الأربعاء، 30 سبتمبر 2020

Launch HN: Narrator (YC S19) – a data modeling platform built on a single table https://ift.tt/34bcMD0

Launch HN: Narrator (YC S19) – a data modeling platform built on a single table Hi HN, We’re Ahmed, Cedric, Matt, and Mike from Narrator ( https://www.narrator.ai ). We’ve built a data platform that transforms all data in a data warehouse into a single 11-column data model and provides tools for analysts to quickly build any table for BI, reporting, and analysis on top of that model. Narrator initially grew out of our experience building a data platform for a team of 40 analysts and data scientists. The data warehouse, modeled as a star schema, grew to over 700 data models from 3000+ raw production tables. Every time we wanted to make a change or build a new analysis, it took forever as we had to deal with managing the complexity of these 700 different models. With all these layers of dependencies and stakeholders constantly demanding more data, we ended up making lots of mistakes (i.e. dashboard metrics not matching). These mistakes led to loss of trust and soon our stakeholders were off buying tools (Heap, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Wave Analytics, etc…) to do their own analysis. With a star schema (also core to recently IPO-ed Snowflake), you build the tables you need for reporting and BI on top of fact tables (what you want to measure, i.e. leads, sales…) and dimension tables (how you want to slice your data, i.e. gender, company, contract size…). Using this approach, the amount of fact and dimension tables grow in size and complexity in relation to the number of questions / datasets / metrics that need to be answered by the business. Over time the rate of new questions increases rapidly and data teams spend more time updating models and debugging mismatched numbers than answering data questions. What if instead of using the hundreds of fact and dimension tables in a star schema, we could use one table with all your customer data modeled as a collection of core customer actions (each a single source of truth), and combine them together to assemble any table at the moment the data analyst needs that table? Numbers would always match (single source of truth), any new question could be answered immediately without waiting on data engineering to build new fact and dimension tables (assembled when the data analyst needs it), and investigating issues would be easy (no nested dependencies of fact and dimension tables that depend on other tables). After several iterations, Narrator was born. Narrator uses a single 11-column table called the Activity Stream to represent all the data in your data warehouse. It’s built from sql transformations that transform a set of raw production tables (for example, Zendesk data) into activities (ticket opened, ticket closed, etc). Each row of the Activity Stream has a customer, a timestamp, an activity name, a unique identifier, and a bit of metadata describing it. Creating any table from this single model made up of activities that don’t obviously relate to each other is hard to imagine. Unlike star schema, we don’t use foreign keys (the direct relationships in relational databases that connect objects, like employee.company_id → company.id) because they don’t always exist when you’re dealing with data in multiple systems. Instead each activity has a customer identifier which we use, along with time, to automatically join within the single table to generate datasets. As an example, imagine you were investigating a single customer who called support. Did they visit the web site before that call? You’d look at that customer’s first web visit, and see if that person called before their next web visit. Now imagine finding all customers who behaved this way per month -- you’d have to take a drastically different approach with your current data tools. Narrator, by contrast, always joins data in terms of behavior. The same approach you take to investigate a single customer applies to all of them. For the above example you’d ask Narrator’s Dataset tool to show all users who visited the website and called before the next visit, grouped by month. We started as a consultancy to build out the approach and prove that this was possible. We supported eight companies per Narrator data analyst, and now we’re excited for more data folks to get their hands on it so y’all can experience the same benefits. We’d love to hear any feedback or answer any questions about our approach. We’ve been using it ourselves in production for three years, but only launched it to the public last week. We’ll answer any comments on this thread and can also set up a video chat for anyone who wants to go more in-depth. September 30, 2020 at 06:30PM

الثلاثاء، 29 سبتمبر 2020

The First Step to Battery Electric Muni Buses

The First Step to Battery Electric Muni Buses
By Bradley Dunn

Starting in early October, the SFMTA will take a big leap forward in implementing its Sustainability and Climate Action Program by installing nine new charging stations at Muni Woods Division to power the agency’s first battery electric buses after significant progress in battery technology in recent years. The project will kick off the pilot program to determine the SFMTA’s future charging methods for new zero-emission e-buses.

A battery electric bus turns from Mission on to South Van Ness

A battery-electric bus turns from Mission on to South Van Ness

To find out if battery electric bus technology is ready for San Francisco, the SFMTA is implementing an 18-month battery-electric bus pilot program. The SFMTA will procure three 40-foot buses each from three different manufacturers to test their performance in revenue service for 18 months. The first three battery electric buses are expected to arrive in spring 2021 as part of the pilot program.

Questions remain about whether battery electric buses can handle San Francisco’s heavy transit ridership and hilly routes. Before deploying battery-electric buses, they must deliver the same reliability and service as our current hybrid-electric and electric trolley bus fleets.

As of 2018, 45 percent of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the transportation sector which is heavily reliant on carbon-intensive fossil fuels. This reliance on harmful fossil fuels is changing the earth’s climate and contributes to extreme weather events, increased fire risk and sea level rise. The SFMTA is a leader in providing safe and sustainable transportation options as it continues to implement its Sustainability and Climate Action Program.

