and pick-up/drop-off passengers on Skyline after Herbst. Service going towards Legion of Honor will not be altered.
• Original route map:
  View Larger Map
• Temporary reroute (stop is at "B"):
  View Larger Map
• This is a vast improvement over the last event where the 18-46th Avenue going towards Legion of Honor slashed service by not providing service to the eastern, southern, and west areas of Lake Merced (the actual lake, not boulevard) due to road closures. It disenfranchised access for residents living on John Muir Drive and the Parkmerced residence community, the disabled at Janet Pomeroy, and SF State students.

Parking:

• Sanctioned parking lots are located at the Stonestown Mall from Wednesday to Sunday, and SF State from Saturday to Sunday (see map).
  
• Parking in the street might get tricky, especially with the heavy restrictions and time limits in the SF State area.
• Don't park in the SF State garage until the weekend. Campus cops are watching, and you don't want to mess with thousands of students, staff, and faculty who uses the lot on a daily basis.
• Do not park in Daly City BART to take advantage of the free shuttle. The BART lot is for passengers only and registering the car in the paid area of the station is REQUIRED. Abusing the system will result in a large fine and/or towing.

Transit options to event:

• BART: Daly City station will have shuttles.
• Muni: 29 Sunset provides service to the main gates near "Sunset Circle" (a.k.a. where Lake Merced Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. meets). L-Taraval is a walk to the main gates from the terminus stop at the Zoo. 18-46th Avenue passengers should exit at Sloat and Skyline and walk to main gates. 23-Monterey passengers should exit at Sunset Blvd and walk.
• Bike: Free bike racks at "Sunset Circle" main gates.
• Taxi: Drop-off on Lake Merced between Sunset and Skyline.
• See complete map.

Here's some local resident tips if you are just trying to avoid this train wreck:

• Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline is now fully opened in both directions. This will ease the traffic that will happen due to the golf tourney along Skyline.
• If you are commuting along the 18-46th Avenue and 29-Sunset, expect some delays due to traffic.
• If you work for the SF Zoo or need access to the Janet Pomeroy center, hopefully they informed you about the road closure.
• You might want to avoid the Sunset Circle area and the adjacent roads.
• If you work or go to SF State, arrive a little earlier. If you depend on street parking, you should definitely get to campus much earlier if those golf spectator cheapskates steal all the parking.

Let's hope for a smooth golf tournament and minimal road or transit hassles.

One Thousand Supports Ike's Place to Open at SF State

Just after 5:30PM on Tuesday, Ike Shehadeh, owner of the famed Ike's Place, put out a major message to the world, he wants to open a location at San Francisco State University. It was a big surprise to me and my fellow colleagues on the campus.

It's not just the shock that Ike wants to open up on the campus, but the huge support of people wanting Ike and his famous dirty sauce to be there.

Someone created a Facebook page titled: "Bring Ike's Place to SFSU" and I thought it was cool to sign up since there was about 20 of my friends who "liked" the idea. Less than 12 hours later, over 250 also clicked on the "like" button in support. Nearly two days later, the fan page has over 1,000 supporters (at time of this posting, it's now 1,037).

Isn't it amazing? A guy whose luck was running out on his 16th Street location has been expanding his sandwich empire around the Peninsula, opening a location at Lime on Market, and now wants to be at my alma mater? I'm getting hungry!

Congratulations to SF State's Class of 2010 - One Amazing Weekend

I wish to send my congratulations to the Class of 2010 at SF State. It has been one amazing weekend on the campus.

(A photo of me with The Chair of the Academic Senate, Shawn Whalen)

I volunteered at Commencement and it's great to see a sea of purple caps and gowns on the field with smiling students receiving their diploma covers from their college dean. Some of the more amusing moments at the event includes a student wearing a graduation type superhero costume, and someone wearing a neon green Teletubbies costume with the robe over it. It was also special to see the first graduating cohort of Doctoral students in Educational Leadership, and President Corrigan issuing honorary Bachelor degrees to representatives of family members who had to cut their educational career cut short due to the mass evacuation of Japanese Americans during World War II.

