Muni’s Video Vault

Yes, we really spent thousands of dollars fighting the City of San Francisco and Muni to protect your right to public documents. They didn’t want us to see surveillance videos from their buses. It all started more than a year ago when we tried to figure out a way to quantify the problems plaguing the system. So, we asked for all the passenger complaint forms for the twenty-five drivers who’ve received the most complaints. The city and Muni fought us in court over that. Then, we realized they had a cache of surveillance videos from their busses for those twenty-five drivers. They resisted, so we went back to court and won.

Tonight’s story is just the first of many to come. It features a woman and her four children, boarding a Muni bus with Anthony Jones at the wheel. The bus pulls away with its back door open – two of the children fall out, but the driver refuses to stop. You can watch the scene play out here uncut. A warning: there is some cursing, as you might expect.

We’ll have more from Muni’s Video Vault tomorrow at six and throughout February. If you happen to have had a serious complaint against a Muni driver in the past three years, we’d like to hear from you. Who knows? You might be on video.

One other note. In tonight’s story, you heard from Muni chief Nat Ford. Yes, we really have been trying to get him to comment for a year. His spokespeople would always offer some other bureaucrat, but never Ford. So, we decided to send one of our I-Team producers to meet Ford at a Muni board meeting this week. Believe me, I would have loved to have gone myself, but …

I’m recovering from ankle surgery.

Comments

[concerned]

It's people like him that just brighten your day. Thank God I wasn't there...I would've beaten up in a heart beat! And, if you watched ABC 7 News they said he was #2 on the worst Muni/public transportation drivers' list. I can't wait to find out who's #1.

[mythoughts]

are you going to do a story on the GOOD DRIVERS, or the BAD INCIDENTS THAT HAPPEN TO DRIVERS DURING 10PM - 4AM ON FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS?

[LChandra]

I don't surprise to see this. The system give them a chance to behave like that. What we need to do is to change the system. I'm sick and tired to see the MUNI driver behavior.

[mythoughts]

everybody has been boarding the back of the bus for a century and now there's a sign saying it's illegal. Muni buses should be FREE! The city should pay the drivers more.

how would you feel having a gun pointed in your face, being assaulted? how long would it take for you to go back to work or would you go back?
how would you feel driving for hours not able to eat or go to the restroom during commute hours 5a - 9a or 3p - 7p?
"why is the bus late?" here are some reasons: an accident, road closure, bus broke down, critical mass, parade, etc. hummmm????

[Akit]

I hate Muni. This is #2? I might know who is number one...

Here's just a "short" list of incidents I witnessed or involved in that made me hate Muni on my blog site:

* Late vehicles.
* Incompetent customer service people that talk so slowly and speak so poorly, that it is not funny.
* Violated speed limit laws.
* Drove way too slow on route.
* Ran red lights.
* Went five seconds before green light lit to get ahead of cars waiting for green.
* Violated pedestrian right of way (I nearly got hit by a bus that way).
* Failure to make complete stop at stop sign.
* Skipped stops intentionally to make-up time.
* Sat packed bus for five minutes to not get caught by supervisor for being too early.
* Same driver intentionally skipped a major bus stop multiple times, continued to complain to driver and officials.
* Broken metro stairwell in down position while train operated in subway. Doors would open and pose major safety risk.
* I said to a driver that a crime was committed on the train, and that I already reported it to police on the phone. Driver just shrugged and kept driving.
* One station agent per station. Many stations have two booths. Wonder why people just break the law and ride free.

[JPF]

I can't tell you how many times I have seen extremely inappropriate behavior from MUNI drivers. Much of it racist or bigoted towards disabled riders. But it's not all of them.

The great majority of drivers are very good drivers. I ALWAYS make sure to say Thank You and Hello. And I urge all riders to do the same. Simple respect goes a long way for everyone. But the A-Holes that give MUNI a bad rap need to go, and they need to go NOW. Individuals with serious personality issues should not be interacting with the public in this way. It's called Customer Service...and MUNI needs to be accountable. Thank God I-Team is doing something about it, Lord knows the corrupt SF politicians are just playing games and not caring about their residents. Step it up Supes! Si se puede!