The SFMTA’s energy-efficient Muni fleet contributes less than two percent of the transportation sector’s emissions and moves approximately 700,000 people every day. Today, the SFMTA operates the greenest transit system of any major city in North America.

The Woods Bus Yard where the new charging infrastructure will be installed.

The Woods Bus Yard where the new charging infrastructure will be installed.

Electric Bus Pilot Program

The installation of the new chargers will take approximately nine months to complete. In addition to the battery-electric bus chargers, the updated infrastructure includes electrical support equipment, such as switchgear, switchboard, transformers, power cabinets and conduit.

  • Construction hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Bus operation at Woods will operate as usual without interruption.
  • Work will be contained in the bus yard and will not impact traffic or transit service to the public.
  • Measures will be taken to control noise and dust during work hours. 

Installing these chargers is the first step in making the greenest transit fleet in North America even more environmentally sustainable. Battery electric buses will further reduce harmful emissions and air pollution.

For more information on electric mobility, please visit SFMTA Electric Mobility Page



Published September 29, 2020 at 07:44PM
https://ift.tt/3kX90DV

The First Step to Battery Electric Muni Buses

The First Step to Battery Electric Muni Buses
By Jay Lu

Starting in early October, the SFMTA will take a big leap forward in implementing its Sustainability and Climate Action Program by installing nine new charging stations at Muni Woods Division to power the agency’s first battery electric buses after significant progress in battery technology in recent years. The project will kick off the pilot program to determine the SFMTA’s future charging methods for new zero-emission e-buses.

A battery electric bus turns from Mission on to South Van Ness

A battery-electric bus turns from Mission on to South Van Ness

To find out if battery electric bus technology is ready for San Francisco, the SFMTA is implementing an 18-month battery-electric bus pilot program. The SFMTA will procure three 40-foot buses each from three different manufacturers to test their performance in revenue service for 18 months. The first three battery electric buses are expected to arrive in spring 2021 as part of the pilot program.

Questions remain about whether battery electric buses can handle San Francisco’s heavy transit ridership and hilly routes. Before deploying battery-electric buses, they must deliver the same reliability and service as our current hybrid-electric and electric trolley bus fleets.

As of 2018, 45 percent of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the transportation sector which is heavily reliant on carbon-intensive fossil fuels. This reliance on harmful fossil fuels is changing the earth’s climate and contributes to extreme weather events, increased fire risk and sea level rise. The SFMTA is a leader in providing safe and sustainable transportation options as it continues to implement its Sustainability and Climate Action Program.

The SFMTA’s energy-efficient Muni fleet contributes less than two percent of the transportation sector’s emissions and moves approximately 700,000 people every day. Today, the SFMTA operates the greenest transit system of any major city in North America.

The Woods Bus Yard where the new charging infrastructure will be installed.

The Woods Bus Yard where the new charging infrastructure will be installed.

Electric Bus Pilot Program

The installation of the new chargers will take approximately nine months to complete. In addition to the battery-electric bus chargers, the updated infrastructure includes electrical support equipment, such as switchgear, switchboard, transformers, power cabinets and conduit.

  • Construction hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Bus operation at Woods will operate as usual without interruption.
  • Work will be contained in the bus yard and will not impact traffic or transit service to the public.
  • Measures will be taken to control noise and dust during work hours. 

Installing these chargers is the first step in making the greenest transit fleet in North America even more environmentally sustainable. Battery electric buses will further reduce harmful emissions and air pollution.

For more information on electric mobility, please visit SFMTA Electric Mobility Page



Published September 29, 2020 at 07:44PM
https://ift.tt/3kX90DV

الاثنين، 28 سبتمبر 2020

Show HN: Go Budget, a full-featured manual budget tracker built with Flutter https://ift.tt/3cE7L9K

Show HN: Go Budget, a full-featured manual budget tracker built with Flutter Over the weekend I launched Go Budget, a side project of mine from the last few years that originally was just an Android app used by me and my wife, but was recreated in Flutter during the pandemic. https://gobudget.io [0] App Store [1] Google Play [2] Privacy Policy Go Budget lets you set up your income and bills (repeating expenses), automates tracking them wherever possible, then makes it as painless as possible to log every day purchases. For individual users the app is free/adfree. I offer a premium subscription that allows you to back up budgets online and invite others to join your budgets to stay in sync. My experience with Flutter was nothing short of amazing, and I think the end result turned out pretty nice. I'm happy to answer any questions about Flutter or anything else related to the app. -- The backend stack is pretty basic: - Flask + Redis + Gunicorn + Traefik running in docker on a Digital Ocean VM - Managed Digital Ocean postgres cluster -- [0] https://ift.tt/30ckH1F [1] https://ift.tt/2GaY3j3 [2] https://ift.tt/3jbzxwV September 28, 2020 at 04:28PM

الأحد، 27 سبتمبر 2020

السبت، 26 سبتمبر 2020

Show HN: DevUtils.app – Developer Utilities for macOS https://ift.tt/3cCko52

Show HN: DevUtils.app – Developer Utilities for macOS This is a project I've been working on since the start of Covid-19. I built an app so that I don't have to put data into online tools like JWT debugger, JSON formatter, URL decoder, etc... https://devutils.app The app works entirely offline and is open-source. I'm selling the pre-built version of the app to earn some revenue for my time. If you want to try the app but can't afford the price or don't have XCode to build the app, drop me an email (my profile), I'll be happy to provide you a free build. I would love to hear all the feedback/suggestions. Thanks! September 27, 2020 at 06:47AM