On Sunday was FilGrad, a graduation for Pilipino American graduating students who worked like crazy to raise all the money to rent the gym, the colorful programs, and the gifts. It was an honor for my Professor, Dan Begonia to invite all his former students to be on his drum corps to celebrate his retirement and to honor all the graduates.

Congratulations on your retirement and Emeritus status, my mentor. You earned it.

SF State Commencement Getting Special Muni Service

If you have not been aware of this by now, starting May 17th will be the St. Francis Circle track project will start, and they will do some serious work to one of the most craziest intersections in all of San Francisco.

What's the best way to describe St. Francis Circle? It's a massive track switch point for the M-Ocean View and the K-Ingleside lines while there's cars zooming around in various directions; it is also infamous for the long signal waiting times, the longest in the city.

But more importantly, the project will be going on the entire summer and is expected to be finished sometime in the fall. This means Muni metro service on the M and K lines will be running bus service instead of rail. To review the project, click here.

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Commencement at SF State will be on Saturday, May 22, and you might be assuming the M line will be running bus shuttles... well, you are half correct.

Here's the big news from the campus: The M-Ocean View line will run BOTH bus shuttles and rail service due to Commencement. There will also be additional service on the 28-19th Avenue bus line, which is also the main connector to service at Daly City BART. Tens of thousands of people will converge on SF State for one of the biggest days ever.


Here's the official notice from University Communications (via CampusMemo):

Public transportation information regarding special M-Line rail service for Commencement
Though the M-Line light rail service between West Portal Station and Balboa Park Station, both outbound and inbound, will be suspended and regular bus bridges added beginning May 17 as part of a construction project, the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has made special arrangements to accommodate Commencement goers. In addition to providing regular weekend service, SFMTA will also provide the following on May 22:

M-Line Service: M-Line rail service will operate from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. between West Portal Station and Balboa Park Station. In addition, the M-Line bus substitution that is already scheduled to operate during the St. Francis Circle rail replacement project will remain in service. Thus, those wishing to reach the University via the M-Line can take either the light rail or dedicated M-Line buses.

28-Line Service: From 8:30 am to 5:30 p.m., MTA will provide supplemental service on the 28-Line bus, which provides service between the Daly City BART Station and SF State.

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Helpful references & resources:
St. Francis Circle project information
SF State Commencement 2010 Information
SF State CampusMemo Information about special Muni service for Commencement
SF State's Golden Gate [X]Press article about transit service for Commencement
Akit's Complaint Department's personal tips to a great commencement (2009)

Congratulations to the Class of 2010!

SF State Commencement 2009 Helpful Tips

Are you planning to attend Commencement tomorrow at SF State University? It's time for some helpful tips from this two time graduate (M.A. and B.A.).

In General:

• 2009 is a special year, especially for you locals who want to see a baseball legend; WILLIE MAYS!
• 8,515 degrees will be awarded, another record for the university.
  
• Come to campus really early. All campus food venues are open for breakfast.
• If you park, do come early. The campus garage will fill-up.
• Take public transportation if it is possible. The 18-46th Avenue, 17-ParkMerced, 28-19th Avenue, 29-Sunset, and M-Ocean View serves the campus. Samtrans passengers should take the 122 bus.
• Tickets are required to attend. No ticket? Go online and watch the program.
  
• Traffic will be a mess for a couple of hours after the event. If you drive, be prepared for delays and have alternate routes planned.
  

Graduating Students:
You have your purple cap and gown... so what happens?

• Assuming the fog comes in tomorrow morning: Ladies, it is not recommended to wear high heels due to the grass on the field.
• Tennis shoes works perfectly fine for everyone, and the official photographers don't shoot below your knees.
• There's a decent amount of walking involved and that includes the field grass.
• You'll sit for a good few hours, so bring along a bottle of water. In 2006, the TV media filmed a graduate playing with his PSP.
• Some have left in the middle of the program and brought back a pizza or two.
• Bring your camera! It may be the last time you'll see your friends.
• When lining up, if you want to sit next to your friends or colleagues, remember to line up next to each other.
• Leis and other flowers are sold around various parts of campus. Check Costco for flowers too.
  

