July 3, 2007
Driverless Bus Update!
Remember mid-June, when we posted video of a driver pulling over and wandering into Walgreen's to do some errands? There's new news to report! Well, actually, there isn't -- Muni has just officially admitted that they failed to capture any data relating the to incident.
We submitted a report to Muni about it (it's number 226478, in case you care); meanwhile, Sunshine-champion Kimo Crossman requested that Muni turn over footage from the bus in question.
For a week and a half, nothing happened.
We got a reply from Muni on the 27th. This is the extent of the response Muni will provide to a passenger; to get anything further, you have to do a Sunshine request.
And then finally, last Friday, Muni responded to Kimo: they can't figure out which bus the incident occurred on -- and who can blame them, given the limited details? (11:45am on the Westbound 33 at 18th and Castro driven by a heavyset African American woman.) They were able to narrow it down to three different buses, though: two of them had broken cameras. The third bus had a working camera -- but after they viewed the tape, Muni deleted it! By accident! Totally by accident, they swear!
Muni conveyed most of that info in a form email; and then at the end, the font changes to a teeny tiny little script, as if Emily Litella wrote the closing words: "As a result, the MTA has no records responsive to your request."
Another jorb well done, Muni!
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Maybe MUNI should talk to Walgreens, I bet they have a closed-circuit camera system that works.
And that's why you always always always try to grab the bus # and run # if at all possible. Generally a shot of the front of the vehicle will have all the info you need. NextBus should also have the appropriate information, if they save it, and it does include the vehicle number. Certainly bus numbers and 'current' speed are published on the interweb (albeit hidden behind the administrative interface).
haven't you already posted this update? or is there an update to the update that i'm missing?
at any rate, now that this is posted again, i just have to register my original disbelief when i read this that muni couldn't identify the driver. i ride muni enough to be familiar with the driver demographics and i know that heavy set black women are far from rare.
none the less, there were THREE??? on the same route at approximately the same place at approximately the same time? that just doesn't pass the smell test.
also, if they viewed the one tape before they erased it and didn't punish that driver i think we can assume that that driver wasn 't the one in the video. which means that they've actually narrowed it down to two drivers.
and they expect us to believe that they can't look at that video and make a visual identification of the driver given two possible choices?
here's a tip for muni - ask the drivers if they were the one. they almost certainly won't cop to it, but muni could at least try!
The 33 route isn't exactly inundated with buses. They could work it out if they wanted - I suspect they just don't want to.
Deleted Video? Missing video? Accidents? Was there also a break in?
This is called "corruption".
I smell a Munigate scandal!
Wow! Is Muni run by Carl Rove?
Oh and how exactly do you erase a tape? Did they slap it in the VCR, watch it, rewind it, then accidentally press the play and record buttons at the same time?
And if they've narrowed it down to three drivers, they should just keep them late at work until one of them owns up. That used to work in high school.
fizzandpop:
My understanding is that Muni's monitoring system is disk-based, so they probably hit F8 instead of F7 or some god awful key sequence and deleted it on mistake. It's entirely possibly it was a fat finger move.
Don't you read the ask a Muni security guy columns? Gheesh. :)
The bus nearest 18th & Castro at 11:45am on June 16th, 2007 was number 5464. You can thank me later.
Shiiiit ... I'm thanking you now.
maybe she had an 'emergency..you know? poop? geez what a bunch of whiney whiners sf has come to be
That would be a fine excuse, but does the Castro Walgreens have a public restroom? And in any case doesn't seventy minutes seem a wee bit excessive for a bathroom break?
if she needed a toilet break, she should have called in "702" Munispeak for same. That would exist in the records at least until Muni's Rosie Woods got at the tapes.
Maybe she fell in?
I was on a packed 22 Fillmore (you know that line--the one that every monster in San Francisco rides from 16th & Potrero/Mission to the Fillmore District) once about 10 years ago and the driver slammed on the brakes in order to go fetch some KFC --she was gone about 20 minutes. People were aboslutely fuming. Came back licking her fingers and those long, LONGass press-on fingernails.
True story!
oh the best part about above story.
People on the bus could see her chowing down in KFC's window, just as defiant as you please and made comments ("She's getting into her side dishes now!")
Feel free to repeat this story.
Thanks
Persona non Bergman
There was a hearing at the BOS today where the very hot proposed ballot ordinance re MUNI was discussed.
The new ordinance [if it passes the BOS and goes to the voters] would greatly reduce the snafu of current work rules. Of course, all the MUNI labor unions were there in force, scarred to death that there members would actually have to be held to higher standards. The first union president guy who spoke said, paraphrase " it's not the fault of the drivers that MUNI is a mess bla bla bla."
Tell that to the people who were on the finger licking good 22 Fillmore bus mentioned in earlier posts.
maybe one of us in this sort of situation should pick up the radiophone by the fare box and call central control. that would disturb s%^(
I have witnessed as a passenger on the J an operator stop at that donunt shop at 24th and Church step out of the train (it was still running) for a smoke (Kool menthol), coffee and twist. No one said a word -including myself. After 5 minutes of this scene I was so disgusted I walked home.