Is Muni Using Vision Zero to Mask the Fragility of the Streetcar System?

Where is Supervisor Melgar’s concern for District Seven passengers’ safety that was compromised by Muni in the Twin Peaks Tunnel?

On the afternoon of Friday June 7, 2024, a westbound Muni (San Francisco Metropolitan Agency) streetcar stalled between the Castro Street Station and the Forest Hill Station.  The streetcar operator instructed the approximate 50 passengers, some elderly, to walk on the active tracks to Forest Hill Station over a mile away.  There are safety procedures that should have been implemented, but it appears neither the train operator nor Muni was trained or for this type of emergency.

Muni compromised passenger safety

I spoke to SF firefighter, Marine Corps Reservist, member of SFFD’s Transit Committee, and current District 7 supervisor candidate, Stephen Martin-Pinto, who was on the stranded train.  From my conversation with Martin-Pinto, I gained the following perspectives:

1)        Walking on an active railway is extremely dangerous.  The proper safety procedure is for passengers to remain on the streetcar.   Muni probably violated federal safety standards by directing passengers to march on active tracks.

2)        The Muni operator sent the unescorted passengers to Forest Hill Station without accountability or a comparison as to how many passengers disembarked from the train and how many arrived at the station.  Martin-Pinto said that if another passenger and he “had not brought up the rear of the passenger march to Forest Hill, I’m not sure Muni would have known if anyone would have fallen or collapsed enroute to Forest Hill.”

3)        The electricity was shutoff at the section of the stalled section, making it impossible to send in a rescue train.  (Muni Director Jeffrey Tumlin, just to let you know, sending a rescue train is a standard emergency procedure.)

4)        When in the tunnel, the streetcar’s stairs could not be lowered as it is for outside surface streets stops.  This was because the pantograph was disconnected from overhead wires, which cutoff power to the streetcar.  Thus, passengers had to climb down from a high platform to exit the streetcar (they were incorrectly instructed to exit.)

5)        The Twin Peaks Tunnel ventilation system blows air westward from Castro Street, meaning that should a fire have ignited, passengers were walking with the flow of smoke, instead of heading in the opposite direction.  (And the Castro Street Station was approximately only 2,500 feet away compared to the 6,000-foot distance to Forest Hill Station.)

Muni’s fishy and opaque story

The Chronicle reported that Muni initially claimed the streetcar stall was attributable to an overhead power issue, then changed their story to say there was “vandalism.”   

In the Chronicle, a Muni spokesperson added that the vandalism was serious:

Muni’s vandalism story sounds a little suspicious.

1)        Muni was going to provide more information after the June weekend.  A month has passed, and Muni is still silent.  Why?

2)        Should we be questioning whether this was a terrorist attack?  Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah?

3)        How did a streetcar immediately precede the stalled streetcar without a problem?

4)        Why would a vandal commit a crime in the middle of the tunnel?  Wouldn’t the smart thing be to commit it close to an escape route through a station?

5)        Why was no vandal seen escaping through the tunnel?  No video surveillance?

6)        Vandalism is a crime.  Muni does not have an investigative unit nor a unit trained in DNA collection?  So, who is investigating this crime?  Why didn’t Muni involved SFPD?

7)        If someone tossed a soda can onto the streetcar’s roof, Muni should show the public a video so we can identify the culprit that endangered so many passengers.

8)        I contacted SFPD’s Muni division, and no one was aware of Muni reporting this crime.

9)        I looked through SFPD’s criminal reports.  I could not find where Muni reported this crime.

10)  Finally, I issued a public records request to Muni asking for the case number they were given when—or if—they reported the vandalism crime to SFPD.   Muni knew of no such records.

Vision Zero Probability, shouldn’t allow Muni to be nontransparent

Vision Zero was adopted by San Francisco in 2014 as “as a bold plan to eliminate traffic deaths” caused by human error or negligence.  Unintentional traffic deaths should not be confused with intentional killings that are twice as common in San Francisco.  Or the intentional selling of fentanyl in SF that creates a 2,500+% greater death rate than accidental traffic deaths.

It is statistically impossible to eliminate human error, thus it would probably be more accurate to retitle this concept: Vision Zero Probability.  Yet, Muni and District 7 Supervisor Myra Melgar use Vision Zero as a distraction to give Muni an endless pass on accountability; whether it’s a project’s costs, the tens of millions of dollars lost by fare evading, sending millions to the Bicycle Coalition for them to enlighten us, or hiding the fragility of a streetcar system that stranded passengers in the middle of the Twin Peaks Tunnel.  Somehow, in the name of an unachievable goal-- Vision Zero—proponents believe taxpayers are not entitled to answers. 

Muni is fast approaching a $214 million fiscal cliff starting in July 2025. And soon, L Taraval streetcars will rejoin the Muni underground increasing underground streetcar traffic by 50%.  Once again this will overflow the stew of confusion within the underground system that relies on a thin thread of antiquated floppy disks to operate. 

So, what Is Supervisor Melgar’s solution?  Belt tightening?  Implement a 21^st Century computer system for the streetcars?  Cut down on fare evasion?   No!  First, let’s spend millions of dollars decorating West Portal Station’s entrance in soft pastel colors that complement the depressing gray summer fog.  Supervisor, there are no funds available! Like: Hey, the bank is foreclosing on our house, but we picked out some beautiful drapes.

Second, Melgar wants to reduce the options for neighbors to access and patronize West Portal businesses during this SF recession.  But the tradeoff to the neighborhood and businesses is that streetcars will be able to save 15 seconds traversing West Portal Avenue before they immediately crawl, bottleneck, or breakdown within the Twin Peaks Tunnel.  Supervisor Melgar don’t be an ableist.  Not everyone is physically able to ride an electric motor bicycle. 

Muni and Director Tumlin need to be held accountable for project costs and for the cover up of the alleged crime that compromised the safety of the stranded Muni streetcar passengers.  And Supervisor Melgar, where is your concern for the compromised safety of your District Seven passengers? Nah, on second thought, can we incorporate a soft Warriors’ blue and golden yellow into the WP Station entrance color scheme?