Parents and visitors:

• Bring a seat cushion with you. Stadium seating is on wooden benches or plastic folding chairs. Extra cushions are typically sold at the campus bookstore.
• If you don't have a ticket, try the campus bookstore's wait list.
  
• Be prepared for cold and warm weather. If the sun breaks out over Cox Stadium, the temperature will rise sharply.
• Wear sunscreen.
• Vendors around the stadium will sell beverages. Food and drink are available at nearby established locations, including the Student Center.
• It will be a huge sea of purple out there, so trying to locate your graduate will be tough. Set-up a meeting spot before you split-up for the day.

It's a big day! Are you ready? Just smile and enjoy this moment forever.

President's Day equals painful reduced SF Muni service to SFSU

Monday is President's Day for this country, which means it's a federal, state, and local holiday. Government offices, banks, and many public schools will be closed for this day.

But as always... there are people who have to report to work, including myself! Since I work at SF State University, the campus is open, and therefore we all report to our jobs and the students report to classes.

San Francisco's favorite punching bag, a.k.a. SFMTA/Muni has decided to trim their regular bus service to "Saturday" service. This means Muni will operate less vehicles on the street, no peak hour express buses, and Muni metro will be starting later than usual.

For SF State University, "Saturday" service means big trouble. I hate to say it, but Muni does not really care if a major university in the city is in business on a holiday. This is especially true for SFSU that has tons of commuters by public transit and depends on the M-Ocean View, 29-Sunset, and 28-19th Avenue lines. The 18-46th Avenue is not drastically affected since they run every 20 minutes everyday (but do add an extra bus during peak hours).

I've told Muni on numerous occasions that they should increase their bus and train service that serves SFSU when there is a federal holiday that does not affect the campus. And what do they do? They send out ONE CAR "M" Ocean View trains on the route and it comes less frequently.

Even more embarrassing about the metro service running on a "Saturday" is that the metro system does not open until 7AM! On a weekday, they start at 5AM, like regular commuters would expect. SFSU students won't have a very pleasant ride if they have class early in the morning when they have to take the metro "owl" buses. I wonder how many commuters to downtown will realize that their express won't show-up or their favorite "limited" bus line won't come or start real late?

OK SFSU folks! Get ready to be packed in like sardines!

Cool things about Election Day in San Francisco

I have to say that yesterday's election day was historic for not just the United States of America, but also for San Francisco.

Of course, we have a new President-elect and that happened at the stroke of 8PM when I was watching KTVU and Fox News broke the word to me, then I flip the channels rapidly and all the news networks announced it literally seconds apart.

Once thing I did notice, the over-the-air digital TV reception was good during the results, went sour when Obama went on the stage. I wonder if our country's investment in the new digital TV equipment is ready for something extreme like that. It's like cable internet services, everyone gets a piece of the pie, but if there's too many people in the pie, the service goes slow.

Back to San Francisco...

I think it's really interesting that we had an extreme turnout. I work at San Francisco State University and the line at the residence hall community was huge! I heard that SFSU's polling place is the largest precinct (based on population) in the entire city of San Francisco. The line was at least 100 feet long and two to three people wide.

And all those freebies! I got myself some free ice cream from Ben and Jerry's too.

I think the one big thing about our ballots this year is that there was a lot of material to vote on, and that may be a reason why the lines were so long at places like SFSU. I live in the Outer Richmond District, and other than voting for the Presidency, state and local propositions, school and college board members, and a judge; I had to also vote for a supervisor. That's four ballot cards with most of them using the back side as well. That took me at least an hour to do an absentee ballot.

(Big tip: When you get your ballot book, read it, then use the practice sheet inside to fill it out so you can quickly do your official ballot later)

In other news, San Francisco's "George W. Bush sewage plant" won't exist. Rats. I thought that was some amusing stuff. But the 30% of San Franciscan's who voted "yes" can still call it that unofficially. Could we change the Main Library to be named the "George W. Bush "leberry?""

