I looked up the Invention of Photography in Encyclopidae
Britanica, and though a Scottish gentleman was involved in
it, the history is too remote from what is described in the
film for easy comparison.
Meanwhile, here are the Rescue Muni comments about this
week's unfolding disaster on the underground. Enjoy!
-- Donald
rescuemuni-errors@lists.best.com wrote:
>
> -------------- BEGIN rescuemuni.v001.n276 --------------
>
> 001 - Kenneth Parker <kparker@s - First day of ATCS: Report from the Field (long)
> 002 - Peter Ehrlich <norcalrr@s - ATCS Begins August 22. Crash!
> 003 - seerichardwinn@juno.com ( - Re: Digest rescuemuni.v001.n275
> 004 - ruthow@juno.com (howard s - Park and Muni Give away
> 005 - CarletonM@aol.com - Transit Priority on Geary St. east of Franklin
>
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>
> --------------- MESSAGE rescuemuni.v001.n276.1 ---------------
>
> From: Kenneth Parker <kparker@silcon.com>
> Subject: First day of ATCS: Report from the Field (long)
> Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 19:30:12 -0700 (PDT)
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
> In-Reply-To: <199808221712.KAA08021@lists1.best.com>
>
> Hi Robert,
>
> On Sat, 22 Aug 1998, Robert Parks wrote:
>
> > Today is the first day of full ACTS in Metro...lets hear reports from
> > the field! Yea and nay and otherwise. similarly POP and through
> > routing on the N.
>
> Fair enough. My first impression something might be going wrong
> was when I was riding around with my sister and saw a diesal bus
> close to the Glen Park BART station with "K-L-M West Portal Station"
> on it at around 3:30 in the afternoon! (Anyone know if these were
> running because they couldn't keep up in the tunnels?)
>
> Then, my sister dropped me off at 12th and Judah and I started
> waiting for an inbound N. And waiting. And waiting. At least
> 30 minutes (I didn't start counting right away) until one came.
> It said "N Judah -- Caltrain Depot" on it and had two cars with
> one driver. The first car was packed but there were seats on
> the second one. It proceeded normally to Church and Dubose and
> then waited about 15 minutes before entering the tunnel. Then,
> it waited about 8 minutes at a spot between Van Ness and Civic
> Center (which was my stop: I live at 8th and Market).
>
> After a bit, I was curious about what was going on at the
> Embarcadero station with the new rules. So, I took BART from
> Civic Center to Embarcadero (I'm not stupid) and went down
> to the Muni station. There was a croud there, of course
> and then, I saw why. There is a NEW POLICY CHANGE on Muni
> Metro. Now, the trains (other than N) go to Embarcadero,
> the sign above says "Do Not Board" and the driver announces
> that this is the last stop and demands that everyone get
> off. Then, the train continues on from Embarcadero. Two
> or three minutes later, the train shows up, empty, on the
> other side where people can board it for outbound service.
> Now, I wonder what things are going to be like rush hour
> Monday afternoon? A common practice (which I've done
> myself as the Montgomery station is closest to work) is
> to board the train I want at Montgomery, but INBOUND. Then,
> stay on the train at Embarcadero, most likely with a seat.
> There have been times where the train is already standing
> room only before it even gets to the Embarcadero platform.
> Now, they are going to kick all these people off at
> Embarcadero and they will ALL fight it out on the other
> platform! Interesting times we will live in the next
> couple or so weeks before people get used to the new rules.
>
> But back to my story: After seeing the new rules, I
> decided to wait for an N Caltrain to see how N integrates
> with the old "E" (May it rest in peace!) Well, about
> 25 minutes later, one shows up. The driver waits until
> the doors have closed and the train is in motion to
> announce that this train is going to the Caltrain Depot!
> You should have heard the outrage of all the people
> who thought they were on an outbound N! Several people
> got off at the Fulsom station for the next Inbound
> (which the driver suggested). I got off at 2nd and King
> to watch the train make its turn-around. Then I got
> back on. When we got to Fulsom, the same people who
> had gotten off got back on (too much space between runs,
> obviously!) and we went back to the tunnel (where I
> got off at Civic Center and went home).
