Answers delayed in Muni accident

Very nice site!

Very nice site!

What doesn't cause a MUNI delay?

if they were to reinstate those bus lines that were severed, it wouldn't be necessary to have vans. daah. every bus line was designed for that purpose - to serve those neighborhoods to get them where they need to go. how is somebody from the far away districts going to get to downtown or anywhere else? walk ten to twenty miles?

I love the idea of using vans on some of the less traveled routes - brings back memories of the Jitneys from a few decades ago. Hope we can find hybrid vans. The nice thing about vans is that for low use areas the busses may only run once an hour but with vans you could move the same number of people but run the vans twice as frequently. Also glad to see that the change in density of different areas is being included - especially in SOMA. All in all I think these changes should bring increased value of public transit to the city. Now, if the new fare collection systems can be made workable we would have a really great system. I still don't understand why we don't have more sophisticated Fast Pass readers - if BART can calculate fares in a second, one would think Muni could create something similar. Have plentiful kiosks to buy Muni tickets/passes and, like BART, only allow access by ticket scanners at the bus doors.

please I have to know How is the poor fire extinguisher

Did you notice she is on "non driving status and receiving her FULL SALARY!" . Sounds like a vacation to me. How do I get to be a MUNI driver?? FIRE HER! Even though those are "non-life threatening " injuries you can bet your FULL SALARY that those folks will sue MUNI and by default SF residents for all they can. 10 to 1 that they all go to a chiropractor and rack up some big bills. Appalling

If you resort to physical violence because someone said something mean to you or looked at you the wrong way, you're a loser. If you support people doing stuff like that, you're a loser. When you get mad, remember this: A punch give your enemy pain for a minute, while tangling your enemy in legal and bureaucratic red tape can give them pain for years. :)

was he or she a Wong driver?

I am sure there was not sullen glare or insulting, rude and argumentative words emanating from the Muni driver prior to his arse-kicking. Just sure of it! As ugly as this is, the very bad (and there are quite a few) Muni drivers have truly poisoned the well of public goodwill towards all Muni drivers.

As unfortunate as this accident is, I'm guessing, like the previous MUNI accident near AT&T Park, its going to take months to "investigate" this accident to "fault", while the union spins the story for public consumption, while the city attorney's office figures out how many millions to pay out to the injured, while MUNI continues to limp along. Why again is Nathaniel Ford the highest paid city employee?

Too bad about this wreck. Muni training dept needs to learn about running air brake type cars correctly. Then it needs to train it's operators again. This accident should never happen. Car followed to close. A never never thing should happen. Operator trouble---again.

Increasing the cost of the monthly MUNI Fast Pass is NOT going to solve MUNI's budget problems. For all the money that they "make" selling the Fast Passes in a given year, they probably lose just as much from folks who board the buses through the back doors everyday of that year. Case in point: last night, I rode the 45 - Stockton back from AT&T Park after the Giants game. At least 20 people who were at the bus stop on 3rd St. (1.5 blocks up from the park) boarded through the back. When we got to the stop in front of CPK and Office Depot, another 10 or so boarded through the back. That's at least $37.50 that MUNI lost in the span of 15 minutes.

Does that mean we can still us our old tokens? I just found a few bags I've purchase back in 2005.

How Long you been like that?

That the future is likely to hold more of the same from MUNI is not much of a surprise.

Last friday night going, I rode BART to 24th/Mission. Per NextBus, the outbound 48 was arriving, only there was't a 48 in sight and the next one due in 22 mins. After walking to 24th/Dolores without an arriving 48, NextBus was displaying next outbound 48 was in 44 mins and 77 mins. Which schedule would that be because I doubt its MUNI's. Oh, that's right, MUNI doesn't have a schedule, MUNI has predictions

Goodness, MUNI Manners is suddenly everywhere. Almost as if someone is giving a product a professional push.

Typical Muni operators at work.

it's admirable someone is noticing rude behavior on the muni. try the 30-stockton line. there have been outbreaks from here to racial and everything else about the community with bad conduct to bad body odor. the muni ladies are saints for trying. passengers will even smear the pretty boy face of the daa mayor if it came to it. he's not immune.

As a regular MUNI rider, I have no love for people who stand in front of the back doors who don't get off the bus for a long while, who don't move over to the window seat, who take up two seats during a rush hour commute, graffiti taggers with smelly pens, people who blast music out loud, people who block the aisles by holding with two hands across the aisles, people who don't take off bulky backpacks on crowded buses while standing, people who board the back door without paying, the occasional unwashed aromatic homeless person, the occasional insane outspokingly profane homeless person, loud cell phone callers, and people who don't use two hands to push the rear doors open to get off. Other than that, MUNI is a joy to ride...when it arrives on time.

The overall attitude on MUNI from employees to ridership might well improve if the service improved and brought down the levels of frustration. This isn't really rocket science, is it?

Some good tips - thank you, ladies! I do hate it when I have to give up my seat because of some boorish behavior that I have no control over, except to move to another location. Thank goodness I live relatively central to everything, so I don't have to endure unpleasant behaviors for too long.

Good thing i dont ride those and for those who do.... hahahahhahahahha =]

I wonder how much all these reports are costing the city? When its all said and done, the monies might have made a good dent in repairing the damaged cars.

Well the reason is known but to who? Surly the City atty who'll deal with all the law-suits! My bet is both Ford and Newsom know but it's about what with the union and the likes how to go public

exactly the union will try to spin out of it!!! There atty's are in full spin mode cuz after there saying we want more money and no punishment for abusive drivers! It should be interesting Ford now must prove his worth!!! Anf of course Gavlin being a union man is caught dead center of the deal!!!

