One of the tools always at the disposal of an operator is the 702. This is the three digit 700 code of numbers that describes certain incidents over the radio to Central Control. And the code number 702 means the operator is taking a twenty minute break as a comfort stop to use the rest …
Author Archives: driverdoug2002
Follow my Leader
It seems like a quiet Friday today, I think to myself. The bus has several seats open; no one is standing in the aisle. The bus is most definitely in the Zen zone, even though we are halfway through the trip in the middle of the line. How can this be? The answer is usually …
Witching Hour
When is this? Perhaps in five minutes after 5 p.m. when all the elevators fill with office workers ready to go home. Perhaps it is senior citizens looking out their window and seeing the rain has stopped and the sun is out. Perhaps it is the classroom bell ringing at Marina Middle School, signaling the …
The Zen Zone
The best time to work Muni is when the bus has an empty aisle and half the seats are open. This occurs in the morning on most major holidays and on Sunday mornings. The aisle is empty and half the seats are empty. The pulse and rhythm, the ebb and flow of passengers is steady …
RDO
Regular Day Off. If a workweek goes by and I have kept my sanity, I can test my body and mind and see if I can work on my day off, my RDO. If I haven’t turned crazy by working my run during the week, I can see if I can “get away” with making …
Flat Tire
The wheels on the bus go round and round all through the town, except for when there is a construction detour, or another patch job in the making from the Water Department, or PG&E, the utility company! The wheels go round and round, even if the tire tread doesn’t. But you would never know, because …
Wheel Blocks
“Unbelievable, just unbelievable.” This is the statement of a resident nearby the La Playa bus terminal by the Ocean Beach Safeway. It was recorded for the Jon Stewart Show. This was a comedy show, and the occasion for the recording was based on the fact that this man’s garage was hit by motor coaches more …
Shoes
“Baby needs a new pair of shoes.” That’s what I say when I am hitting hard, or I see sparks at night off of my collectors. Shoes are the carbon blocks sitting inside the brasserie or metal brackets that form a slot at the end of our trolley poles. This is the point at which …
Hot Lunch
As I walk to my corner coffee shop at zero dark thirty in the morning, I see another splayed design of “ejecta” on the sidewalk from someone’s drinking spree last night. At least this “hot lunch” occurred outside of the aisle and stairwell of a Muni bus. When someone pukes on the bus, we can …
Islands vs. Curbs
On Market Street, there are two places on a block to catch or pick up a bus. If you have your Incredibles superhero costume tights on, you should know the newer ETI Skoda trolleys weigh about ten tons sans passengers, so be careful you don’t pull your back muscles when you catch the approaching bus …
