Dear Nat Ford and Temporary SFMTA Chief Debra Johnson

Dear Nat Ford,

Today is your last day in office. Feeling good about getting out of your job? I think everyone else in this city will feel even better than you because the reign of Ford is ending.

I feel I speak for everyone when I say, bye bye and go away. We Muni passengers have suffered a lot with a system in shambles, major delays, a way too predictable delays on the metro system, and unions so out of control that it took voters to finally kick them in the ass (thanks Proposition G).

Oh, and don't forget CultureBus, San Francisco's famous taxpayer waste project. Let's not also forget the Central Subway project, in which some has called it the "Rose Pak subway."

So long! If you are going to stick around SF for a while, why not ride Muni on a daily basis and pay the jacked-up price of $62 a month that starts tomorrow?

Sincerely,
Akit & the fed-up citizens of San Francisco who is ready to party when you leave office at 5PM

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Who is replacing Nat Ford? It's Debra Johnson, the head of the taxicab and accessibility department of the SFMTA. Here's a letter for her:


Dear Interim SFMTA Chief Debra Johnson,

This is not the job for you. The taxicab commission is in turmoil with cab drivers pretty upset about the 5% credit card fees and being one of the most extremely regulated and expensive places to ride a cab in this city.

I remember talking to a cab driver in Las Vegas and he said that while Vegas is very regulated, he thought our city was outright nuts.

Basically, if you can't keep good control and keep the cabbies happy, how are you going to handle the additional responsibilities of being the super boss of Muni and the Department of Parking & Traffic?

Fix the taxicab problem first, then take a shot at being the boss of the conglomerate. If you are going to stick around and be the boss of the SFMTA for a while, remember to not be a puppet of the mayor; you serve the citizens of this fine city and when we detect bullshit, we point fingers at the mega boss.

Sincerely,
Akit & many others worried the SFMTA will never lower Muni pass prices

Clipper Could be Overcharging You for Using Transfers (UPDATE: Clipper Admits Error, Refunds to be Issued)

Fellow blogger, John Murphy, posted a blog entry asking people to guess correctly how much he paid with his Clipper card when he took Muni and BART. The prize for the first correct answer was some micro-brewed beer.

Here's the situation:

1. Rode a Muni bus to the 24th Street BART station.
2. Transferred to BART to exit in downtown SF.
   
3. Transferred to Muni.

What would the answer be? The most obvious answer would be: $3.75. This is computed as:

1. $2 for the Muni ride
2. $1.75 for the BART ride within SF
3. The second Muni ride is free because the transfer is valid from the time issued from the first ride.
   

Actually, John experienced something that hasn't been fixed by Clipper. He paid $5.50. Let's break this down:

1. $2 for first Muni ride
2. $1.75 for BART ride
3. $1.75 for second Muni ride (saved 25 cents off automatically due to BART to Muni e-transfer)

Why did he get charged an extra $1.75?
John did use the same Clipper card and transferred to his second Muni bus within 90 minutes of tagging his card on the first Muni bus, but was overcharged, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

What happened is he did receive an e-transfer from his first ride on Muni, but when he took BART, his e-Muni transfer was wiped off and the "BART to Muni" transfer was encoded; this meant that instead of a free ride utilizing the e-Muni transfer, he was charged $1.75 by using the other e-transfer.

This can also happen on other agencies, such as taking BART and AC Transit. An AC Transit passenger could use their Clipper card to pay e-cash for their ride to BART, take BART, and transfer to another AC Transit vehicle to get to their destination. AC Transit's transfer policy is that transferring to another AC Transit bus is just 25 cents, but if the passenger took BART, the 25 cent offer gets wiped off and the passenger instead pays $1.75 to AC Transit.

How can this be fixed?
The easiest solution is for passengers to carry a second Clipper card or pay with cash for some of the rides, but I think this is just a waste of plastic and the need to think creatively to get around the system.

Let's ask the folks at MTC, Clipper, and Cubic. I'm waiting for an answer. Leave a comment.

UPDATE:
John asked Clipper on Facebook for answer on why he was overcharged. Here's how they responded:

You're correct - you should not have been charged for the second ride.

This was an incorrect implementation of Muni's transfer policy and MTC has been working with our contractor to fix the issue.

We encourage customers to access their online transaction history records to determine if they were overcharged for this transfer trip. Customers who are affected by this issue should contact Clipper Customer Service to request a refund for the $1.75 that they were overcharged.

I can't believe they publicly admitted to a mistake. That's rare.

Time to Dismantle the SFMTA?

Here's a good question for everyone to think about... would you dismantle the SF Municipal Transportation Agency? Or as most of us locals call it, the SFMTA or the MTA.

