Facts

Do you know these muni injury facts?

Did you know that per passenger mile, cable cars are the most accident prone form of public transport in the country. The "collision" and "collision injury" rates for cable cars are consistently higher than buses, trolley buses, light rail, heavy rail and commuter rail.

Did you know that in the four years ending at the close of December 2002, Muni paid $42.2 million in compensation to more than 4,000 accident victims. Pedestrians received $15.2 million of the total.

Did you know that in 2005, cable cars had more than double the “collision injury" rate of regular buses, more than three times the rate of electric trolley buses, and nearly four times the rate of light rail. And in 2004, it was even worse: more than three times worse than regular buses, four times worse than light rail, and five times worse than trolley buses.

Did you know 10 pedestrians died in Muni bus crashes in 1998, 1999, and 2000. During this time frame, Seattle transit bus drivers were involved in accidents that killed one person. In Atlanta, two pedestrians were killed. The same number died in Boston and Washington, D.C. One pedestrian died in Sacramento, none in San Diego. 33 percent of all pedestrians killed by vehicles in San Francisco during this time were killed by Muni buses, according to the federal data.

Did you know if you look at the raw numbers, Muni buses seriously hurt more people than cable cars – over seven times more last year.

Did you know that in February 2007 channel 7 asked MUNI to give it the public complaint forms for the 25 bus drivers who got the most complaints over the last three years, and Muni was all set to hand them over until the bus drivers' union sued the agency and ABC7. Then, Muni made a deal to keep the drivers' identities secret, in exchange for the union dropping its suit.

Did you know that in 2002, Muni had 109 accidents per million miles traveled. By comparison, the King County Department of Transportation, which serves the Seattle metropolitan area, had 38 accidents per million miles. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority had 35, Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 27, and Atlanta's MARTA just 25. From 1989 to 1999, Muni's accident rate increased by 11 percent (reaching a high of 124 four years ago)

Did you know that Proposition E, passed by voters in November 1999, restructured the governing board of Muni and called for safety improvements. Mayor Willie Brown increased the agency's budget by $100 million. But the core safety problems remain unresolved.