Problems at SF Muni
The SF Chronicle has a big article today about problems at the SF Muni. The recent opening of the T-Third service seems to have exacerbated problems with scheduling, staffing, equipment, and repairs throughout the system.
This, of course, has led to infighting among the SF politicos, mainly the mayor and the board of supervisors, about who isn't holding the torch high enough for the riders. A big problem, of course, is that the agency doesn't seem to have enough money to run itself properly - it needs more employees for basic operations, and that requires more money for salaries, for one thing. How the mayor's proposal for free fares would help that is beyond me...
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csa | 12:27 PM |
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Someone entered this into Wikipedia, so I have no idea if it's true, but: Supposedly the Automatic Train Operation system setup in 1998 -- the one whose rough start was the cause of the first Muni meltdown -- was apparently hardwired to accommodate only the five lines in existence at the time. Adding the T involved some egregious hacks, which was obvious at the rider level -- the approach of T trains are not indicated by the platform signs or automated audio announcements, for instance. This was the cause of much of the difficulties in the tunnel. Part of the service changes will essentially make the T and K into a single line -- inbound K trains will become T trains at West Portal, and inbound T trains will become K trains at Embarcadero. (Why they don't just call the whole thing the "K/T" or something is beyond me -- it'd be easier to understand). The brings the effective number of lines back to five, which will hopefully help with the ATO.