I think it's time to break it apart. Since there's a big shakeup with management with Nat Ford leaving office on June 30th and the number two man (the boss of Muni) resigning, and the arbitrator kicking the union's ass, it's the perfect time.

Back in the good old days, Muni was it's own agency, DPT was under the police department riding three wheel motorcycles around the city, and the taxicab folks was just themselves. It wasn't until Nat Ford came along and combined the three agencies into one big conglomerate umbrella known as the SFMTA with a bloated $300,000+ salary.

We already knew the shit hit the fan with Muni long before the SFMTA was created; the infamous "Muni Meltdown" of 1998 caused the downward spiral did it's job well. But someone had to handle the cleaning of the fans, and who else but Nat Ford?

Yeah... Nat Ford, the man who had to control three agencies under one roof, and things didn't go so great under the SFMTA umbrella:

1. Muni has been the punching bag for the public for a long time, but these last few years has sucked the most with major pass hikes, cuts in service, a half-ass "restoration" of service, uncontrollable union until us citizens passed Proposition G, and lots more.
2. DPT just ain't cool anymore. Ever tried calling them to demand a car to be towed? I have, and they hung up on me.
3. The taxicab commission is just being bombarded by pissed-off cab drivers every single time there's a meeting, from medallions to 5% surcharges for credit cards.

Maybe it's time to split the three agencies and let them be themselves. Split Nat Ford's salary to pay appropriately to have one boss run each agency, and pray to god they won't be a puppet of the Mayor, like how Nat Ford was Newsom's puppet.

What's your thoughts?

Lastly, don't forget to "like" me on Facebook! The Complaint Department is there for your entertainment!

Samtrans Monthly Passes Goes Clipper Only in January 2012

Samtrans is joining the Clipper card bandwagon by moving some of their fare products. Starting January 2011, all passes must be loaded onto a Clipper card.

There are some funny parts to this change in policy. Once this process starts, there will be no prorated passes you can buy for a discount. Also, the Clipper card in-person vendors are spread a little thin around San Mateo County; all Walgreens locations near the Caltrain tracks can handle the purchasing of passes, but if you depend on Samtrans in Half Moon Bay and the coastline areas, you are screwed.

I'm curious to know if anyone even uses Clipper on Samtrans, other than those Caltrain passengers with a two+ zone monthly pass. I wait for my 18-46th Avenue bus at a joint Muni/Samtrans stop and all the passengers who boards pays in cash.

Dreams Do Come True! Muni Gets Major Ass Kicking

I dreamed of the day when the real owners of Muni kicks some serious ass...

It was really cool when the arbitrator kicked the Muni's drivers union's butt by forcing them to take the contract.

But it made it five million times sweeter with this news...

NAT FORD IS QUITTING! (Sources: Chronicle and Examiner)

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I wonder if the training bus accident photos also contributed to Nat Ford quitting his job? Or maybe it was my parody letter to the Washington D.C. Airport Authority?

It's time to celebrate! We should have a big public party to say, "Muni's reign of terror is over! The people have spoken!"

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.

One Less Step for Caltrain Monthly Pass Users using Clipper

I know a lot of you are griping about the complicated and sometimes pain in the ass process with using Clipper cards on Caltrain, and especially with monthly passes.

Caltrain Monthly Passes
A curious question was posted on Clipper's Facebook page by Henry about the tag-on and tag-off policy on the first day of travel for those using monthly passes by purchasing in-person vendors and self-service machines.

Clipper came back with a really amazing answer:

• If you purchased your Caltrain monthly pass at an in-person vendor or a self-service machine, you DO NOT need to tag-on and off on the first day of travel for the new month.

Why? Same principle Clipper has been teaching us, in-person vendors and self-service machines loads it on the card immediately. This also resolves complications for those passengers whose first day of travel may go beyond their designated zones; they can now purchase a paper zone upgrade ticket while utilizing the zones loaded on their Clipper card.

However... if you utilize autoload, or purchased it online or phone, tagging on and off the first day of travel is still required in order to load the pass onto the card.

But, no matter which way you pay for a Clipper card, there must still be a minimum of $1.25 e-cash on the Clipper card at all times.


So Why is Caltrain & Clipper Still Encouraging Tagging-On and Off?
Both agencies still encourage the tactic because Caltrain on Clipper is already way too complicated. By telling everyone to do the tag-on and off steps, it makes it easier to market Clipper to everyone who uses monthly passes (regardless of how it was paid).


I write a lot, so here's the simple way to explain it:

• Self service or vendor purchase of a Caltrain pass? No need to tag card on Caltrain.
• Online, phone, or autoload? Yes.