الجمعة، 25 سبتمبر 2020

Unclog Fog City

Unclog Fog City
By Bradley Dunn

A map showing increased congestion between March 2020 and September 2020

Congestion has increased between March 2020 and September 2020. Find out more about congestion with the San Francisco Congestion Tracker

Before the pandemic, congestion in San Francisco was the worst it has ever been.  As the economy has been reopening, traffic congestion has begun to climb. Our partner agency, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), has released a digital game where you can help manage this traffic congestion by pricing it. 

Curbing congestion 

As congestion returns, commutes get longer and severe and fatal collisions and climate emissions increase. Low-income communities and communities of color- with high use of public transit, and living in areas with high rates of traffic collisions and air pollution-bear the brunt of the burden of congestion’s impact.   

In 2019, the city started to investigate how reduce congestion and congestion’s unwanted and inequitable outcomes by using pricing . Congestion pricing is a tool that has been used successfully by cities around the world to reduce congestion. Like those cities, San Francisco could use congestion pricing to keep traffic moving, increase roadway safety, clean the air and advance equity. 

How should congestion pricing work in San Francisco? 

The city  wants your help to determine the best way to design congestion pricing by providing feedback about potential fees discounts, exemptions or incentives.  They are also asking about how you would invest revenue generated by congestion pricing. 

To share your thoughts you can:  

Play Unclog Fog City  
Play a digital game that lets you design your own congestion pricing program. 

Complete a survey via text message 
For English: Text TRAFFIC to 415-449-4214 
For Spanish: Text TRAFICO to 415-449-4214  
For Chinese: Text 交通 to 415-449-4214 
For Filipino: Text TRAPIK to 415-449-4214 

Share with your Friends 
Share these opportunities to get involved on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

To learn more about the effort visit the Downtown Congestion Pricing Study webpage and sign up to receive email updates. 

 



Published September 26, 2020 at 01:46AM
https://ift.tt/3kT0xBP

الخميس، 24 سبتمبر 2020

Rolling Out a Car Free Path to the Beach

Rolling Out a Car Free Path to the Beach
By Benjamin Barnett

Slow Streets Golden Gate Park Opening Day

Last week, the Golden Gate Park Slow Streets Expansion opened to the public. People walking, biking, running and skating can now enjoy a nearly car-free route from the Panhandle all to the way to Ocean Beach.

Connecting the City 

Golden Gate Park Slow Streets are a collaboration between the SFMTA and the Recreation and Park Department. These new Slow Streets provide the last link in a route prioritized for people on bikes stretching from the Ferry Building to the ocean by connecting to the network of bikeways, Slow Streets, and streets previously closed during the health emergency. Starting from the Ferry Building you may now head down a Car-Free Market Street, then up the hill on the Page Slow Street connecting you to Golden Gate Park's newly expanded network.  

Golden Gate Park Slow Streets will begin at Stanyan Street and John F. Kennedy Drive East on the park’s eastern edge and connect with the stretch of JFK from Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive. The route then continues onto Overlook Drive, then Middle Drive and  Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Ocean Beach, where it connects with The Great Highway. The Great Highway has also been closed due to the pandemic, and this connection creates a continuous, family-friendly path from the Panhandle to the San Francisco Zoo. 

Map of Golden Gate Park Slow Streets program

Not Entirely Car-Free 

To keep nearby traffic moving and maintain access for those that need to access the park in a car, a few areas are not entirely car-free: 

  • A 200-foot portion of the route on Transverse Drive, between JFK Drive and Overlook Drive 
  • An approximately half-mile portion of the Metson/Middle Drive/MLK Drive loop near the south end of the Polo Field 
  • The intersection at MLK Drive and Chain of Lakes Drive/41st Avenue 
  • A 500-foot stretch of MLK Drive near Lincoln Way 

In addition, authorized vehicles intended for park maintenance and ranger patrols will use the roads along the route when necessary. Motorists can still drive through the park from north to south using Transverse Drive, Chain of Lakes Drive, and 25th Ave/Crossover Drive/19th Ave/Park Presidio, as usual. 

New Traffic Flows 

Drivers will be rerouted from some east and westbound roads during Golden Gate Park Slow Streets, including: 

  • The west portion of MLK Drive west of Sunset Boulevard, specifically from the Middle Drive/MLK loop to Lincoln Way, is closed to regular traffic. This includes Bernice Rodgers Way, between MLK Drive and JFK Drive. 
  • Overlook Drive and Middle Drive, between Transverse Drive and the Metson/Middle Drive/MLK loop, will be closed to traffic. However, Middle Drive between Transverse and Overlook will remain open and available for street parking. 
  • JFK Drive, between Kezar Drive and Transverse Drive, will remain closed to traffic. This portion of the road had previously been closed during the City’s initial COVID-19 response. 

