Akit's True Muni Stories - Crying Baby & a Beer

I thought I'd share one of my favorite true stories onboard Muni and one hell of a coincidence that it happened.

On a weekend in the afternoon, I was riding the F-Market to Fisherman's Wharf because I desperately wanted the best clam chowder at No. 9 Fisherman's Grotto (if you think it's Boudin, HA!).

During the ride on the Embarcadero, there was a very loud crying baby on the vehicle.  The mother was trying to keep the baby quiet and looking around, I saw a lot of passengers just stressed.  For me, I was saying to myself, "this is birth control for me."

At the Pier 39 stop, most of the passengers, including the crying baby hopped off.  With the very few passengers left, we all chatted about the crying kid; everyone agreed that it was just too damn loud.

I responded with a fun joke: "I could sure use a good beer right now."

Just seconds later, I hear a bottle rolling down the aisle.  It was an empty beer bottle.  The passengers looked at me in awe.  I guess it was a sign it was time for a good beer [and some chowder!].

10 Things I Wish the San Francisco Giants Would Bring Back or Improve Upon

I love my San Francisco Giants.  During the good and bad times, the warm days at AT&T Park and freezing cold days at Candlestick, and from the nosebleeds to the premium seats that had me on TV all day long, I've always been a loyal fan.

At AT&T Park, there's always new developments and innovations that makes our ballpark stand out as one of the best in the nation.  But there's always room for improvement.

I wish there were some things they can improve or bring back from the past:

1. Every time we win the game, do they always have to play the "whoo hoo" song?  Isn't there a more recent trendy song that can get the crowd going?  Remember "Who Let the Dogs Out?"  It was great to hear that and hear the fans in the stands sing out loud.  Could we sing the Ghostbusters song when Posey hits a home run?
2. The Giants promotes all these new food options like the Original Joes burgers and sushi, but these new creations are only sold in just one isolated location in the entire park.  Original Joes burgers are only sold near section 136 near the mini ballpark for kids, and the sushi stand is in the Club Level which means only the privileged Giants fans have access.  At least open a second stand somewhere accessible to everyone.
3. Where's the social media hangout they planned to open at the former Build a Bear stand?  Now it's an abandoned building for the last few homestands.  If you don't plan to open a social media hangout, how about opening a second Crazy Crabz location because those sandwiches tastes GOOD!
4. Sometimes the ushers don't really care about people going to their seats while the ball is in play or the batter is in the box.  It annoys the crap out of me seeing people just walk up the stairs to their seats and blocking the view of the ball being pitched.
5. I remember the when the arcade section had the flat penny machine and the penny you received said what game you attended.  It was the best souvenir for just 51 cents.  Can we get that back?
6. Can you cook the garlic fries a little bit longer?  The Club level has a reputation for cooking good garlic fries, but the rest of the stands in the park could use a little more TLC.
7. Bring back the souvenir pin giveaways.  It used to be a common occurrence back at Candlestick, including one pin I still have on my hat from nearly 20 years ago when the Rockies first played against the Giants at Candlestick.  I like the pins more than a box full of giveaway hats and oddball items like fingerless gloves.
8. I find it ironic that soda cans are banned from bring brought into the park, but they sell beer in aluminum bottles.  Are aluminum beverage containers considered a weapon?
9. Please kill-off the "Family Feud" from your gameshow inning promotion.  How the hell is Dirty Harry not a top eight choice for best San Francisco movie, but that Nicholas Cage film, The Rock is a top eight?
10. Is it just me or is nearly impossible to find the designated driver program booth anymore?  Ever since they yanked-out the desk next to Guest Services, there's no way to tell if they even take sign-ups anymore for those free sodas.  They put a new location on the promenade level near the stairwell leading to the Lefty O'Doul gate, but it's manned only on a few days and you'd miss it if you weren't looking carefully.

Clipper Card Improvements to Caltrain and Installation on Marin Transit

It's that time of the month again when the defacto Clipper card board of directors spends money on things YOU want for your Clipper card.  The Operations Committee of the MTC meets on Friday, May 10th at 9:35AM (agenda here).

A lot of the material is all contract renewals, such as the operation of Clipper customer service offices/desks at Embarcadero station, but here's the two things you should know:

1. $425,000 to help fund to have Clipper card equipment installed on Marin Transit buses.  Marin Transit will also help pay for the installation of the equipment on their vehicles.
2. $150,000 will be spent on an adjustment to the Clipper card readers at all Caltrain stations.  The Clipper card readers emit the same tone when you tag-on and tag-off, but due to complaints of people being confused, including those with limited visibility, the modification will be a different sound tone being emitted when you tag-off.  For example, you'll hear "beep!" when tagging-on, and "boop!" when tagging-off.

In other meeting notes, the board will hear a presentation on customer service for Clipper.  They've already made some improvements, such as upgrading the website and making the automated phone system easier to use.  The goal for this summer is to have a mobile friendly website up and running.

Akit's Opinions
Not a bad set of goals.  The need to expand Clipper to the smaller agencies is still in the works, but it seems the progress is just slow.  When are they ever going to get Clipper ready for the Vallejo ferry, or how about the Tiburon service Blue & Gold provides?

