"Muni has to work well for the people of San Francisco,

so that it is their first option.”

Mayor London Breed

2018 Proposal To Re-align Muni Goals & Operations

Submitted - August 29, 2018

 P R E FA C E

To The Honorable Mayor London Breed,



The least advantaged in San Francisco, are driven to commuting decisions based on their pocket books
and personal obligations, Muni is their affordable and realistic option.

The brunt of the last 2 months of calculated, devastating secret service cuts, hit them the hardest. Forced,
without any warning, to try and board diesel bus lines, that had service cuts as much as 33%. This fact,
is day by day, becoming known by more and more transit riders, completely undermining confidence
that those entrusted to make things work better, have in fact acted in ‘complete contradiction to that
mission’. A growing number of jilted Muni riders, are becoming aware of what took place and who is
responsible.

For 2 months, unannounced cancelled Diesel Bus runs, left thousands standing on corners, unknowingly
waiting, for a scheduled bus that Muni bosses canceled in secret. Those who experienced this
systematic, daily event for weeks on end, will not forget it any time soon. The human cost, many people
missed appointments & incurred late charges for Child Care (restitution should be considered). Elderly
with canes, walkers & wheel chairs, who need those devices to get from place to place, left standing,
standing under normal circumstances a challenge for them, now exacerbated by this Muni-Manager-
Made disaster.

As the truth spreads this constituency is expanding. People want honest answers, it is understandable,
riders want accountability, as sure as Muni wants passengers to pay their fare.

Mayor Breed it has become your responsibility to oversee that things are made right. Fixing Muni will
earn their trust in your administration. Hopefully, this proposal will help.

As for the authors of this cruel deceit, San Francisco doesn’t need that sort of thinking.

Many proposals that follow, were written by experts, but never carried out by Muni bosses.

There is no statute of limitations on good ideas.

Michael B. Cheney - Retired Civil Servant


 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



Create Skip-Stop route schedules on Diesel Bus, Trackless Trolley & Light Rail

• This will increase capacity, speed up service throughout Muni.

• Cable Cars & some routes may be excluded, they will be full stops at all board points.

Managers will surrender their City car keys.

• Attending meetings, shop visits, interagency trips, with cars or trucks will cease,

• All official Muni travels to be done using Mass Transit. Personnel will keep log books, noting each
trip, equipment numbers, routes & time, writing down any defects or needed changes.

• Emergencies will be waived



1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

Put the Budget Analyst Audit proposal’s into practice. 


A thorough review of the audit will point out where action is needed, here are highlights

• Muni Diesel buses ‘Automatic Idle Shutdown’, activated, 5 minutes as per State Law.

• ’One driver-One Vehicle’ Operators will receive the same equipment daily whenever possible.

• Install ‘Bar Coding’ at all Muni facilities, to better manage inventory (it is 2018!)

Easier tracking of warranties, reduce theft & save shop time of the our personnel. Many more cost
saving activities can be programed once our inventory is scanned into the Bar Code system.

• San Francisco has facilities for manufacturing of parts*.

*Woods Wheel Chair Repair had our Cable Car unit manufacture ‘Nylatron Wear Blocks’ for under
$10.00 each, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) was charging Muni $80.00 a piece. We need to
establish a group to seek out & find these savings. Muni is legally allowed to make parts to keep their
own equipment running.

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY





Apprentice programs at Muni facilities for low income & disadvantaged youths

24/7 operations in all Muni shops - Earthquake preparedness our No.1 issue



Re-open the Drivers Memorandum of Understanding, for pay compensation

• Wages should reflect the true cost of living in San Francisco.

• Tiered ‘Longevity Pay’ to help retain our ‘Muni Ambassadors’

On-Board cameras

• Using it for Operator discipline will cease, as per the original intent of the agreement, that is not now
being kept.

• Exclusion, would be if an actual crime has been committed.

ADDENDUM

 Create Skip-Stop route schedules on all
Diesel Bus, Trackless Trolley & Light Rail Vehicles

Muni knows how to schedule Skip-Stop, it was written into Geary BRT as its primary scheduling.