Golden Gate Park Slow Streets and the SFMTA Slow Streets initiative have the common goal of making San Francisco more welcoming and accessible for people who want to travel on foot, bicycle, wheelchair, scooter, skateboard or other forms of micromobility. Slow Streets are critical infrastructure that attracts users of the full array of neighborhood demographics—including children, older adults, people with disabilities and people of color. 

More information on Golden Gate Park including driving directions to your favorite spots, attractions or museums can be found here. 



Published September 25, 2020 at 01:05AM
https://ift.tt/3408X3c

Launch HN: Scrimba (YC S20) – Interactive video for learning to code https://ift.tt/32WBPdB

Launch HN: Scrimba (YC S20) – Interactive video for learning to code Hi all, I’m Per, co-founder of Scrimba. We are building an interactive video format for teaching and learning how to code. The main benefit is that students can pause the video and edit the code whenever they want. We think this is needed is because over 70% of people who are trying to learn to code today use videos. But since videos aren’t interactive, students end up mirroring the instructors’ code line-by-line in their local code editors. This is time consuming, and it often causes problems with local dev environment setup. Scrimba solves these problems as it enables students to pause the screencast and modify the instructors’ code directly inside the player. So when a Scrimba student feels confused, she jumps into the screencast and plays around with the code (editing, running, debugging) until she’s made sense of it. As a consequence, she learns faster. Technically, this is possible because we have merged the IDE and the video player into one tool. To understand the technology in-depth, please watch this cast: https://ift.tt/33UHYX4 The Scrimba format also opens the way for other features that can further enhance the learning experience, like searching inside videos, in-video hyperlinks, audiovisual code feedback from teachers, remote pair programming between students, and more. The more we work with the format, the more of these opportunities we see. So we have decided to use the format as the backbone for an online coding school as we continue to improve it. After launching a bunch of shorter courses the last couple of years, we launched our first full-degree program this summer. It's called “The Frontend Developer Career Path” and it contains 75 hours of content and 100s of interactive coding challenges. It costs $19 per month and the teachers are well-known instructors like Gary Simon, Cassidy Williams, and Kevin Powell. Students are also paired up in Study Groups, in order to make the online learning experience feel less lonely. So far, over 3000 people from 110 different countries have enrolled. Here’s a link to the course: https://ift.tt/365a1pg Fun fact: Scrimba is built entirely in Imba, a programming language that our CTO has created. It’s a Ruby-inspired language that compiles to JavaScript, and it excels at creating high-performant web apps. The first version of Scrimba was created because Sindre wanted a better way to teach Imba. You can learn more about Imba here: https://www.imba.io/ September 24, 2020 at 05:43PM

الأربعاء، 23 سبتمبر 2020

September 24th: Bike to Work Day is now Bike to Wherever Day

September 24th: Bike to Work Day is now Bike to Wherever Day
By Sophia Scherr

A picture of a woman walking her bicycle above text reading "Bike to Wherever"

Many things are different in 2020, including Bike to Work Day. With fewer people going into work, September 24 is now Bike to Wherever Day reminding people that bicycle trips aren’t just for commuting. Thanks to our new Shared Spaces program you can go to even more places.

Riding your bike helps the environment, reduces traffic congestion and is a green way to see San Francisco. As Muni is still only for essential trips, adopting alternate modes of transportation as biking helps.

To get involved with this event, on September 24th, share why bike to wherever is special to you and reward yourself with a free Bike to Wherever tote bag at one of many curbside pickup locations.

Here are the details:

  • Grab a FREE canvas tote bag via curbside pickup: pedal by the Bike to Wherever Day curbside pickup or stop by a participating bike shop to grab the classic #BTWD tote bag. 
  • Volunteer to flyer your neighborhood: help distribute bicycle safety tips to residents across San Francisco. 
  • Compete in the Bike to Wherever Days virtual challenge: throughout the month of September, as you bike to run errands, recreation, or for whatever, log the miles you ride. Compete individually or create a team among friends or coworkers for some friendly competition. Every time you pedal, you earn points and the chance to win cool prizes.

Are you new to bicycling or could you use a refresher on the rules of the road? The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is a great resource for new and seasoned bike riders of all ages, as they offer a variety of free educational workshops, including how to ride and navigate safely on San Francisco streets. We’re excited to continue our partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and celebrate biking as a healthy, environmentally friendly way to get around.



Published September 23, 2020 at 11:23PM
https://ift.tt/361JhGf

الثلاثاء، 22 سبتمبر 2020

Fare Inspection Reimagined

Fare Inspection Reimagined
By Kimberly Burrus

As Muni’s Transit Fare Inspectors return to service, the SFMTA is excited to share a new approach that we have for how we will check for fare payment and interact with our customers. Rather than focusing solely on enforcement, the priority will shift to helping customers comply with fare policies. To support this new approach, our Transit Fare Inspectors will be returning over multiple phases this fall and they will have a new look.

At the beginning of the public health emergency, Muni fare inspectors took on disaster service worker duties, but Muni never stopped collecting fares. Muni customer fares provide approximately 20% of our revenue and we depend on fares to provide transit service.

A Transit Fare Inspector wears a new uniform and Muni face covering.
A Transit Fare Inspector models their new uniform.