All I can say now is, what a relief that this is all over. No more political bickering over the news, no more political ads on the radio during every commercial break, and no more killing trees to put those hanging ads on my house's gate.

I forgot to mention, I gave the finger to a person holding a "Yes on 8" sign when I was driving towards Costco. Discrimination in this country, and especially laws that prohibit people based on their ethnicity, race, skin color, and sexual orientation is just wrong. If prop. 8 passes, this will be one of the worst human rights issue in this nation in recent history (although many of us acknowledge that the Japanese internment camps was the worst human and civil rights violations in American history).

Why do people insult Ethnic Studies?

40 years ago, San Francisco State University was home to the longest student led strike in American history, and this created the school (now college) of Ethnic Studies, and is the only such "College" in the entire United States.

I respect that, regardless of the insane violence, police clashes, and everything else. SFSU is home to something really special.

Even for me, I thought I would go into a career of being an English teacher for the public high schools, but my new love came to Asian American Studies. I knew I had a great background way before college because of my deep connections to the Japanese American community (Japantown) in San Francisco, and the respect of the members of the community who believe my late grandmother is the hero of the community for being one of the major leaders of the Japanese American redress movement.

The 40th anniversary is a proud moment for SFSU, and it's not just history. The classes offered today provide a wide opportunity to learn about ethnic cultures (other than white/European American), and especially amazing is you can learn about one specific ethnicity in three different courses including history, psychology, and literature. Even more is that the interdisciplinary courses discover things like the film industry, how it relates to today's modern U.S. government, and even mixed heritage studies. And whether or not you realize it, some popular local celebrities were also part of our family, including Malou Nubla who attended Professor Dan Gonzales' class and also was head of PACE (Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor), and comedian Rex Nevarrette who respects the college for giving him a career in comedy.

And I'm proud to be part of this wonderful group, not just a B.A. degree holder in Asian American Studies, but also I'm close to earning my M.A. in the same topic too.

Yet... out of all this great news and pride, comes the sour part to all of this. I recently posted a comment on the SFGate comment boards noting my appreciation for the College and its programs, but soon later got pelted by others saying that Ethnic Studies is an insult. Including one literally pointing out that I won't have any kind of career (stating that I will be working at some fast food joint).

It almost seems that Ethnic Studies in college today has to be defended every single day in this country.

So here's my arguments/defense towards those insults:

• Yes, I do have a career. I work part-time as an Administrative Assistant while I work on my Master's degree. My knowledge in ethnic studies earns a high degree of respect in my field because of the uniqueness and very diverse population of people we work with.
• James Hirabayashi was the first dean of the school of Ethnic Studies at SFSU, and he stated that as students and graduates of the Ethnic Studies program, it becomes our responsibilities to use the knowledge we received and apply that to our communities. So therefore, there is a career for people like me!
  
• Elementary through high school teaches the Eurocentric point of view, and people rarely learn about the other views of so called "American history." Ethnic Studies gives that other view of history. Ethnic Studies also tells about the history that the Eurocentric view would never talk about, for example the International Hotel controversy in San Francisco's Manilatown, and why San Francisco's Chinatown looks "Oriental" when rebuilt after the huge fire after the 1906 earthquake.
• Without Ethnic Studies, ethnic communities in the SF Bay Area would lack the leadership and proper knowledge about the history of the ethnic group(s) they represent. The Japantown community has leaders who are well versed in the topic of Japanese American culture, with many who have taken ethnic studies or have teached Asian American Studies to other students.
• Without Ethnic Studies, who will teach their children (or future children) about their ethnic background(s)? I don't have a child, but if he/she asked me about their ethnic heritage, I would tell them the whole story about my Japanese and Chinese heritage, thanks to the folks of Ethnic Studies.
• A particular example of passing on Ethnic Studies to the young is a program known as PEP. Volunteer students from SFSU teaches young Pilipino students in High School about their culture through a very unique teaching style that is being recognized nationally as a way to teach ethnic studies to people who are not of college age.
  