Virtually all Muni routes* will turn into ‘Express Service’, speeding up the system inbound &
outbound, getting there faster, increasing capacity as more people are moved on the same route.
Effecting transit riding passenger quality, by decreasing packed buses. All Muni stops will be serviced,
just not by every bus on every run.

It should take 1 month to put the first temporary system in place.

• Green (G in a circle) & Red (R in a diamond), on each bus, painted on the street and curb
• Temporary signage in the beginning, permeant signage within 6-8 months.
• Night time training for Operators, so that they are familiar from ‘day 1’.
• If they get out of order on inbound, it can be set right on the outbound, (Green to Red, Red to Green)
• Flood the media & internet, also flyers explaining explaining how it will work to the public.
• Timely postings in all Muni Vehicles & shelters.
• Test run the 38 Geary & the 28 line to work out system.

*Cable Cars & some routes may be excluded, they will be full stops at all board points.

**Page 54 out of their own December 6, 2005 ‘Short range Transit plan’ (Scan above).
 Managers will surrender their City car keys.

Attending meetings, shop visits, interagency trips, with cars or trucks will cease,

Official Muni travels to be done using Mass Transit.

Personnel will keep log books, written, noting each trip, equipment numbers, routes & time, writing
down any defects or experiences or needed changes.

Emergencies will be waived

Needs no explanation, Muni bosses should to ride their own system.


 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’*

There is no ‘Statute of Limitation’ on good ideas

Finally, put our Budget Analyst well researched proposal’s into practice. A thorough review of the audit
will point out where action is needed, following are included some major starting points.

*$125,000 possible appropriation, over $200,000 in 2018 dollars. Expensive Muni ‘Door Stop’.
 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

All Diesel buses must have their *’Automatic Idle Shutdown’, activated,
‘Shutdown after 5 minutes* of idling’ as per California State Law. Whether or not
an Operator is in the vehicle, State Law will be met.
*This is an anti-pollution control device,Easily programed technology that has been available onboard Muni
Diesel Buses since the late 1980’s. It used to be set for ’10 minutes’ of idling, California has changed that, idling
now limited to ‘5 minutes’, this was done to further eliminate diesel pollution. Our older buses have ’10 minute’
auto shut-downs, all bus engines need to be re-programed for the current standard of ‘5 minutes’.