Phased-in Return

This week Muni fare inspectors have joined SFMTA’s larger ambassador program to provide customer assistance throughout the system. This is the start of the phased-in process for Muni to resume fare inspection.

  • The first phase includes providing Muni customers with service information, fare programs, kiosk location, physical distancing assistance and mask distribution when needed at stops and stations throughout the system.
     
  • For the second phase, fare inspectors will return to being on Muni vehicles to continue providing customer assistance of phase one and conducting fare inspections without issuing citations. This is expected to begin in the latter part of October.
     
  • The third and ultimate phase will see the inspectors continuing to provide the customer service assistance of phase one and with a return to full fare inspections, including issuing citations as needed later this year.

Inspectors have always been part of our incident response when direct customer service was needed, either during an emergency or a large public event, like a parade. Now, that customer service approach will be integrated into our inspectors’ daily work.

Fare inspectors will work to ensure quality customer service, a safe experience and support for our customers. In light of the COVID-19 public health emergency, inspectors will remind customers that masks are required while customers are waiting to board and to maintain physical distance.

We will be:

  1. Leveraging our innovative community-based Muni Transit Assistance Program as a model for our system-wide inspectors
  1. Reorganizing the Proof of Payment unit. The new approach will allow inspectors to:
    • Support and coordinate better with each other and Muni operators
    • Spend more time on vehicles
    • Cover more of the city

Muni’s Proof of Payment system means that if you are onboard a vehicle or on a station platform, you are expected to have a tagged Clipper Card®, a transfer, a subway ticket or an active MuniMobile ticket – proof that you have paid your fare.

The changes we’re making to the Proof of Payment program will allow for larger reach and presence on the system. It will help us ensure that when there are inspections, they apply to all customers and that we prioritize visibility and compliance over enforcement.

Compliance Instead of Enforcement

As the Transit Fare Inspectors return, our inspectors’ priority will be helping customers comply with fare policies. They will eventually issue citations again, but the focus will be on service and compliance. The compliance model will help support our operators while helping to ensure that all our customers have financial access to Muni.

Here’s a summary of our new fare compliance approach:

  • Data will inform fare inspector deployment. Inspectors will be deployed on routes with high ridership across the city—both those with few incidents of fare evasion and those with higher incidents. So, if you see Muni inspectors in the Mission, you will also see them in the Presidio. If they are on the 14 Mission, they will also be on a line like the 1 California.
     
  • Inspectors will enter the vehicle in groups of three at the beginning of the line, or at a rest stop, and ride a segment of the line. One inspector will check on the operator while the other two will be in the passenger area for customer support and fare compliance reminders.
     
  • Inspectors will remind customers to tag or show fare media as they enter the vehicle. This replaces the past practice of fare inspectors making an announcement, inspecting everyone onboard and removing customers that don’t have proof of payment. Inspectors will also have handouts to provide to customers about our discounted fare programs.
     
  • We will be conducting periodic full inspections of all customers onboard a vehicle, including inspection announcements. This style of inspection will occur on a random schedule at most transfer points.

Please Tag!

Once fare inspectors are on vehicles and assisting customers to ensure compliance, you will see the same dedicated professionals in less formal uniforms. They will still ask to see proof of fare such as paper transfers, MuniMobile tickets and other types of Muni fares. They will also be looking for customers to tag their Clipper(R) cards as they board. Although you won’t get a citation for simply forgetting to tag your Clipper Card with your Muni Pass on it, tagging gives fare inspectors a less disruptive way to determine if you have paid your fare.

Perhaps even more important is the fact that tagging helps us make Muni better. We use the data from Clipper tagging to better understand the changing travel patterns in the city and the changing needs of Muni customers.

 



Published September 23, 2020 at 12:45AM
https://ift.tt/3kGmt2R

الاثنين، 21 سبتمبر 2020

الأحد، 20 سبتمبر 2020

السبت، 19 سبتمبر 2020

Show HN: Debut – a retro terminal PowerPoint clone https://ift.tt/3cca8Aq

Show HN: Debut – a retro terminal PowerPoint clone https://ift.tt/3my8IVH As part of work I was tasked with doing a presentation on a part of the Agile Manifesto, so as a way to make it interesting I initially decided to do it as an animated CLI app. Then I remembered curses existed! And a weekend later I ended up with a mini-framework for doing your own presentations in the terminal complete with borders, colours and keyboard interaction. It's also 100% Python with no external dependencies, so feel free to clone it and run it as the readme states. September 19, 2020 at 12:12PM

الجمعة، 18 سبتمبر 2020

الخميس، 17 سبتمبر 2020

Need help riding Muni? We’ve got TIPs!

Need help riding Muni? We’ve got TIPs!
By Mariana Maguire

In April 2020, as part of our emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched the COVID-19 SFMTA Ambassador program along Market Street – one of the city’s busiest Muni corridors where multiple core transit routes overlap and connect. As we have restored more Muni service and increased frequency on routes, demand has grown for ambassadors to serve additional high ridership locations and support ongoing Muni public health and customer information needs. To meet this public need, we are expanding the program beyond Market Street and are renaming it the Transit Information Program (TIP).