>
> That's enough for now. I'll allow them a "first day
> allowance", perhaps, but if things are still this bad on
> Monday, there's likely to be a lot of chaos. (Weren't
> there times in the past where so many people were in the
> Muni tunnels that they stopped letting people in? The
> BART strike comes to mind. I hope things don't get to
> that level...)
>
> Till later,
>
> Ken Parker
> (Not suprisingly, a Muni Metro "specialist")
>
> --------------- MESSAGE rescuemuni.v001.n276.2 ---------------
>
> From: Peter Ehrlich <norcalrr@sprynet.com>
> Subject: ATCS Begins August 22. Crash!
> Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 10:12:27 -0800
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
> Hi, gang!
>
> Here are my comments with regard to the startup of ATCS August 22: (First
> of all, I am responding to Robert Parks's query, as follows:
>
> >Today is the first day of full ATCS in Metro...lets hear reports from
> >the field! Yea and nay and otherwise. similarly POP and through
> >routing on the N.
>
> Well, yesterday was the beginning of what could possibly be the worst
> operational disaster ever to befall a rail transit service in the United
> States.
>
> Although I worked the F-Market, I monitored the blow-by-blow progress
> throughout the day.
>
> First, there were at least one, and possibly as many as four, missing runs
> on the N-Judah due to no operator. This, despite use of a large RDO list
> and the biggest-available weekend extraboard list we've had in 2 years.
> All N-Judah trains were assigned two cars.
>
> About 530am, someone (namely myself) discovered that since N trains were
> now operating to Caltrain, each car's "thumbwheel setting" (the code sent
> to the ATCS computer on the configuration, line and inbound destination of
> the train) had to be set to a code which virtually no one knew about. Sure
> enough, a call to Central Control, with an Alcatel technician sitting
> alongside the CCO, verified this requirement. Otherwise, N trains would
> have terminated at Embarcadero/MMT!!!! Management had failed to provide us
> with this necessary information.
>
> ATCS-equipped Boeings were assigned to all lines other than the N. The
> unconverted cars, fortunately, were kept in the yard.
>
> About 830am, an inbound N train suffered an air leak, forcing it to be
> taken out of service. There goes another train off the line!
>
> About 50% of the entries at West Portal, Duboce Portal and Ferry Portal
> were failed entries, which meant that Breda trains had to be operated in
> "cutout mode" while Boeing trains reverted to the old cab signal system in
> cutout mode. Cutout mode means: Operate on sight, no more than 27mph,
> observing and obeying all switches and signals.
>
> Still, train traffic was flowing pretty well until 1000am, when a Boeing
> broke a pantograph going into the MMT pocket track. The feeder through the
> MMT was killed, and Central Control reverted to using the trouble-plagued
> Embarcadero Diamond for a time. However, this set the tone for massive
> delays in service from which the system was never able to recover until
> well after 830pm. F-Line cars and Market Street buses were packed all day.
>
> There were frequent problems with doors unable to close, or unable to open,
> in Auto mode. With most operators receiving only two days' training on
> this 4-year-late, millions-over-budget fiasco, and Central Control staff at
> their wits' end trying to resolve problems exacerbated by the obsolete
> radio program we have, it was a nightmare.
>
> Management also failed to remind operators that the weekend relief points
> had changed from all reliefs being made at Embarcadero to the weekday
> relief points.
>
> Later, after finishing my F-Line run, I worked overtime on the N-Judah. I
> was supposed to make an outbound relief at Church & Duboce at 341pm. My
> train didn't show up until 500pm! A supervisor stationed at Ocean Beach
> was headwaying trains to depart the Beach every 15 minutes. Well, by the
> time I got to Church & Duboce, the trains were stacked four deep on the
> ramp. I was given orders to switch back to go out to the Beach, so I never
> did get the ATCS subway experience I wanted. By the time I got to the
> Beach, it was pull-in time.
>
> With regard to Proof-Of-Payment, I had to remind certain passengers who
> paid cash fare that they must take a transfer/fare receipt. I also spotted
> a number of passengers with expired transfers and ordered them to pay a new
> fare, using the "carrot-and-stick" approach by saying that if they did not
> have a valid transfer and were caught by the SFPD, it would cost them $250
> instead of $1.00 (or 35¢). They immediately complied.