First question Proposition ‘J’ auditors asked me in 1996, “Why do they idle buses 3-4 hours a night?” Supplied
them with a copy of ‘Department of Energy’s Argon National Laboratory’ findings, that had been submitted to
Muni bosses in 1988 (scan below). Budget Analyst findings, lead to a front page story in the San Francisco
Examiner (scan below). Unfortunately, Muni yards were soon back idling their buses hours at a time.
 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’
All Diesel buses must have their *Automatic Idle Shutdown, activated. ‘Shutdown
after 5 minutes* of idling’ as per California State Law. Whether or not an Operator
is in the vehicle, State Law will be met.
| JOE ESKENAZI, YOUR HUMBLE NARRATOR |
sfweekly.com
ALL WARMED UP
AND NOWHERE TO GO
|
CONTENTS
Muni starts its wastefulness early every morning by running its buses for
hours before putting them into service.
|
S
LETTERS
teve Foti is a great big
teddy bear of a man
who resembles a re-
|
tired football defensive
SUCKA FREE CITY
end. But he’s a retired bean-
counter with the office of Har-
vey Rose, the Board of
Supervisors budget analyst. On
most days, Foti would find him-
self parked across from a pile of
|
forms and files. But now it was 3
NEWS
a.m., and he was parked across
from the Muni yard on a chilly
|
morning in 1996. He grins at
NIGHT+DAY
the memory and explains his
accounting adventure.
“It was like clockwork,” he recalls. “We’d
heard rumors about this — they started com-
|
ing in and turning the bus headlights on. And
ART
we were blinded by the headlights of hun-
dreds of buses staring at us!” Some of those
|
buses were allowed to idle for four-and-a-half
hours; 15 minutes would have easily sufficed.
FILM
“Pollution Menace at Muni, Audit Finds,”
read the subsequent front-page headline in
|
the San Francisco Examiner following the
EAT
237-page indictment Foti and his team put to-
gether. A scientific study by Argonne Na-
tional Laboratory included in the report’s
|
appendix helped the auditors peg Muni’s
MUSIC
idling diesel buses as a $670,000-a-year drain
that produced the equivalent noxious fumes
of 56,000 car engines caught in commuting
|
traffic — every day.
“Management didn’t dispute anything,”
recalls Foti of the scathing Muni audit.
SF WEEKLY
“Even they saw how ridiculous this was.
They said they were going to take
care of it.”
That was 17 years ago. So
they’ve had a little time to work
on this.
At 4 a.m. on a recent Monday,
however, scores of diesel bus en-
gines rumbled within the same
JUNE 19-JUNE 25, 2013
Muni yard Foti staked out. By 4:20, the
yard was ablaze with headlights; the
drone of idling motors drowned
out the sounds of the night. Sun-
rise at 6 a.m. revealed hundreds
of idling buses standing still yet
shimmering behind the oily,
distorting sheen of heat and
fumes. Buses idled for hours;
considering modern diesel
vehicles are equipped with
10
15 years later, they were still doing it.
“engine idle limiters,” it’s possible that objects
— perhaps the wooden wheel blocks — had
been placed atop the gas pedals. By 7 a.m., the
yard was largely clear. Buses had departed for
their first runs of the day. Several minutes of
idling will suffice to warm up any functioning
diesel bus — but many had been running for
two or perhaps even three hours.
“Take care of it,” it seems, is a nebulous
term.
F
orget the pollution. Look past the un-
necessary engine wear. And, for the
sake of argument, ignore the gallons of
squandered fuel (which is a shade more ex-
pensive now than in 1996). Avoiding all of this
waste would be a matter of common sense
and common decency — and, for a transit
agency which regularly bemoans a billion-
dollar underinvestment in maintenance, a fis-
cal benefit. Yet, as the saying goes, stupidity
isn’t a crime.
It is illegal, however, to idle buses for hours
on end.
The practices observed firsthand by your
humble narrator at the Muni yard constitute a
bevy of violations of state law. Aaron Richard-
son, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District, confirms that buses are
only permitted to idle 10 minutes, maximum,
before loading passengers. Citations handed
out by air inspectors start at $300 a pop.
A yard full of hundreds of buses idling for
hours makes a mockery of such rules. But,
Richardson notes, his organization hasn’t
fined or cited Muni for at least three-and-a-
half years.
Blistering city audits — and the resultant
front-page news stories — can be employed to
shame vestiges of the city into slouching to-
ward mediocrity. But that’s about it; one of the
scores of suggestions advanced by the 1996
audit was that Muni begin using bar-coding to
keep track of the 21,000 parts in its inventory.
It still doesn’t.
“You write a report, present it to the com-
mission, the general manager and his staff get
to it, they say they’ll implement it, and we
move on,” says former auditor Bill Gustafson,
who rode shotgun with Foti during the ’96
Muni yard stakeouts. “And then we do some-
thing else.”
But Muni isn’t doing something else. You
can’t shame someone if they haven’t got any.
W
histle-blowing Muni mechanic
Mike Cheney has been banging
his head against the wall over Mu-
ni’s practice of idling buses for 25 years, and
all he’s got to show for it is a headache.
Cheney — profiled in this week’s cover story
— has gone so far as to report Muni to the U.S.
Department of Transportation over the mat-
ter. In 1988, he handed his superiors a copy of
the Argonne study (emblazoned with the jolly
title “DON’T IDLE YOUR PROFITS
AWAY!”). Eight years later, he had a few extra
printouts handy for the city auditors.
Sadly, all that’s been accomplished in that
time is quantifying the level of Muni’s waste.
The news that, in 2013, Muni is idling buses for
hours — just as it did 10, 20, and 30 years ago —
came as no surprise to the mechanic. Muni, he
notes, always regresses toward the mean.
Cheney wants a charter amend-
ment barring this practice in San
Francisco. Ordinances in this
city find their way into the
blue, green, or black bins of
history. Charter amend-
ments, however, require six
supervisors to place them
on the ballot, and subse-
quently carry the gravitas of a vote
of the people.
“Who on the Board of Supervisors is
gonna say ‘We ought to be idling buses
for hours’? Who’s gonna stand up
for that?” says Cheney. “If they
want, I’ll even help them write the
legislation.
“We can turn the wheel,” he
continues. “Even a little bit.”
E-mail Joe.Eskenazi@SFWeekly.com
Breathe Easy
A marijuana study finds
no lung cancer links.
D
onald Tashkin’s is a tale can-
nabis pushers like to repeat.
The physician and professor
at UCLA’s David Geffen School of
Medicine set out to prove — via a
study funded by the National Insti-
tutes on Drug Abuse — that marijuana
is bad for you. Instead, a long-term
study found no solid link between
marijuana use and lung cancer.
Similar findings were repeated all
over the world. In a review of studies
on marijuana’s effect on the lungs,
published in the June issue of the An-
nals of the American Thoracic Society,
Tashkin concludes that compared to
tobacco smoking, heavy marijuana
use has “relatively small and far
lower” risks.
It’s worth remembering that this is
not a new development — Tashkin’s
long-term study was published in
2006. And well before that, in the 19th
century, when cannabis tinctures and
other marijuana medicines were sold
in pharmacies, doctors were prescrib-
ing marijuana as a treatment for
asthma patients.
There are similarities between to-
bacco and marijuana that most can-
nabis advocates don’t like to admit:
similar levels of ammonia and other
carcinogens, and marijuana smokers
inhale about four times the tar, Tash-
kin notes. Yet several long-term stud-
ies found no positive association be-
tween marijuana use and lung cancer.
And others found no positive link be-
tween marijuana use, even heavy,
long-term use, and chronic obstruc-
tive pulmonary disease. (Marijuana
use does have deleterious effects, but
they are short-term, like bronchitis,
which goes away after the pipe is
put away.)
The key appears to be in the THC.
Marijuana’s main psychoactive in-
gredient has also shrunk tumor cells
in lab rats. It’s possible that the THC
encourages lung tissue to die before
it can become cancerous, Tashkin
suggests.
One of marijuana’s most con-
founding effects is bronchodilation,
or expansion of the lungs when ex-
posed to marijuana smoke. Cigarette
smoke, by contrast, leads to broncho-
constriction, or narrowing of air
passages.
Maybe that’s what the 19th
century pot docs were after. And per-
haps there will be some modern-day
folks who catch on to this. CHRIS ROBERTS
 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