TIPs at a bus stop

Photo: Former COVID-19 Ambassadors, now known as Transit Information Program staff (TIPs)

TIP staff (TIPs) come from many of our existing customer facing programs and staff divisions whose jobs changed because of the shifts to our system due to COVID-19. For example, you might meet a cable car or historic streetcar operator handing out masks to customers without face coverings. One of our Crossing Guards might encourage you to keep physical distance while waiting at a stop or as you board a vehicle. A Muni Transit Assistance Program staff member might hop on a vehicle to thank you for keeping your face covering on throughout your trip. Or a Transit Fare Inspector may help you find the correct bus stop.

These staff share a combined wealth of skills and understanding of the customer experience. Through their efforts as TIPs we aim to deepen the culture of customer service at the SFMTA.

The goal of this expanded effort is to provide a higher level and broader reach of direct customer engagement and support at key Muni stops to promote public health guidelines, support Muni operators, answer customer questions, and help monitor customer loads on trains when Muni Metro eventually reopens. We recognize that our fast-paced and ongoing Muni service changes have been challenging for all of us as a community, and we need to be even more available for our customers to offer support.

Our TIPs are here to help. Over the next few weeks, you will start to see them more often around town as we test different locations. They will provide rider reminders, hand out masks to customers who want to ride Muni but do not have a face covering and provide basic transit service information.

TIPs helping customer

Photo: Transit Information Program staff (TIPs) helping customers during August service changes.

TIPs will be posted initially at about 45 locations, mainly along high-ridership routes like the 8 Bayshore, 9 San Bruno, 14 Mission, 38 Geary, 49 Van Ness, and Metro bus stops. These locations include key intersections where multiple routes cross, like Mission and 4th, Mission and 24th, Mission and Ocean, San Bruno and Silver, and Stockton and Pacific. The program is designed to be flexible to changing needs, so these locations may change day to day or over time, depending on where TIPs can be of most service to our customers. Air quality issues and civic events may also impact TIPs deployment.

Map of TIPs locations

Map: Initial test locations for the expanded Transit Information Program

While we continue to take steps to improve capacity, we still sometimes still see crowding at bus stops and on buses, especially along our high ridership corridors like Geary, Market, Van Ness, and Mission streets. If a bus is about half full or more, our operators will stop picking up additional customers until there is enough room for more. Operators will indicate this to customers by placing a “Drop-Off Only” sign in their windshield and TIPs may recommend that customers wait for the next bus. We know that this continues to be tough on everyone, and we need your help to make physical distancing work.

Bus stop distancing

Graphic showing physical distancing at Muni stops

We also continue to see some customers who are not wearing face coverings. For our customers’ and operators’ well-being, operators may skip stops if customers are not wearing face coverings. It is vital that every customer do their part by wearing a face covering on Muni.

inside bus graphic

Example of physical distancing on Muni buses: Wear face coverings and give space for fellow riders.

Muni has been hit especially hard by COVID-19. The immediate health and financial impacts have cost SFMTA 30-40% of its service hours and about 80% of our capacity. It’s also put a $200M hole in our operating budget. Though ridership is far lower that pre-COVID levels, Muni continues to serve approximately 150,000 customers daily. Despite many challenges, our staff are working hard to provide essential trips and hopefully our TIPs will improve your experience on Muni.

Customer Reminders

Remember, we still need your help. Help reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission by:

Use alternate transportation whenever possible – walk, bike or take a taxi – to save a seat on Muni for those who don’t have other options.

If you do need to travel on Muni:

  • Please respect your Muni operator. They are working hard for you.
  • Face coverings are required on Muni. To avoid getting passed up, cover your nose and mouth with face cover or mask while you are waiting for Muni and on Muni.
  • Board by the back door unless you require assistance.
  • Give yourself extra time just in case. Your fare is good for two hours across multiple routes. 

Visit our COVID-19 Developments and Response page for the latest information about Muni routes in service or to explore alternate ways to get around the city. To provide feedback on any Muni service changes please use our Muni Feedback Form.

 



Published September 18, 2020 at 12:41AM
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Show HN: xm – a tiny compiler to build HTML sites https://ift.tt/3mvNbNg

Show HN: xm – a tiny compiler to build HTML sites https://twitter.com/giuseppegurgone/status/1305851405660549122 September 17, 2020 at 11:10PM

Show HN: faasd. Look Ma’ No Kubernetes Use-Case and Case-Studies https://ift.tt/2EdqLiI

Show HN: faasd. Look Ma’ No Kubernetes Use-Case and Case-Studies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnZJXI377ak&feature=youtu.be September 17, 2020 at 04:35PM

Show HN: Building the next-generation learning experience https://ift.tt/35Jq245

Show HN: Building the next-generation learning experience If you reflect a bit on how you learn, you will probably find that in order to acquire a skill or some level of expertise on a subject, you take 5 steps that make up your learning behaviour. 1. You find the learning materials for the subject. 2. You input these materials into your brain through reading and listening. 3. You process the new information through memorising and associating in order to construct a new thinking model. 4. You practise by solving problems that are designed for learning, or by having basic conversations in the case of learning languages. 5. You apply the new skill you just acquired and start creating values for the world with it. What Astrasum does is that we are hacking learning. We want to accelerate your learning by helping you become better and better at each one of these steps with our technology and growing community. We are still working to integrate AI and VR into our features, but they are already pretty cool. Try it out and if you find it helpful or fun, please share it with your friends as well! https://astrasum.com September 17, 2020 at 11:53AM