• Research about ethnic groups (other than whites) is absolutely necessary today. The birth of Asian American Studies has spurred a lot of research in just the last forty years, investigating issues from Chinese Americans involved with Christianity, and how ethnic beauty pageants can be controversial.
• Without an Asian American Studies background, I would have not been able to lead and defend Japantown in 2006 when major properties were put up for sale, equaling about 1/3 (one-third) of the entire community. Without my vast knowledge about Japanese Americans, I could not have started a petition drive that received over 16,000 signatures, and write empassioned messages to other ethnic communities asking for their help. For example: I contacted a bunch of my Pilipino American friends and explained to them that losing Japantown is just like losing the I-Hotel, and Japanese Americans were there when the I-Hotel was under attack by riot cops trying to evict the tenants.
  
• Ethnic Studies is not a waste of a college's/university's money. It demonstrates that educational institutions needs to teach about other views of American history. One example: Eurocentric American history might just seldom mention about the Japanese American Internment Camps and a brief history about how they won redress. Asian American Studies focusing on Japanese American Studies gives their take to the whole camp and redress experiences through many readings and since it's specific to Japanese American history, can really focus on what makes this topic so important. Try asking detailed questions to a Eurocentric American history teacher... they might say "go see an Ethnic Studies professor for help" (then, they'd get fired for lack of knowledge).

There's my main points to this. If you still feel that Ethnic Studies is a waste of college resources and an insult to Universities, then come see me, and I'll drag your butt to people I know who will whip you into shape. I used a similar defense during the time when Japantown's festivals were recently threatened and noted that those people who wrote those mean spirited letters should come see me, and I'd let them meet the people in-person, the hard working volunteers that gets paid nothing other than seeing their community thrive and be proud. Some of them have been active in the Japantown community for over 40 years, now that's real respect and pride right there.

There's a reason why I quote Professor Dan Begonia on the bottom of my blog, I respect that guy for giving me the power to be a proud Asian American, and to continue on the tradition of promoting Ethnic Studies by leading our ethnic communities to a bright future.

(Photograph from left to right: Jon, Melissa, and myself. The three of us are part of the Master's program in Asian American Studies at SFSU.)

What's Wrong with Translink? (San Francisco, Bay Area)

For all you people who don't know, Translink is the program for the San Francisco Bay Area transit systems to provide one card for all transit systems. Think of it like your Visa card, it is accepted nearly everywhere and recognized by practically everyone. Translink does the same thing in the form of electronic cash, but improves it with the purchase of passes, automatic bus transfers, and other special features. Actually, if it worked perfectly, you can have multiple passes on your card. Plus, you never have to swipe the card, you simply wave the card near the sensor, or can be stuffed in a wallet or purse and you have to just get the card near it.

Just to note, the photo on the left is a little strange... The MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) has this photo available for public use, and the lady tagging/scanning the card has the red light lit and it says that the ride is denied. How embarrassing to the lady, smiling while your ride got denied. Click on the photo to zoom in.

Smart technology, right? Of course...

But then we realize just how much of a hassle it is to get this program running. It is a welcoming sight that people who ride AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit & Ferry services can use this amazing card to get around to where they need to go. Plus a nice incentive is that AC transit users received a small discount per ride or a $10 discount for a 31 day pass.

Golden Gate Transit & Ferry services give patrons an automatic discount, treating any person like they purchased a discounted ticket book. Take a look at this grid from the Golden Gate Ferry website:

ONE-WAY FERRY CASH FARES Effective July 1, 2007
Zone 2 – Sausalito	Adult	$7.10
	Senior/Disabled/Medicare/Youth (6-18)	$3.55
	Frequent Rider Ticket Book or TransLink	$3.80
Zone 3 – Larkspur	Adult	$7.10
	Senior/Disabled/Medicare/Youth (6-18)	$3.55
	Frequent Rider Ticket Book or TransLink	$4.45

OK, two agencies are working well. Haven't heard that many complaints in the news from these two agencies within the past year.