>
> As far as passengers with valid passes, transfers or tickets boarding
> through any door, they don't have a clue. They stood at doors waiting for
> them to open, instead of noticing the "Push To Open" signs at the
> illuminated buttons. Eventually, they came running up to the operator's
> front door to enter, wasting everyone's time. At farside stops, I had to
> open all doors of the train to save time. I did the same thing at some
> stops with large numbers of passengers. Most other operators did likewise.
>
> When I was given orders to switch back, I had an argument with a passenger
> who asked for a transfer. I refused to give him one, explaining that if he
> had passed the farebox and inserted a buck, I would have given him one.
> Since I didn't notice him when he passed the farebox, I asked him if he had
> gotten on through one of the other doors. He said yes. End of argument.
>
> Where was management? Were they stationed at key stops like 9th & Irving
> or Carl & Cole, to explain the new rules of the ride to waiting passengers?
> Noooo! They were probably at Embarcadero, wringing their hands.
>
> Efforts to add extra F-Line cars to cope with rush hour crowds will
> probably not happen. Our Division Manager refuses to provide extra service
> unless ordered to do so by top management.
>
> As I mentioned, the 20 or so unconverted Boeings remained in the yard over
> the weekend. On Friday, I suggested to a middle-level maintenance manager
> that these cars should be retired immediately, as they are an impediment to
> subway workings. Replacement service, especially on the J-Church, could be
> provided by PCCs, for which we have a big surplus of operable cars. He had
> the same idea, and had suggested the same thing to top brass a few weeks
> ago. They nixed this idea. Top management has resisted placing PCCs on
> the J-Line because they are afraid that that would be construed as an
> admission of failure.
>
> I wish I could recommend to riders to take crosstown service to the other
> side of the park to board Richmond Expresses, but I can't do it because of
> the shortage of operators.
>
> Alcatel is being fined $25,000 a day for each day the system isn't working
> right. That's nothing compared to the $13 million countersuit Alcatel has
> filed against Muni. Who will win? There are no winners with this
> boondoggle, gang! Everyone, from riders and operators to supervisors,
> managers, top brass and Mayor Willie Brown (who stated that if the system
> is running right, riders should get from Van Ness to Embarcadero in no more
> than 15 minutes (!--might as well take the F car!)) and all of San
> Francisco, will lose.
>
> Peter Ehrlich
> <norcalrr@sprynet.com>
>
> --------------- MESSAGE rescuemuni.v001.n276.3 ---------------
>
> From: seerichardwinn@juno.com (RICHARD WINN)
> Subject: Re: Digest rescuemuni.v001.n275
> Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 10:08:37 -0700
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
> Also, Richard wrote:
> >Gavin Newsom's
> >Prop B may address that by requiring a Customer Satisfaction Plan for
> >every City Department.
>
> Could you explain this in greater detail? Does it demand enforcement of
> performance standards as well?
>
> Andrew,
> I would like to be able to. My information comes for an article in the
> Chron last week about the Board of Supervisors and Gavin's
> accomplishments. Maybe you saw it. Prompted by your question, I have
> asked Gavin to send me the text of Proposition B. I in turn will
> forward it so that you and everyone else can read it.
>
> Robert responded and asked:
> >This can occur by publishing weekly Rider surveys and basing all Muni
> employee performance ratings on Rider surveys.
> So if I am working a line with a bunch of goof-offs/no-shows, I go down
> with them?
>
> My vision is more encompassing: Every employee at Muni, including
> management will be evaluated by the quality and service relationship
> between the operator and the rider. In fact the customer/rider designs
> the system's usability and everyone (not just the operator) deals with
> and listens to the rider/customer. Customer relationship is number one
> as opposed to policies, procedures and rules. Focus produces outcome.
>
> >operator/passenger relations
> this is the goal of the Ambassador Program, currently in effect on the
> 22-fillmore.
>
> When I spoke with Larry Martin,V.P. of the TWA back in July, he told me
> that the Ambassador Program was essentially dead. I am glad that it is
> not. Is there some way to receive a report on it's progress? Are you
> informed about the progress being made?