I do feel the adjustment to the Caltrain readers is much needed, but I'm still hoping they will one day have all the ticketing machines be able to add Clipper value and finally end that stupid 8-ride for an across the board equivalent 20% discount on single ride fares.

500 Page SF Elections Paper Ballot Book - How to Get it E-Mailed & Get Spammed Too

Election Day comes back on November 5th to San Francisco, and while it usually means we vote for candidates and proposals for propositions, you'll be getting something huge in the mail: Your ballot book.

If you are familiar with ballot books, it's basically what every person registered to vote gets in the mail prior to every election.  The books contain the procedures and policies about voting, candidate statements, proposition statements, and plenty more.  In most cases, the booklets are no more than a quarter inch thick using very thin paper to cut down on weight and postage costs.

But for the November 5th elections, your booklet will be roughly 400-500 pages, with a huge chunk going towards a local proposition for a luxury condo property at 8 Washington.  By law, the city has to publish the text of the referendum and that contains hundreds of pages that likely a majority of citizens will simply throw into their recycling bin.

What does that mean to me?  If I receive that, I just look at the sample ballot and maybe the briefing of each ballot measure, than simply dump it in the recycling bin.

But... there is a choice for us voters, we can ask the city to skip on the paper ballot books and review it online.  When you opt-in for electronic ballot boks, you get an e-mail from the city that gives you the link to the ballot book online.

It's a great idea, help the city go green by cutting back on the paper printing, especially when your ballot book will be the size of a telephone book.

However, there's a dark side to giving the city your e-mail address:

"The email address provided on this form will be kept confidential pursuant to Section 6254.4 of the California Government Code and Section 2194 of the California Elections Code, and legally may be provided to a candidate for office, a ballot measure committee, or other person for election, scholarly, journalistic, political, or governmental purposes, as determined by the Secretary of State." (Source: SF Elections opt-out paper ballot book online sign-up)

What this basically tells me is that if I give the city government my e-mail address to cut down on paper waste, there is the possibility that political candidates and proposition pro/opponents will be harassing me via e-mail telling me to "vote for this" and "my opponent is a scumbag?"

Like I need more junk mail in my inbox.  I'm already sick of the phone calls at 8:45PM.  Thanks politicians for passing an elections law that allows you to spam the crap out of my e-mail box; you voted for it because you liked it so you can tell us who or what to vote for, but for us citizens, we hate it.

Here's an alternative the city could do, but it will cost some money: People can opt-out of a paper ballot, but they would instead get a post card telling citizens to visit the elections website to obtain the electronic ballot book; by doing it this way, we don't have to give out our e-mail address.

Croix de Mount Davis? 19 Innings of Oakland Athletics Baseball

While I will always be a Giants fan and earned my Croix de Candlestick buttons for surviving extra innings during a night game at Candlestick, it's amazing to see how the Oakland A's can pull off a difficult feat very early this morning.

From 7PM to 1:40AM, the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels played 19 innings of baseball until a two run home run finally ended the game with Oakland winning 10 to 8.  While 19 innings did not make the Major League record books for longest game ever, it did make Oakland A's history.

While the hardcore fans did stay for all the fun at the Colosseum, it's too bad some had to leave in the middle of the game because the last BART trains were to arrive at the station to take people back home.  With the game finishing near 2AM, I hope people were able to get a taxicab or get a ride from someone to get home, or wait a couple of extra hours for BART service to reopen this morning.

Lastly, for those who attended the game and survived 19 innings wouldn't it be nice if the Athletics gave their fans something to cherish for their loyal attendance of 19 innings?  If the Giants can give out the Croix de Candlestick, how about a Croix de Mount Davis for those Oakland fans?

If you are not familiar with Mount Davis, it's that structure in the top photo that blocks the view of the Oakland Hills skyline.  Some gave it the nickname "Mount Davis" because Al Davis moved the Raiders to Oakland and there was a need to add more seating; the top deck is so steep and tall that it's rare to find stadium seating that high anymore.

SF's District Attorney Gascon to Crackdown on Distracted Drivers - How About Distracted Pedestrians?

BMW driver caught making illegal left turn.

This morning, I was watching the local news and there was a brief news story about San Francisco's District Attorney, George Gascon to start a crackdown on distracted driving.  The news reporter said the reason behind it is San Francisco's higher than state average automobile vs. pedestrian accident rate.

I personally feel that a crackdown is necessary to stop people from shaving while driving, looking down at their cell phones while driving, and those who think eating a big burrito while driving is a smart idea.  There was one instance where traffic was held up for a few minutes because a lady was playing with her cell phone while traffic in front of her was moving forward.  When she noticed the cars moving and passing her, she advances forward, driving extremely slow, and enjoying whatever is on her cell phone.

But while the need to crackdown on distracted drivers is necessary, how about cracking down on distracted pedestrians?

Distracted pedestrians are just as dangerous as distracted drivers!

