Supervisor Sean Elsbernd
Photo by Luke Thomas
From the Office of Supervisor Sean Elsbernd
August 7, 2009
On Monday, August 10, the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee will hold a hearing examining MUNI safety standards for bus and train operators. I requested the hearing with Transportation Authority Chairman Supervisor Bevan Dufty in response to the July 18 MUNI accident at West Portal Station that injured more than 40 passengers. The need for a hearing on this subject was made even more evident following the August 3 accident between two trains and an automobile on Market Street that injured six.
Text of hearing request issued at July 21 Board of Supervisors meeting:
Request for a hearing addressing MTA safety standards, including medical screening procedures for MTA bus and light rail operators. Request additional information about the rules concerning switching light rail vehicles between automatic and manual operation, including any communication from the Transit Workers Union to MTA related this subject.
Ensuring the public’s safe transport has to be MUNI’s number one priority. As an elected official I am committed to doing whatever is in my power to protect the public. As a member of the Transportation Authority I have the duty to question the safety of a system that has had two serious accidents in little more than two weeks. I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors and Transportation Authority and with MUNI officials to make sure that the causes of these accidents are investigated, the problems addressed and public safety ensured.
The Hunger Site
August 7, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hey Sean,
I admire your courage to go swimming in the septic tank that’s MUNI. People don’t like to address the real problem. It’s the people they hired to drive the vehicles. Mostly just fine but an old driver friend told me once: “You almost gotta be an ex-con to get a job here.”.
I’m all for second chances and all that but way to high a percentage of the drivers are arrogant, thuggish and drugged. It doesn’t take many such drivers to screw up the apple barrel and MUNI has lots of em at every level of the operation. Management enables them.
The inspectors are a joke. The drivers destroy any GPS device attached and drive in convoys. What about the driver on the T line on Market that Gavin observed tailgating another street car?
He asked if she should be doing that and was informed (this is just a few months ago) that she should be at least 250 feet behind and preferably a block.
Later that afternoon the lady rear-ended another T line coach and it turned out that MUNI management had covered her butt by moving her to a different vehicle in case someone was watching the one she was driving.
Even with a complaint from the Mayor, MUNI did nothing but shift her to another ‘bumper car’. They don’t listen to Gavin. They don’t listen to Nate. I just hope they don’t read me either.
Wear a diving suit into that lagoon,
h.