Theme 1 – Praise for the line‑scan technique and its visual result
Commenters repeatedly highlighted the striking aesthetic, the lack of motion blur, and the “architectural diagram” look of the images.
- “Mr. Lu, please go to your nearest gigantic poster shop and immediately start selling these prints at art‑gallery prices! There's a brief moment in time where you've a monopoly on 'pictures that look like this'…” – ramses0
- “I like the photos, they look like architectural diagrams.” – matja
- “They're great - I'm pleasantly surprised there's no blur on the people.” – trebligdivad
- “If people are moving, they may get stretched or distorted. But they won't ever get blurry, since the capture rate is like 10,000 lines per second.” – dllu
Theme 2 – Debate over the value and cost of maintaining historic transit versus Muni’s budget constraints
Several users questioned whether spending on heritage streetcars is justified when the agency faces shortfalls, while others defended the cultural and tourism benefits.
- “But Muni has a budget shortfall and is planning on cutting a bunch of bus lines and reducing frequency on lines across the system… Viewed in context, is this … irresponsible?” – abeppu
- “There is an advertising campaign in SF right now to encourage people to vote to give Muni more money (again) in November, because they can't cover their essential costs. This…looks pretty non-essential to their core mission to me.” – kqgnkqgn
- “I obviously am I biased, and think this is very very cool. There are many intangibles here beyond the budget numbers; a bit of history, a bit of whimsy, a bit of color to what is often utilitarian (public transit).” – tobiasdorge
- “At 2024 numbers in this SPUR report: Cable car 872, streetcar 631, lightrail 412, system avg 327, motorbus 302, trolleybus 281. So canceling each cable car could … allow the system to add roughly 3 electric buses.” – abeppu
Theme 3 – Ideas for commercialization, distribution, and technical follow‑up
Many commenters suggested ways to monetize or share the work, and asked about equipment or alternative subjects.
- “Donate copies to sfmuni (no matter what!), or front them as 'distribution partner', ie: they sell those posters for $999.99 or whatever and cut checks to Mr. Lu for $99 each (or something).” – ramses0
- “Hell, I'd shop them around to transit authorities.” – dole
- “If you want to use a regular phone or camera, check out TrainScanner!” – dllu (linking to a GitHub project)
- “What lens are you using? Does it have to cover 135 format?” – gerikson
- “Are there other photo types you've thought about taking? (I don't know very much about the topic. Rocket launches? Cruise ships? 360/Cylindrical line scan sweeps?)” – big_toast