New Chronicle story tonight on the paper’s website, SFGate. Excerpt:
The chief operating officer
for the Municipal Transportation Agency, Ken McDonald, said he happened
to observe the same operator running her streetcar at what he described
as an unsafe distance behind another streetcar on Market Street near
Van Ness Avenue around 5:15 p.m. Monday and phoned central control to
report the problem.He said he stayed on the line while central control contacted the
operator and advised her to put more distance between her vehicle and
the streetcar in front.
Seems to me that Muni is getting more aggressive about their communications of accident investigations. Pre-Nat Ford, it always seemed to be a brick wall deal, no naming the operator involved, absolute minimal details. Now, a much more open stance — names named, even (in this case) an accounting of a warning issued just an hour before the accident.
By the way, we checked on the cars involved in the accident today. No predictions on when either might return to service, but according to folks we talked to, the rear-end damage to PCC No. 1061 (Pacific Electric) “doesn’t look like a big deal,” but Milan No. 1807 “won’t be going anywhere for awhile.”
