Cucumber in your Sushi - Yes or No?

Here's a good question: Why do some Japanese sushi bars and restaurants include cucumber in their rolls while others don't?

I have experienced this situation many times at various restaurants. About 65% don't include cucumber (unless if you order a cucumber roll), but the other 36% do include it, including many vendors who sell sushi at SF State (SushiGo and Healthy Eats) and at Lucky's at Sloat where a part-time sushi chef makes rolls for take-out.

In my opinion, I don't like cucumber in my sushi rolls, and it's especially frustrating when the restaurant didn't tell you that on the menu. I don't want a crunch in my rolls, I want to taste the fake crab and avocado in my California roll! I'm part-Japanese, and I'm confused!

So... what do you think? Do you like having cucumber in your sushi?

Muni Fast Pass Hike Now Official - Akit Caught Them Red Handed

It looks like the attention my blog forced SFMTA/Muni to update their website with some very critical information of changes to their fare/pass structure that goes into effect January 1, 2010.

This was regarding my blog entry about the Muni pass hike without any public notice.

It looks like I caught them red handed because they made modifications to their website on Friday, November 6th.

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I reported on my blog on Thursday, November 5th that Muni did not give notice to the public of a pass hike, and I mentioned the affect it will have on people who orders their passes through a commuter benefits company. I was aware of this when an anonymous person who works for the city e-mailed me the day before telling me that he got notice of a pass hike, but it was not generally known to the public.

It looks like Muni caught onto my blog and they posted their pass hike information online. The photograph below is proof that they added this page to their website on Friday, November 6th at 4:55PM (one day after my blog entry). You can also view this photograph for additional proof.

The rumored pass hike is true: adults will either pay $60 for a new "M" pass (Muni only), or $70 for an "A" pass (includes BART).

I really think it's great that a single person can change government policy. I did this before in July when I argued that Muni did not accept the Muni to BART transfer coupons for the return trip from AT&T Park and with the help of Phil Bronstein of the Chronicle, he was able to help me change the policy. Read Phil's three entries about the situation here.

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On a lighter note, I also noticed Muni updated their service changes website to include a letter from SFMTA Chief Nat Ford, and Tom Nolan who is Chairman of the SFMTA Board of Directors. This letter was posted hours later after I mentioned about why the public is not angry about the service changes.

Why are Citizens Not Angry at Muni's Upcoming Service Changes?

Less than a week ago, SFMTA/Muni released information to the public about the service changes scheduled to happen on December 5, 2009.

Where's the public's reaction about these changes? Having major service changes on the busiest transit service in the Bay Area is something that should be headline news the day after the changes were posted by Muni; but it's unusual to find most of the major news media shying away from reporting the changes. I'm also keeping an eye on chatter box (Twitter) about Muni and it seems there's very few people who are angry, nor delighted of the upcoming changes in just one month.

So people... are we simply just accepting these major changes or are we all just pent-up full of anger or sadness? It's time to speak-out and tell everyone if you like one of Muni's service changes ideas or you hate them.

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I'll tell you my opinions, these changes suck for my neighborhood, the Outer Richmond. Muni is eliminating the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch and the 18-46th Avenue will be re-routed and cover that route from 33rd/Geary to LaPlaya/Cabrillo.

I think it's a bad idea because you now force 38-Geary passengers to transfer to the 18 to get to their homes on Balboa and Cabrillo, and that means a wait of an average of up to 20 minutes; but if an 18 is a no-show, your wait can be up to 40 minutes (totally unacceptable). It also removes direct service to the Cliff House, which is essential for ADA passengers due to the very steep hills.

Here's my idea:

• I see very few people taking the 38 Geary to V.A. Hospital/Fort Miley; so why doesn't Muni just remove that branch and have the agency run a shuttle bus, just like the folks at Laguna Honda Hospital (89-Laguna Honda)? The 38L can get passengers to 42nd Avenue, and the shuttle can just fetch and drop people off at the hospital (it's only two blocks away). This keeps service on the 38 to Ocean Beach, and the 18 continues to serve on Geary, Pt. Lobos, and the Cliff House.

What Muni Fast Pass Hike? SFMTA Hasn't Told Anyone

One of my popular postings at Akit's Complaint Department is titled: "Muni Fast Pass goes up January: How to still save money" and explains about the planned raising of Muni's adult Fast Pass from $55 (w/BART), to $60 (w/out BART) and $70 (w/BART). My source to the price hike is a link to a SF Appeal article posted on September 1, 2009.

