Happy Lunar New Year 2022: Year of the Tiger

Happy Lunar New Year 2022: Year of the Tiger 
By Pamela Johnson

Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in many Asian communities. Diverse San Franciscan communities including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese people have long celebrated this festive occasion.  For many, the Lunar New Year brings a fresh mindset and resolutions for happiness and health. A zodiac animal with specific traits represents each year in the repeating zodiac cycle of 12 years. 2022 is the Year of the Tiger, the third animal in the zodiac. The tiger is considered courageous and adventurous.  

The holiday follows the moon's cycles and usually begins in late January or early February. This year Lunar New Year begins February 1.  

Fun Fact: In the lunar calendar, the Vietnamese zodiac and the Chinese zodiac are similar, but the Vietnamese zodiac includes a cat while the Chinese zodiac includes a rabbit. 

As we enter the Year of the Tiger, join SFMTA in supporting Asian heritage events throughout January and February: 

Local Lunar New Year events:   

• January 9: Japantown's Oshogatsu (New Year's Festival) virtual recording  

• January 17- February 19: Year of the Tiger public art project  

• January 29: Vietnamese cooking class with Banh Chung Collective Virtual 

• January 30: Flower Market Fair 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Chinatown, San Francisco 

• January 30: Lunar New Year Storytelling Virtual at 11 a.m. - SF Asian Art Museum 

• February 19: Chinese New Year Parade 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. - Chinatown, San Francisco  

• February 24: Dumpling Adventure with Kristina Cho 6:30 p.m. - SF Asian Art Museum  

 

 

Published January 28, 2022 at 02:47AM
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San Francisco Beautiful and the SFMTA Launch the 2022 Muni Art Project

San Francisco Beautiful and the SFMTA Launch the 2022 Muni Art Project
By Sophia Scherr

We’re partnering with San Francisco Beautiful (SFB) to announce the kick-off of the 2022 Muni Art Project. The annual collaboration features the original work of five new local artists who visually interpret poems and a new theme each year.

For the first time, instead of featuring the work of five different local poets, only one local poet was chosen: the late Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The 2022 theme, “Streets of San Francisco” is the seventh year that the SFMTA, San Francisco Beautiful and The Poetry Society of America (sponsors of Poetry in Motion®) have collaborated to bring art and poetry to Muni commuters. The Muni Art Project is the only public art project that exclusively features local, San Francisco artists and poets.

The inspiring biographies of the Muni Art 2022 artists, Richard Louis Perri, Sebastian Rafael, Steffan Sanguinetti, Krithika Sengo and Tan Sirinumas are available at: sfbeautiful.org/muni-art.

You can see one of these works of art and read the accompanying poetry on your next Muni ride through April.

Poems

The Changing Light

Recipe for Happiness in Khabarovsk or Anyplace

Populist Manfesto

 What is Poetry?

At the Golden Gate

Artists

Learn more about artist Steffan Sanguinetti

 

Learn more about artist Tan Sirinumas

 

Learn more about artist Krithika Sengottaiyan 

 

Learn more about artist Richard Louis Perri

 

Learn more about artist Sebastian Raphael

Published January 12, 2022 at 12:21AM
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Omicron Surge Impact on Muni Routes and Schedules

Omicron Surge Impact on Muni Routes and Schedules
By Julie Kirschbaum

As has been reported widely in the media, the highly contagious Omicron variant has led to rapid and unprecedented spread of the COVID-19 virus in San Francisco. More than 100 SFMTA staff have contracted COVID since late last month. Combined with pre-existing staffing shortages, this has led to an increase in missed Muni service. We’re also experiencing staffing impacts in other job classifications, including mechanics, car cleaners and transit supervisors. 

Currently, we are missing up to 15% of scheduled Muni service, which means that riders may need to wait longer than usual for their bus or train. Our hope is that this will be the extent of our impacts. However, the situation is fluid, and we are monitoring staffing levels on a daily basis.

As part of our contingency planning, we are preparing for what might happen if our overall staffing levels drop significantly or if a small, but vital group—such as our Transit Management Center or Power Control Center— is significantly impacted. Either of these situations could leave us with no choice but to make additional Muni service reductions such as cancelling routes or introducing bus substitutions for rail service.

We are doing our best to avoid this situation by communicating proactively with staff about masking and staying home if they have any symptoms and keeping some staff working vital functions at remote locations to limit exposure. We are grateful that nearly 100% of the SFMTA workforce is vaccinated, and we are encouraging boosters as an effective precaution. We are also doing hard work behind the scenes to prepare signage, operator instructions, and all the other materials we would need to implement changes as smoothly as possible — in the case these become necessary.

For the latest information on service changes, please visit our Core Service webpage. You can also find our latest updates by subscribing to Muni alerts or visiting our Twitter feed.

Published January 08, 2022 at 03:40AM
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