Show HN: Web Push Notification for Shopify Store Owners https://ift.tt/3kmYGEY

Show HN: Web Push Notification for Shopify Store Owners Hi Folks, We recently launched our app, https://ift.tt/32BUJX5, on Shopify App Store for store owners to promote their stores using push notifications. I am sure almost here everybody knows about push notifications, but just in case you are not, they are small popups you see on your mobile whenever you receive an email, sms or any other notification. Along with mobiles, most of the modern browsers on desktops support push notifications. Shopify store owners can use push notifications to send automated abandoned cart notifications, new order confirmation, shipping information. You can also run marketing campaigns to send notifications to your subscribers for new launches, weekend offers etc. Its a free app for now with no limits on usages. We are inviting and looking forward to the feedback from everybody in the community, Please install the app from https://ift.tt/32BUJX5 September 17, 2020 at 09:38AM

الأربعاء، 16 سبتمبر 2020

الثلاثاء، 15 سبتمبر 2020

Muni Transit Recovery and Measuring the Transportation Recovery Plan’s Progress

Muni Transit Recovery and Measuring the Transportation Recovery Plan’s Progress
By Bradley Dunn

As the economy takes further steps to reopen this month, the SFMTA remains committed to transparency. Today, we are releasing our Muni: Transit Recovery (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit) report along with new data dashboards that help us evaluate the SFMTA’s overall response during COVID-19. Taken together, these reports give a window into what we are doing and how we plan to move forward.

Muni: Transit Recovery Report (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit)

This report explains how we are adapting to meet San Francisco’s changing transportation needs and what our customers and the public can expect from Muni. It also reminds our customers of both what they need to do to ride Muni and what we’re doing to minimize the risk of transmission while getting essential workers where they need to go. 

Examples include:

  • What we are doing to minimize transmission risk for our staff, especially operators and other frontline workers
  • How we’ve stepped up sanitizing our vehicles
  • How we’re providing service with the agency’s COVID-driven budget crisis
  • How we are delivering service to people who need it the most
  • What we are doing to be transparent, share data and conduct outreach to the public

Our Muni Transit Recovery (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit) report represents key customer-facing initiatives associated with our Transportation Recovery Plan (TRP).  The TRP is guided by the following goals: 

  • Protect the health and safety of SFMTA employees and the public.
  • Support a strong economic recovery
  • Promote sustainable alternatives such as walking and bicycling.
  • Advance the SFMTA’s equity, environmental sustainability and customer service goals;
  • Adapt transportation infrastructure and services to best serve San Francisco in the long term.

Transportation Recovery Plan Dashboards: See the Data Driving Recovery

We have designed an evaluation framework for the TRP that is nimble and representative of the recovery goals above. Today we’ve published our TRP Evaluation Dashboards so that you can track our progress.

These dashboards provide a holistic view across the programs within the TRP so anyone can track our progress toward our goals. Our evaluation framework identifies high-level objectives aligned with the goals of the TRP and trackable metrics. These allow us to monitor progress on the TRP’s most prominent strategies including COVID-19 Muni Core Service, Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes, Slow Streets, and the multiagency Shared Spaces program.

SFMTA relies upon pre-pandemic data and along with data made available by the implementation of our recovery solutions and programs to make strategic decisions and address trade-offs. Individual dashboards will be updated either weekly or monthly, based on data availability. Additionally, as our recovery efforts are ongoing, additional data will be made available as we refine and expand our evaluation efforts.

We are working hard to meet San Franciscans' changing transportation needs during this pandemic. New programs and initiatives require that the public trust us as we act quickly to try new approaches and work to refine and improve our efforts. Publishing this data helps members of the public see much of the same data that we use to make our decisions.



Published September 15, 2020 at 10:47PM
https://ift.tt/33tZbq5

Muni Transit Recovery and Measuring the Transportation Recovery Plan’s Progress

Muni Transit Recovery and Measuring the Transportation Recovery Plan’s Progress
By Emily Stefiuk

As the economy takes further steps to reopen this month, the SFMTA remains committed to transparency. Today, we are releasing our Muni: Transit Recovery (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit) report along with new data dashboards that help us evaluate the SFMTA’s overall response during COVID-19. Taken together, these reports give a window into what we are doing and how we plan to move forward.

Muni: Transit Recovery Report (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit)

This report explains how we are adapting to meet San Francisco’s changing transportation needs and what our customers and the public can expect from Muni. It also reminds our customers of both what they need to do to ride Muni and what we’re doing to minimize the risk of transmission while getting essential workers where they need to go. 