January 2010 is not far away; there has been no word from the SFMTA/Muni of a Fast Pass price hike anywhere on their website. It's not on their front page, and not on their "Passes, Tickets, and Single-Ride Ticket Booklets" page (as of Wednesday). That's really odd.

While the SFMTA has failed to provide proper notice to the public about a pass hike; it has been widely known for the past several months that a price hike on the adult pass is planned to happen in January. Here are a list of articles you can read that supports this claim:

• "SF Board Makes Deal on Muni Budget Cuts" (SF Chronicle/SFGate; May 13, 2009)
• "BART Fast Pass Liberty Swiped" (SF Examiner; June 1, 2009)
• "Supes OK Muni Budget" (SF Chronicle/SFGate; May 28, 2009)
• "SF Supervisors Approve Big Muni Fare Hike" (CBS 5; May 13, 2009)
• "Muni Raises Fares, Cuts Service to Cover Deficit" (KTVU; May 1, 2009)

I also received an e-mail from one of my readers who works in the City and County of San Francisco and it mentioned that they know a pass hike is going to happen (courtesy of e-mails from the city's commuter benefits contractor). The person also provided his/her opinion: "Muni seems to be silent on the topic."

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My question to SFMTA/Muni: Where is the official notice to the public about the adult Fast Pass price increase?

The media can claim there will be a hike, but no official notice from the agency makes it difficult for the public to know if it is true or not.

Do they know the consequences of NOT providing ample notice of a pass cost increase?

• Commuter benefits companies must know ahead of time so they can inform their users and update their websites where people place their orders.
  
• Employees who uses commuter benefits must notify their HR or payroll supervisor with ample time (at least one month before a hike) to raise their pre-tax deduction from their payroll. At SF State, employees have until November 30th to make any deduction changes to be effective for January.
  
• For Commuter Check Direct users, the last day to make any changes for your January passes/tickets/checks is December 5th (as long as you give notice to your payroll/HR department).
  
• People who receive paper commuter benefits vouchers will be shocked that they are $5 to $15 short and must pay the remainder in cash. Remember, pre-taxed from your paycheck saves about 20%, but paying extra in cash is considered post-tax.
  
• TransLink card management must make proper adjustments to their computer software to reflect a major change. That takes time to reprogram versus printing new passes with a different cost and giving them to vendors.
  

Our public transit agency cannot give us late notice of changes. Here's a couple of not so timely changes:

• Muni posted their changes to many routes effective December 5th, but only provided the public just a month's notice (and a couple of days) of the changes.
  
• Muni failed to provide timely re-route information for 18-46th Avenue passengers due to the PGA Presidents Cup golf tournament at Harding Park. The re-routes started on Tuesday and they posted it online ONE DAY before the re-routes were in effect.
  

You can't give less than two months notice to people of a pass hike due to the major affect it will have on the public who uses commuter benefits.

Here's a lesson for Muni:

• "Early" is on-time.
• "On-Time" is late.
• "Late" is a pissed-off public.

How do I evaluate Muni's performance with providing timely notice about changes to their routes and fare structure? They FAILED. Public/government relations my ass.

For once, an election without political phone calls

Yesterday's elections must have been one of the most quietest around here in San Francisco, mostly because the local news press didn't cover it as extensively as other elections in the past...

One of the best things about yesterday's elections: NO POLITICAL PHONE CALLS.

Isn't it so nice when you don't get harassed at 7PM at night after eating a tasty dinner and getting some phone call from an annoying jackass on a recording telling you to vote for Proposition "F-U?" At the last election, I got calls from the SEIU from a live person, and I told them to buzz-off, I was watching Jeopardy!

It's a little sad that our federal government banned those "robocalls," but allowed political messages to be excluded. That sucks. Why doesn't the FTC give us citizens the right to opt-out of political phone calls on the do-not-call list?

Lastly, I did get a few of those annoying mailers telling me to vote for Proposition "D," but I decided to throw those straight into my shredder without reading it. What a waste of trees.

Major Muni Changes in One Month... I'm Not Pleased

It's adding salt to the wound... SFMTA/Muni just gave a one month (and a couple days) notice about major service changes to the agency, these include, but not limited to line terminations, permanent re-routes, line number changes, and service hour changes.

Muni has posted all their descriptive information online with color maps and a PDF brochure that is extremely long.