I suspect the explanation for the accident is fairly self-evident. More likely, MUNI and the UNION are seeking a "satisfactory" explanation to give the public. Its not necessarily so much about "truth" as it is "spin," especially with the city and the union in negotiations over a contract.

Smells like a cover-up the driver is still alive and yet no answers hmmm or has the union shut him up

The agree and Disagree columns are fake, there are people who go through these columns counterpointing every argument.

Double Decker buses with a capacity of 80? Last time I was riding the 9x on Stockton Street through Chinatown seemed like 80 people climbed on through one of the back doors before I could even get off the bus. Instead of this generic PR fluff piece about MUNI's future gimmick why not a story about the terrible conditions on the buses, i.e. 30, 9X 45 that run through Chinatown that during the day are overflowing? How about a phtograph or two? Is the EXAMINER too cheap or to incompetent to use a digital camera and uppload the photo's on it's website? How is it in the days of I-Phones and U-TUBE the EXAMINER and the Chronicle produce such stale news reporting. When TV news was in its infancy that the reporters and producers had to be reminded, since they came from print and radio, that TV is a visual medium. Guess what? So is the internet. With a hundred dollar video camera and some cheap software the EXAMINER could produce some news that's undeniable because you can see (and hear) it

this goes to show that after the age of 60 the dmv should make these drivers take the drive test every year for free but every year.

Muni operators (and management) are the most INCOMPETENT over-payed employees on this side of... yeah. Get a friggin' clue. And get a REAL transit system that's reliable and not run by a bunch of jackasses.

Mr Ford says only a "handful" of operators are a problem? I'm thinking Mr. Ford doesn't actually ride MUNI.

How about inproving rest rooms on the bart system. It really sucks

This morning I headed into work at 1030 a.m. not my usual 9 am. (at this time of day i take BART) but this morning I thought hey I will just go to church/market metro; WHAT DID I SEE; delay and more delay at 1030 a.m. in the morning; I couldnt' believe and not even rush hour! When is this jelly fish of a mayor going to stand up to the UNIONS and say no more! Now they want more money! OBLISH ALL UNIONS, that is a good start to get MUNI back working

This morning headed to work the 48-line buses were, not so unusually, running back to back, with the first bus passing us by for the second. We boarded the already full second bus where apparently the bus driver's friend was making entry difficult while they talked away. By the time we reached 24th/Mission, the second bus was once again right behind the first bus which had passed us by. its now been 1.5 years since Mr. ford has taken over looking towards a new and improved MUNI, as far as i can tell, not much has changed.

And I thought the drivers were just acting out when they passed you by wihtout paying. How devious the managment at letting the drivers take the blame for their incompetence.

Mass transit, not cutsy street cars, please. Everybody's squeezing into the Market street tunnel because the street cars take forever to get down the strip. Hard to believe we're supposed to get more of that.

They should not dismiss many lines that connect major lines in the City. For instance the 66 Quintara connects not the two major lines in the Sunset which is the L Taraval & N Judah but also the 6 Parnassus, 28 on 19th Avenue, 43 on Masonic and the 44 O'Shaughnessy. Let us say there is a problem on both the L-Taraval and the N-Judah, at least the 66 Quintara can connect those other connects so the Sunset Residents can at least get home.

Please save the 26-Valencia. It is the safer alternative to the 14-Mission for senior citizens going to the Social Security office and St. Luke's Hospital.

Please, no one had addressed the NO CALL, NO SHOW allowance for MUNI drivers. And where else can you have the head of a company/department get a pay increase/bonus for having the company/department under performing by nearly 20% of what is required.

Sometimes the only way to get on the bus is through the back. Maybe people who hold up a pass should be free to use the backdoor. That could make things faster and less crowded at the front of the bus, allow inspectors at the back to more easily identify true fare evaders, and incidentally satisfy a few fellow riders who apparently assume the worst of everyone using the backdoor.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Goodbye 66 bus.

4:29 PM MST on Wed., Jan. 16, 2008 re: "Muni worker lauded for saving blind man" M.S. Jackson said: The article should have been entitled, "Person saves blind man, can you believe it was a Muni Employee?" We have a boss (Deputy Chief Antonio Parra) that says that we are only Fare Inspectors and that is only what we do. The inspector took this action as a fellow citizen helping another citizen. We, fare inspectors and parking control officers, need D/C Parra out. He wants both departments to fail so that SFPD can take over. BTW, he make $200K+

Just stand at 24th & Mission, waiting for the 48 bus, any given morning...there's always about 10-20 folks that enter the bus by the back door. Believe me, no one is taking their money for riding the bus! It's the same on every line - no one solution exists except to keep the back doors closed, and make everyone exit from the front door, and then let on the new passengers, which would ensure that they would pay. Perhaps if the MUNI bus drivers got off their cell phones once in a while, they could actually pay attention to their jobs and collect fares, avoid hitting pedestrians while driving, and have the time and energy to be pleasant to their customers. It makes one want to drive their car to work!

I've lived here long enough to have experienced MUNI re-orgs and they've only, at best, marginally improved service. Mostly they've been used to eliminate routes in lieu of hopefully, improving others, which really hasn not proved to be the case. With the city hundres of millions of dollars in debt, I'm guessing this will once again prove to be the case once again.

I love the fact that their community meetings are at 10:30am. Conveniently located but boy I wonder who will show up since the likes of you and I are where?...AT WORK! Nice time to have meetings if you want to push throught policy and hide your shady shenanigans.

It is a no-brainer deciscion to cancel a route with 15 riders. Examiner should better spend time to cover the other 15,000 frustrated riders those communte will finally be improved due to the change.

Parking fees are an easy, but never effective way of dealing with a budget shortfall.