Author: Rahman Law PC

Muni Frustrations

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

According to a recent survey conducted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, only 52% of polled Muni riders have rated service as good or excellent. This percentage is the lowest approval rating in almost a decade.

Within the past year, Muni decreased service and drastically increased prices for its monthly pass from $45 to $70.
Despite the low satisfaction ratings, chief Nathaniel Ford of the SFMTA remains optimistic and believes that the changes made to Muni in the past year have caused negative impacts, but will ultimately lead to positive changes.
The SF Examiner got the opinions of two Muni riders with differing reactions. One stated that, even with the changes, Muni still “works for her.” The other rider disagreed with chief Ford’s assessment, citing issues with fare increases and the bus schedule’s undependability.
In a city, and especially a city whose residents depend so heavily on public transportation, a 52% satisfactory rating is far too low. The SFMTA needs to seek further ways to improve Muni in order to get where its commuters need to go, safely and satisfactorily.

Map My Ride – “Empowering Active Lifestyles”

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

Map My Ride combines technology with exercise. In this modern age, cyclists can record and share interesting bike paths in their local areas for other exercise enthusiasts with the ease of clicking a mouse.

Though still in the early stages of development, this site could potentially be of use to cyclists looking to get off the beaten path and head for a new challenge, whether it be for hobby or sport.

AC Transit swaps paper tickets for Clipper cards

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16125213

For AC Transit regulars, it is important to know that starting October 31st, AC Transit will no longer sell paper tickets. This means that they will eliminate the use of both Adult local 31-day and 10-ride AND Youth/senior/disabled 10-ride paper tickets in exchange for the Clipper card.
As advertised all throughout the bay area, AC Transit has teamed up with fellow public transportation giants BART, Muni, Caltrain, and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry and created a universal transit pass called the Clipper card.
How Clipper works (from the Clipper website):

Clipper℠ is an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of any passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value that you load onto it, while applying all applicable fares, discounts and transfer rules. This lets you customize your card for your own transit needs. The Clipper card can hold multiple passes, ride books or tickets (which are specific to the transit system being used), as well as up to $300 in cash value at one time.

You can add value (in the form of both passes and cash value) to your card as you go, or for added convenience, you can set up your card to automatically reload whenever your pass expires or your cash balance falls below $10.

Dates to remember:
  • October 1st – AC Transit starts giving out free Clipper cards
  • October 31st – AC Transit stops selling paper tickets
  • December 31st – AC Transit stops accepting paper tickets
Since July 6th, 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has been giving out free Clipper cards. Judging by this article, they will stay free of charge for the upcoming months to “aid in the transition.” But according to both the article and Clipper’s website, “This offer is available for a limited time and may be subject to change without notice” and the cards will eventually cost $5.00. So if you want to avoid the fee, hurry and get a card!

Walk to School Day – October 6th, 2010

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

The Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) movement is holding its second year of Walk to School Day this upcoming October 6th.

Walk to School Day is a global, annual event promoting “safe and active walking and bicycling.” And this year, SRTS’ San Francisco chapter increased its participants by 10 schools on top of last year’s 5.
According to the SRTS website, the primary goals of their program is to:
  • Increase bicycle, pedestrian, and traffic safety around schools;
  • Decrease traffic congestion around schools;
  • Reduce childhood obesity by increasing number of children walking and biking to school; and
  • Improve air quality, community safety and security, and community involvement around school

In addition to Walk to School Day, the SRTS is also partnered with San Francisco’s Bike to School Day which is to be held on April 7th, 2011.

Both of these programs were started recently in the bay area (SRTS in 2009 and Bike to School Day in 2008) and will hopefully get the attention of more schools in these upcoming years!
For more information regarding these events and programs, visit:

Learn How to Repair Your Own Bike

Posted on by Rahman Law PC

Pedal Revolution clinic

This nonprofit storefront provides employment and job training for at-risk youth and offers free in-store clinics – including a lecture and demonstration – geared to the experience and needs of the participants. Clinics cover basic topics such as flat repair, bike maintenance, bearing adjustment and wheel repair. 3085 21st St. (415) 641-1264, www.pedalrevolution.org.

REI maintenance basics

Learn how to lube a chain, fix a flat tire in record time, and make other minor adjustments to your bike. No experience necessary (links.sfgate.com/ZKDY). REI‘s Expert Advice section online ( www.rei.com/expertadvice) offers videos and articles on bicycle repair and maintenance for learning at your own pace. 840 Brannan St. (415) 934-1938.

Sports Basement classes

Sports Basement offers a variety of ongoing free classes at each store. (There are four in the Bay Area and two in San Francisco: 1590 Bryant St., (415) 575-3000; 610 Old Mason St., (415) 437-0100.) See a listing of free classes at links.sfgate.com/ZKDZ.

Bike Kitchen’s help center

The Bike Kitchen is a do-it-yourself bicycle resource run by volunteers. On the second and fourth Fridays each month from 6-9 p.m., the group offers classes for “women, trans/gender queer folks, femmes, or anybody else that has had gender be a barrier to learning mechanics.” No one is turned away. The Bike Kitchen also has basic and advanced classes for nominal fees. 650H Florida St., (415) 647-2453, www.bikekitchen.org.

Bicycletutor.com

My searches for complete online bicycle maintenance and repair resources came up short, but the videos at www.bicycletutor.com seem well-done and informative. The site has guides to basic and advance repair tools, detailed repair instructions, suggestions for picking out products and a Q&A; forum.

S.F. Bicycle Coalition

Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and put all of your newfound bicycle repair and maintenance skills to work with discounts on parts and accessories at shops all over the city. Your membership also supports the work that is making streets safer and more inviting for cyclists. Go to www.sfbike.org for participating stores and specific discounts.

Bike About Town is presented by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, an 11,000-member nonprofit dedicated to creating safer streets and more livable communities by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation. For more biking resources, go to www.sfbike.org.