Some items of change are quite simple and would be generally agreed upon by the public, such as more 38L-Geary Limited vehicles during peak hours, and simple route changes that makes better sense to the general public.

Others are much more dramatic changes to Muni, including my favorite bus line to SF State, the 18-46th Avenue's elimination of the route along the Cliff House, and on Pt. Lobos/Geary stretching from 33rd Avenue to 48th Avenue. Others will be amused by the terminal changes, such as the 6-Parnassus returning to the ferry building (once again), and the 71-Haight Noriega terminating at the Transbay Terminal (and the future temporary terminal).

Yet, with all these major changes, something doesn't look right...

• Muni has not published a time schedule, which is essential for the mapping services of 511 and Google Maps (for transit), and for those whose bus line runs on frequencies of at least 15 minutes or more. They better publish it soon so that Google and 511 programmers can update their information in a timely manner by December 5th.
  
• Muni has also not published a new complete map of the city and its modified bus/train services.
• Is one month enough time to get the public informed about these major changes?
• Can the agency put-up the notices in a timely manner on buses, trains, and bus stops notifying passengers of new stops, eliminated stops, and replace all the Muni maps at bus shelters the day of the route changes?

I'm worried, but at the same time, let's see what kind of reaction the public will give now, on Sunday, December 5th, and Monday, December 6th (first day of the weekday commute).

We are also learning that these changes will not fix the deficit to zero, and therefore the City Insider reports that Muni is proposing to cut 250 jobs, change driver's schedules, cut overtime, and relocate federal stimulus money from projects to their operations sector. The big questions I have about this is: 250 jobs from where? Will this cut affect our transit? How about that stimulus money? We could really use some new Muni fare gates at the metro stations.

Lastly, here's the reaction from one of the ladies involved in the infamous Muni fight on the 30-Stockton. Enjoy!

Akit's 20 Demands to Fix Muni

One of my former co-workers left me a comment about my recent posting about tips for rookies on BART and stated: "You should write a list of demands of MUNI and get them published in the newspaper. Or, write them out and nail them to the director of MUNI's door (like Martin Luther)."

Not a bad idea! But I don't think I'll ever get that close to Nat Ford's door without getting arrested by San Francisco's finest (which should be riding our buses), and I don't think the Chronicle gives a damn about my blog. (Side note: That Chronicle comment was a little too rough; sorry SF Chronicle!)


Here's my list of demands to Muni:

1. Regaining the trust of the public with a reliable and efficient transportation service.
   
2. The immediate resignation of SFMTA Chief Nathaniel Ford, and union leader Irwin Lum.
3. The citizens of San Francisco reserves the right to vote for the Executive Director of the SFMTA versus the appointment by the Mayor.
   
4. Faster buses than the average eight miles per hour.
5. Investment in new Muni metro vehicles with extensive testing to assure no breakdowns, but must also be cost effective.
6. Investment in high capacity, double articulated buses to serve major transit corridors.
   
7. Increase in speed on the Twin Peaks Tunnel segment between Castro and Forest Hill.
8. Addition of more historic trolleys or purchasing of low floor trains on the F-Market.
9. Creation of express bus lines for mid-day and Saturday service for areas west of 19th Avenue (Sunset) and Park Presidio (Richmond).
   
10. Increased police presence on all Municipal Railway vehicles. If that doesn't work, a dedicated transit police should be used.
11. The swift termination of employees who have been found responsible for major vehicular and pedestrian accidents, and ones with too many complaints.
12. Immediate clean-up of vehicles with graffiti and investment into ways graffiti can be easily erased without "ghost" graffiti still present on surfaces.
    
13. The end of the bureaucratic red tape that has stalled major projects to improve transit.
    
14. Improved maintenance of transit vehicles including more preventative maintenance.
15. Having backup vehicles prepared at key locations around the city when a vehicle breaks-down.
16. A knowledgeable 311 staff specifically dedicated to Muni; must have full understanding of system and policies, and when complaints must be addressed immediately versus the next business day.
17. Assure operators of no retribution or punishment for confronting passengers; such as passengers playing music too loud.
    
18. Installation of pre-paid fare machines at major transit stops to create quicker boarding.
    
19. Eliminating bus stops that stop every block; should be changed to once every two blocks (minimum).
    
20. Weekend service hours at the SFMTA Customer Service Center at Van Ness/Market.

Want to add to this list? Just post a comment.