But how about the other agencies?

San Francisco Muni: Insiders are claiming that Muni should be ready to run with Translink (except Cable Cars) by July 15, 2008 after a few delays that got the attention of the Chronicle newspaper. Unfortunately, the people at Translink and the SFMTA (the authority controlling Muni) does not mention an official release date for the program. I've already e-mailed SFMTA and Translink last week and I still have not received a reply back from them. The SFMTA website mentions that Translink is still under "testing," and does not officially condone passengers to use the new program. They claim that it is not out for the public to use yet, but warns you that if you attempt to use it, to simply be prepared to have cash ready in case it does not work.

How about, if the reader works and accepts my electronic money, I should be offered a bus transfer if the reader is not working on the next vehicle I have to transfer to? There is no official message that a transfer will or will not be issued. It kinda leaves it out of the open, aye?

I'm also fortunate that I am a Commuter Check participant, and I now have the option to have my commuter checks be automatically uploaded into the Translink program. But without official notice from Muni about using the card, I don't even want to risk it. I'll stick to my token ticket book thank you very much.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit): They claim that they don't like the idea of Translink. Maybe it is because the company that installed those new ticket gates don't like the Motorola ERG technology? In fact... Cubic, the gate manufacturers, have their own card technology and is in strong use in the Washington DC area. Even more odd is that instead of letting Translink do a test run on the new equipment, they decided to go the opposite way by creating their own RFID card program using Cubic's technology.

In the future, we may have to carry two cards; although BART officials claim that they want to get on board the Translink wagon as well.

As for the other agencies, no word on what progress is happening.

Here is some interesting things with Translink:

• I noticed on my recent bus ride that the RTC discount cards that are issued to people who have a disability receive their photo ID card with the Translink chip embedded in their card. Whoever thought of doing this is a very smart person because since disabled people need to have this card while using the transit systems of the Bay Area make perfect test subjects to try this on the systems.
• My university that I work for and take grad school, San Francisco State University has noted in their "Master Plan" to improve the campus is to offer a "class pass" program that encourages students, staff, and faculty to ride public transit instead of driving to the University (parking is really tough, especially the free spaces in the Park Merced area). They are proposing that they want to not just offer free rides on Muni and free BART service within San Francisco, but to EXTEND BART service to also include the Daly City BART station. When BART passengers cross the San Francisco/San Mateo county line, they get heavily penalized, then it sucks for the students because they have to back trek to the San Francisco county side on the Muni bus to get to campus. The interesting part is that while the campus plans to make a deal with the two transit agencies and offer a really cheap price for the pass (like less than $70 for at least one semester), they want to also integrate this into the Translink card program (heck, it also makes them good lab rats to test out the system too!). I say, good luck SFSU and campus President Robert Corrigan, you've got a good challenge.

My credentials:

• I was a pilot tester for the second round from about 2002 to 2004. I used the older (bottom) card and it is quite beat up. The program worked great, until some driver threatened me and wanted to throw the card out of the window. Lets just say that he and his bosses got a major lashing from me and the Translink program manager for mistreating me.
• The new card they issued works, but I haven't used it in a very long time. If Muni can get their act going and officially get this thing moving, I'd be proud to use the card.
• I gave a lot of feedback to Translink, to the point where the customer service people knew me by first name basis only.

My goals for Translink:

1. Get Muni, BART and Caltrain up and going no later than the end of August. If they can meet the July 15th deadline, even better.
   
2. These three agencies needs to start to recruit testers now. I know that Muni has their equipment installed and operational on nearly all their vehicles except Cable Cars.
3. Get the other agencies up and running not by the year 2010, but at at least sometime in 2009.
4. SFSU (San Francisco State University) should push for the Translink with "class pass" program now. Students cannot take advantage of the Commuter Check Program, but as a staff member, I have that privilege to save money because it is automatically deducted from my paycheck, and it is pre-taxed funds.

Comments are welcome!
Post at: http://www.akit.org/2008/06/whats-wrong-with-translink-san.html