The yard.

November 9, 2012 1:14 PM

"My friend showed me around the MUNI Kirkland bus yard. MUNI is the municipal public transit system serving the city and county of San Francisco. It will turn exactly 100 later this year." [via]
posted by brundlefly (15 comments total)

Thanks - I love this kind of UX / interface geekery. I wasn't surprised to see that he's been interviewed by Smashing.
posted by ryanshepard at 1:32 PM on November 9, 2012

Hard to tell if the pictures are supposed to be bright (as on mouseover), or a little darkened.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 1:33 PM on November 9, 2012

I guess the darker/more saturated is right because that's what you get when you click. Still, the brighter/desaturated works better when trying to pick out some of the details in the shots.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 1:36 PM on November 9, 2012

It lights up when the bike rack is down, although that should be easy to see for the driver since the rack is right in front of the bus anyway.

The author should take a better look at the angle of the driver compared to a lowered bike rack before making such comments.
posted by bitdamaged at 1:38 PM on November 9, 2012

Fascinating to see all the driver hacks - rubber bands, cardboard-wrapped switches, etc.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:45 PM on November 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was wondering why they hadn't provided a clip for the schedule instead of the drivers improvising.
posted by arcticseal at 1:45 PM on November 9, 2012

This is the very sweetest of transit porn.
posted by aerotive at 1:50 PM on November 9, 2012 [3 favorites]

keep MUNI buses running—something we all probably take for granted.

One of the most well-done photoessays I've seen. A look at the complex heritage mechanism we buy into for a few quarters. One common aspect of the cybersphere that wraps our urban days in its serving, quietly-maintained arms. Product of a century of trial and error learning, "customer focus, continuous improvement", bruised appendages, an unending variety of demands.

Takes a heap of helping machinery to keep us happy enough to endlessly squabble about less mundane matters.
posted by Twang at 1:59 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Very nice. Thanks for posting.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:26 PM on November 9, 2012

This is a treasure. He also writes other nice essays: "In the footsteps of Robert Moses", meeting Stanisław Lem.
posted by dreamyshade at 2:52 PM on November 9, 2012

Great photos. The only thing that bothered me is that Muni is not an acronym, it's an abbreviation.
posted by tybstar at 3:08 PM on November 9, 2012

The 19 buses are the dirtiest? That's my bus line! Well, one of them.

Thanks for posting this.
posted by gingerbeer at 4:15 PM on November 9, 2012

This is so very cool. Yes, dead mice are compost. I don't get the joke.
posted by chemoboy at 4:27 PM on November 9, 2012

keep MUNI buses running—something we all probably take for granted.

Clearly this person has never actually taken MUNI on a regular basis, as the buses often do NOT run: they walk at best.
posted by smirkette at 5:18 PM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Bus: The only vehicle that travels faster when you're running after it than it does when you're riding on it. (or, I might add, driving behind it)
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:38 PM on November 9, 2012 [5 favorites]