I'm a good driver and I don't have any distractions that keeps my eyes away from the road.  I always scan the road ahead of me, check my mirrors regularly, look for road hazards, identify drivers that are driving erratic, etc.  But pedestrians are even more risky because they could pull off some really stupid stuff.

Just yesterday on my drive back home, here's a list of unlawful things pedestrians did while distracted:

1. Jaywalk across six lanes of traffic and a median, including walking in front of my car without a care in the world.  The crosswalk was just 30 feet away from the person.  I gave the guy the stink eye.
2. Another pedestrian jaywalking 15 feet from a crosswalk on a busy four lane street while admiring the vase of flowers he had in his hands, and luckily the car that made a right turn was able to stop just in time to not hit the person.  The driver making the right turn could not see the pedestrian because the cars parked next to the curb made it a blind spot.  If the pedestrian crossed in the crosswalk, the driver would have easily seen him.
3. Talking with a friend and both decide to cross against a red hand pedestrian signal while cars with a priority green left turn arrow was turning.
4. Another instance of crossing against the red with incoming traffic.

Akit's Opinion
We all have a shared responsibility to obey the traffic laws of our city and state.  No matter if you ride a bicycle, drive a car, or walk, the laws in place is supposed to make sure you don't do something stupid and dangerous to risk your life or others.  Even with the laws, common sense should always be used, because sometimes people will do illegal things, and you need to make sure you can react quickly to prevent injury or death.

I personally feel that George Gascon needs to also tackle the problem with distracted pedestrians.  Wearing those $200 headphones while crossing the street isn't the smartest idea because it makes it difficult to hear if an oncoming car is approaching close.  But so isn't those rightious pedestrian dicks who think that it's totally okay to cross against a red signal and they won't get hit by a car.

Reality check pedestrians: You are not Superman.  In the battle between car vs. pedestrian, car will always win, and pedestrians will be in the hospital.

I'm just hoping the police will help by ticketing pedestrians that breaks the law; just like how Gascon will demand a crackdown on distracted drivers.

FasTrak and Clipper Card to Change Policy on Your Usage Records

Back in October 2012, a reporter from the Bay Citizen reported about an instance when a warrant was used to request data of a registered Clipper card user that was an alleged accomplice to a crime.

While it seems a great idea to link an accomplice to a crime by reviewing the data of a Clipper card user, it does raise the issue of privacy concerns and what information is kept by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Clipper, and how long they keep information about your usage.

While the Bay Citizen reported the number of warrants to release information was only a few (back in October 2012), the data Clipper gathers is typically used for assessment purposes by reviewing the riding patterns of the public.  Without the need for people to have clipboards at bus stops, the Clipper card can keep track of the number of passengers that rides the vehicles, and at train stations and Golden Gate Transit, able to determine patterns of passengers of where they ride to and from.  The data they gather helps transit agencies find if additional or less service is needed, or the need to operate higher capacity vehicles or trains due to boarding numbers.

Some transit agencies like Samtrans and Muni may know what route you took, but can't determine where you boarded or exited because they don't have GPS information connected to the Clipper devices; this is unlike Golden Gate Transit that operates on a zone system requiring GPS to determine your ride fare, and train stations that needs to know what station you boarded and where you exited to properly charge you the right fare.

Even then, the data retained tells a lot about your usage patterns.  Is having a registered card risky?  If you are a criminal, probably so.  Grocery stores with self-checkouts sometimes have problem with theft by tricking the machines, but people are stupid enough to use their registered store loyalty card during the check-out process.  But if you are a law abiding citizen and don't mind having your records kept for several years, then it's okay for you.

The same concern is with FasTrak devices as well.  They know what time you crossed the bridge, but a privacy policy regarding the freeway devices keeping eye on traffic speeds don't record the FasTrak serial numbers, only to find out the speeds of the freeway to help aid the 511 website and the signs on the freeway with the estimated time of major exits and junctions.

After the Bay Citizen reported about the issue, the state government scrambled to work on changing the policy from seven years of data retention to just three.

However, a law that was proposed in the senate would re-define the retention of data for those who cancel their Clipper and FasTrak accounts; the policy would be only up to six months from the date of cancellation of the account.  Also, the senate law proposed would also: "Require deletion after six months of PII not needed "to perform account functions such as billing, account settlement, or enforcement activities.""
 
While six months sounds like a useful amount of time, the MTC did not agree on the six month policy because of the statute of limitations, so instead of six months or even three years, the most suitable amount of time would need to be longer.

Operations Committee of the MTC will be voting upon a proposal to change the retention of data this Friday:

• The MTC is proposing to change the data from seven years to four years and six months.

As stated in the MTC's document regarding the proposed change in policy: The statute of limitations can go up to four years.  By extending that with an extra six months, it allows the MTC and Clipper enough time to handle lawsuits and claims.

Akit's Opinion
Shortening it to just slightly beyond the statute of limitations isn't such a bad idea.  I'm not that concerned of my usage patterns, even with my grocery store loyalty cards.  Like Safeway really cares if I made a purchase of ice cubes and condoms in one transaction.

But if you personally have a fear of the government tracking you, why not just get an unregistered Clipper card?  Just make sure to replenish your card only using cash.