>
> --------------- MESSAGE rescuemuni.v001.n276.4 ---------------
>
> From: ruthow@juno.com (howard strassner)
> Subject: Park and Muni Give away
> Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 11:45:22 -0700
>
> On Wednesday Aug. 27, there will be a hearing at 3:00 pm at McLaren on
> the subject below. It would be good if a few park loving muni riders
> could be there. It is item 9. so it may not be heard until about 4:00.
>
> Muni Hotel: Muni is contemplating leasing the bus terminal area at
> Stuart and Mission as a Hotel site.We are concerned that the lease
> revenue will not cover: Muni’s capital costs to relocate many overhead
> power lines and build additional rest rooms; Muni’s increased operating
> costs for additional route lengths; and rider inconvenience for
> additional walking distances for trtansit service. This has all of the
> appearances of a land giveaway and corporate subsidy at Muni expense.
>
> Howard Strassner
>
> SIERRA CLUB
> SAN FRANCISCO GROUP
> 85 Second Street, Box SFG, San Francisco, CA 94105
>
> August 23, 1998
>
> Re: Justin Herman Plaza, Muni F Line and Muni Hotel Project
>
> Recreation and Park Commission
> McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan Fax 221-8034
> San Francisco, CA 94117
>
> Dear Commissioners,
>
> The Sierra Club is concerned that the proposed project is not only
> foundations for a Muni trolley station but actually the foundations for a
> seven story hotel. Our park land is priceless and it must not be given
> away for private profits.
>
> Years ago Muni was required to route the F Line on a time consuming, high
> maintenance circuitous route because Justin Herman Plaza as park land, by
> Federal rules, was nearly sacrosanct. Now you have a proposal before you
> that would just give away some of this same park land. Please just say
> NO!
>
> The Commissioners should also know that the proposed hotel, mostly on
> Muni land, may not provide Muni with lease payments that adequately cover
> all of Muni’s additional costs plus a fair rent on the property. While
> it is conceivable that a fair price can be placed on Muni land, park land
> must only be used to provide park and other essential services to park
> users. Transit right-of-way on park land can be considered an essential
> service. However a station is not necessary here because there will be a
> station in front of the nearby Ferry Building and another station can
> easily be located on Stuart or Market Street.
>
> Please oppose this give away of park land.
>
> Very truly yours,
>
> Howard Strassner, Chair
> 419 Vicente, San Francisco CA 94116
> (415)-661-8786 (h,w,fx) Ruthow@juno.com
>
> --------------- MESSAGE rescuemuni.v001.n276.5 ---------------
>
> From: CarletonM@aol.com
> Subject: Transit Priority on Geary St. east of Franklin
> Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 22:08:49 EDT
> MIME-Version: 1.0
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> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
> >Electrify the 38 Geary and dig a tunnel from Market to Van Ness?
> Trolleybus service on Geary was shot down at the same time light rail
> was shot down. Building trolleybus infrastructure WOULD be a pre-light
> rail way of getting service on Geary, BUT without either Private lanes
> or Tunnel, it would more likely degrade service. But if it was done
> right, you would have either a tunnel you could use (or private lanes
> you could dig up) and electrical substations suitable for light rail.
> Another thought...how about closing Geary to through traffic (keeping
> parking/loading zones), rerouting cars to (bidirectional O'Farrell) and
> buses to Geary, with bus bulb zones from Market to Van Ness.
>
> Or better yet put Post-Geary-O'Farrell back to the way it was 30 years ago,
> the way it was designed when the Geary Expressway was built. Post was 3 lanes
> one way westbound -- there's a (now unused) connector still there from Post to
> westbound Geary, at Franklin. O'Farrell was 3 lanes one way eastbound. Geary
> was two-way. Put the cars on Post westbound and O'Farrell eastbound, and the
> buses on Geary. (You would have to make Sutter two-way again, the way it was
> then, too. But Sutter is a transit street and should emphasize that.)
>
> cm
>
> --------------- END rescuemuni.v001.n276 ---------------
-- _________________________ Donald F. Robertson San Franciscodonaldrf@hooked.net 76217.2066@CompuServe.com
Donald's Space Exploration page: http://www.hooked.net/~donaldrf/index.html
The known is finite, the unknown is infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land. -- Thomas Huxley.