Muni, State Regulators Dispute Safety Violations
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority officials are disputing a scathing report from state regulators that the agency’s light rail system is unsafe.
The report by safety inspectors with the California Public Utilities Commission “found numerous safety violations on Muni’s light rail system” and alleged that SFMTA “has been chronically unresponsive to alleged violations and other findings.” In particular, CPUC staff expressed concerns with “the material condition” of the light rail system.
Among the issues were the track at Church and Duboce streets, the Sunset and Market Street Tunnels and the Church Portal.
But SFMTA Executive Director Nathaniel Ford said the findings were off base.
“We have a safe system,” he said at a hearing on the issue last week.
But the San Francisco Chronicle reports that at that same hearing, several Muni operators and their union representatives testified that “the agency’s culture does not emphasize safety.”
Muni officials will have 30 days to respond to findings in the report and if an administrative law judge finds that Muni did in fact violate regulations, the CPUC could issue significant fines and penalties.
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Photo Credit: Emmanuel Nachor, via Wikimedia Commons