All Diesel buses must have their *Automatic Idle Shutdown, activated. ‘Shutdown
after 5 minutes* of idling’ as per California State Law. Whether or not an Operator
is in the vehicle, State Law will be met.
MissionLocal ‘Expose’ leads to Muni Engine ECM reprograming. Our older diesel buses have the
California standard of ’10 minute idling’ and still in need reprograming to meet present day standards.
 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

’One Operator - One Vehicle’


At pullout, Operators will receive the same equipment daily, whenever possible.

It is ‘Catch-as-catch-can’ when assigning equipment. This ignores the value of a Operator becoming
familiar with their vehicle, being better able to detect and flag potential problems.

It will take serious coordination, but any % of drivers assigned to the same equipment will improve
Muni’s ability to keep unsafe coaches out of service.

Common sense approach to improving communication between Mechanics & Operators

“Implement a one coach-one driver policy that would improve respect for equipment and worker
accountability, and would foster relationships between operators and mechanics regarding the
maintenance and care of individual vehicles.” - Budget Analyst Audit, 1996



 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

Install ‘Bar Coding’ at all Muni facilities

Better managing inventory, easier tracking of warranties, reduce theft & save shop
time of the our personnel. Many more cost saving activities can be programed once
our inventory is scanned into the Bar Code system.

“Introduce bar coding of parts into an improved materials inventory system in order to facilitate the
tracking go information on the repair of individual transit vehicles.” - Budget Analyst Audit, 1996

It is an ‘Industry Standard’



 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

Install ‘Bar Coding’ at all Muni facilities

Better managing inventory, easier tracking of warranties, reduce theft & save shop
time of the our personnel. Many more cost saving activities can be programed once
our inventory is scanned into the Bar Code system.