Examples include:

  • What we are doing to minimize transmission risk for our staff, especially operators and other frontline workers
  • How we’ve stepped up sanitizing our vehicles
  • How we’re providing service with the agency’s COVID-driven budget crisis
  • How we are delivering service to people who need it the most
  • What we are doing to be transparent, share data and conduct outreach to the public

Our Muni Transit Recovery (Recuperación de Muni Transit, 恢復公交服務, and Pagbawi ng Muni Transit) report represents key customer-facing initiatives associated with our Transportation Recovery Plan (TRP).  The TRP is guided by the following goals: 

  • Protect the health and safety of SFMTA employees and the public.
  • Support a strong economic recovery
  • Promote sustainable alternatives such as walking and bicycling.
  • Advance the SFMTA’s equity, environmental sustainability and customer service goals;
  • Adapt transportation infrastructure and services to best serve San Francisco in the long term.

Transportation Recovery Plan Dashboards: See the Data Driving Recovery

We have designed an evaluation framework for the TRP that is nimble and representative of the recovery goals above. Today we’ve published our TRP Evaluation Dashboards so that you can track our progress.

These dashboards provide a holistic view across the programs within the TRP so anyone can track our progress toward our goals. Our evaluation framework identifies high-level objectives aligned with the goals of the TRP and trackable metrics. These allow us to monitor progress on the TRP’s most prominent strategies including COVID-19 Muni Core Service, Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes, Slow Streets, and the multiagency Shared Spaces program.

SFMTA relies upon pre-pandemic data and along with data made available by the implementation of our recovery solutions and programs to make strategic decisions and address trade-offs. Individual dashboards will be updated either weekly or monthly, based on data availability. Additionally, as our recovery efforts are ongoing, additional data will be made available as we refine and expand our evaluation efforts.

We are working hard to meet San Franciscans' changing transportation needs during this pandemic. New programs and initiatives require that the public trust us as we act quickly to try new approaches and work to refine and improve our efforts. Publishing this data helps members of the public see much of the same data that we use to make our decisions.



Published September 15, 2020 at 10:47PM
https://ift.tt/33tZbq5

Show HN: Memory Pill https://ift.tt/3iAiXXm

Show HN: Memory Pill Memory Pill passively records the last time a medication bottle was opened to prevent over- and underdosing of medications when you cannot remember if you have already taken a scheduled dose. https://ift.tt/35Eje7E https://ift.tt/35Eje7E September 14, 2020 at 02:09PM

الاثنين، 14 سبتمبر 2020

Scooters to Fill Transportation Gaps in More Neighborhoods

Scooters to Fill Transportation Gaps in More Neighborhoods
By Bradley Dunn

Recent SFMTA authorization enables scooter companies to deploy more scooters and expand into new neighborhoods across San Francisco. Scooters can help by offering an efficient travel choice that is environmentally friendly and fills transportation gaps, especially for shorter trips. With reduced Muni service and returning traffic congestion, the city is focused on promoting sustainable efficient modes of transportation, such as scooters, that do not contribute to congestion or pollution. 

More Scooters and Areas Served

To make the scooters more available, the SFMTA recently updated the process and criteria for scooter permittees to request a fleet increase.  To be eligible for expansion, they must meet key service, compliance and equity goals like a low-income access program. The companies must also serve new neighborhoods and show an increase in users and/or trips using the Adaptive Scooter Pilot, an effort to make shared micromobility more accessible to people with disabilities.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SFMTA implemented a Powered Scooter Share Program to address the significant issues demonstrated during the pre-regulation period of shared scooters in San Francisco. SFMTA’s program permitted four companies to provide shared scooters. The fleets were phased to increase over time.

Once San Francisco's transportation needs changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the SFMTA's Transportation Recovery Plan sought to meet those needs with expanded options like scooters as the economy reopens.

A Spin scooter parked with a lock-to device.

A Spin scooter parked with a lock-to device.

Companies Expanding

Spin will be the first company to expand its fleet and is authorized to add 500 devices scooters to its fleet as of September 3. With this increase, Spin’s fleet will grow to a total of 1,500 scooters and operate in three more neighborhoods as required by the program: Inner/Central Richmond, Inner/Central Sunset and Haight.

Lime recently acquired JUMP, and because both companies hold a permit, we are undertaking a process to review the acquisition and approve the permit transfer. Once the permit transfer is final, Lime would be allowed to operate 2,000  scooters. As part of the requirements for that expanded fleet, the SFMTA will require that the Richmond District and Sunset District also be served.

Increased Enforcement and Transparency

With fleet expansion, the SFMTA has increased our enforcement and monitoring of scooter share to address compliance issues. The SFMTA will increase enforcement sweeps and respond to areas where there have been complaints. Robust enforcement of SFMTA’s oversight functions are critical for public safety. For transparency in this effort, we’ve published a Scooter Share enforcement dashboard.
 



Published September 15, 2020 at 02:38AM
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Show HN: Monitor ML model training on mobile https://ift.tt/3iFaZMg

Show HN: Monitor ML model training on mobile We developed a simple mobile app to monitor ML model training on mobile phones, with two lines of code to push training statistics. Client library (GitHub): https://ift.tt/2RoQDLC App (Github): https://ift.tt/31oE1tq Sample: https://ift.tt/35EjXGh... September 14, 2020 at 05:26AM

الأحد، 13 سبتمبر 2020