It is an ‘Industry Standard’

Top Eight Benefits of Barcodes

Barcodes are often overlooked as a method for cutting costs and saving time. A valuable and viable choice for
businesses looking to improve efficiency and reduce overhead, barcodes are both cost-effective and reliable.

1. Barcodes eliminate the possibility of human error. The occurrence of errors for manually entered data is
significantly higher than that of barcodes. A barcode scan is fast and reliable, and takes infinitely less time
than entering data by hand.
2. Using a barcode system reduces employee training time. It takes only minutes to master the hand- held
scanner for reading barcodes. Furthermore, employees do not have to gain familiarity with an entire
inventory or pricing procedure. This also makes employee training less expensive, since they do not have
to be paid for extra training time, and another employee does not have to be compensated for training
them.
3. Barcodes are inexpensive to design and print. Generally they cost mere pennies, regardless of their
purpose, or where they will be affixed. They can be customized economically, in a variety of finishes and
materials.
4. Barcodes are extremely versatile. They can be used for any kind of necessary data collection. This could
include pricing or inventory information. Additionally, because barcodes can be attached to just about any
surface, they can be used to track not only the products themselves, but also outgoing shipments and even
equipment.
5. Inventory control improves. Because barcodes make it possible to track inventory so precisely, inventory
levels can be reduced. This translates into a lower overheard. The location of equipment can also be
tracked, reducing the time spent searching for it, and the money spent replacing equipment that is
presumed lost.
6. Barcodes provide better data. Since one barcode can be used for inventory and pricing information, it is
possible to quickly obtain data on both. Furthermore, barcodes can be customized to contain other
relevant information as needed. They provide fast, reliable data for a wide variety of applications.
7. Data obtained through barcodes is available rapidly. Since the information is scanned directly into the
central computer, it is ready almost instantaneously. This quick turnaround ensures that time will not be
wasted on data entry or retrieval.
8. Barcodes promote better decision making. Because data is obtained rapidly and accurately, it is possible
to make more informed decisions. Better decision making ultimately saves both time and money

Both inexpensive and user-friendly, barcodes provide an indispensable tool for tracking a variety of data, from
pricing to inventory. The ultimate result of a comprehensive barcoding system is reduction in overhead. - sited
from verifiedlabel.com -
 1996 voter mandated Proposition ‘J’

Muni legally allowed to manufacture parts for repairing equipment

Below scan is from Proposition ‘J’ Addendum, from August 1995 Report from Woods Division - Wheel
Chair Division, Front page Examiner story by Erin McCormick. ADA representatives came to visit our
shop and praised efforts to produce a more reliable Wheel Chair Lift on our equipment.

 Mentorship/Apprenticeship Programs
To be instituted in all Divisions of Muni

For low income & disadvantaged youths

This program will be established, as per Mayor Breeds commitment

 24/7 operations in Muni shops

Earthquake preparedness - No.1 issue

In the event of an Earthquake, Muni should be at full readiness 24/7, similar to Firehouse
stations. Lists will be established in all divisions for transit equipment availability, fueled
& serviced, to be placed into emergency duty as needed.

Scheduled maintenance & superficial body work will all be listed as ‘Ready’. Lists will
be updated and posted twice a day, morning pull out and Graveyard Owl service.

When an Earthquake happens, and it eventually will, we may not have the time &
resources to ‘search’ for this needed equipment.

Buses can be used for transporting injured to hospitals, also, to move rescue crews to
where they are needed.

 Re-open the Drivers Memorandum of Understanding
for ‘Operator Compensation’

Wages should reflect the true cost of living in San Francisco

Tiered ‘Longevity Pay’ to help retain our ‘Muni Ambassadors’

On-Board cameras

Using cameras for Operator discipline will cease, as per the original intent of the
agreement, that is not now being kept.

Exclusion, would be if an actual crime has been committed.

ADDENDUM

Déjà vu all over again?