[Common Decency]

Wow. That jerk deserves to be FIRED. Obviously, it's a thankless job but if multiple people are screaming that children fell off the bus and people come all the way to the front of the bus to inform you, you should investigate. Hmm, I don't know, maybe stop for a second. Oh but he'll stop the bus and run after her when she throws soda in his face. What an ass.

[u5297]

I find it hard to believe there is a Muni driver who is WORSE than Anthony Jones...or a more apathetic Muni chief than Nat Ford!

[Andrew in San Jose]

What a RUDE SOB! This is a classic case of IF YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR JOB, QUIT!!! This nasty man thinks he deserves his pension for being rude to people along with absolutely endangering their lives. He's simply biding his time until retirement day and at taxpayer expense and then gets rewarded for being a derelict. Why this jerk hasn't been at least taken off active duty and given a nasty desk job is beyond me. It appears that the agency is scared by someone of color threatening to sue the City and then the City being afraid of the repercussions. We don't need people like this in ANY job! When are companies going to stand up to these troublemakers once and for all. In the old days, if you didn't perform at your job, you were FIRED. Plain and simple. And best of all, blackballed because you could tell a potential employer what a pain in the neck this person was. We need to get back to this and have some kind of backbone to stand up to these people with chips on their shoulders...people of ANY ethnic background. Lousy workers are LOUSY workers and it's time to get rid of people like this.

[grannygear]

Most drivers are ok. Many of them hide behind their little enclosure with the door closed and have no interaction with passengers whatsoever. Many are just wonderful and you can tell they love their jobs. Anyone can have a bad day considering what they have to deal with every day, besides getting no lunch breaks or any breaks including bathroom unless they take it for themselves. But you can tell the drivers who are just miserable people and shouldn't be driving a bus or doing anything with the public at all. That remark Jones made to Huff about "why they let you people on the buses at all" should be reported to Americans with Disabilities, and he should be fired just for that if nothing else. I am a union supporter, but that union guy didn't seem to care about the welfare of the passengers at all. All he could do was complain about their records being made public, but that was won in court. His lack of caring about the passengers really p_____ me off.

[grannygear]

p.s. I agree with Andrew of San Jose. Incompetent employees everywhere must either be taught and made to be competent or let go - it's unconscionable some of the employees that are leashed upon the public in all service industries. And people wonder what's happened to this country, why people are angry all the time. Some of the sheer stupidity I've encountered with customer service people has made me livid, like when the Shark employee, a young man, after repeatedly sending the wrong item, tried to convince this great-grandmother that I didn't know the difference between a telescoping handle and a telescoping wand for a vacuum cleaner! Thanks for letting me vent this.

[casahn]

As a bus driver in another area, that guy makes us ALL look bad. I am appaled that this guy is still driving for MUNI!! Even the union can't argue in his favor. What's going on???

[Suzanne in Laytonville]

We were in the City on Oct. 4th, 2007 and had the misfortune to have Anthony Jones as one of our Muni drivers. We had missed the stop we needed and ended up having to go back. Mr. Jones refused to give us any information as to which bus (we needed a "short bus") even after we told him we were not from S.F. and were lost. He was extremly rude then refused to ackowledge we were speaking to him at all. The other drivers we encountered were helpful and pleasant.

[oliop]

I got so distraught with Muni drivers (#48) running through my neighborhood stop sign that I took film footage of them and sent it to Muni. No response, nothing. There's no accountability at Muni, and despite the fact that some driver's are good, the middle and upper management at Muni is so broken that they cannot of will not improve it.

And since when is camera footage supposed to protect the driver's privacy? You're in a public space, so behave like it! Fiona Ma made it clear that Muni footage is not private when they started issuing tickets to people who park in bus stops. Oh, wait. Unless you're a Muni driver that parks his/her car in a bus stop... :)

[JC in SF]

Hey Dan, recently there was a story about Muni having cameras to take pictures of cars that park in bus zones. Who is going to track the Bus drivers who do not utilize bus stops and instead double parks next to the bus stop or pulls in at a 45 degree angle to the bus stop to just pick up or drop off one passenger. These drivers constantly block traffic and I see this a lot on busy 19th ave. I dont think it is fair for Muni to do this unless someone is watching them.
Oh yea, about Anthony Jones, i believe in karma and i'm sure it will come back and bite him in the a$$ one day.

[James]

In response to MyThoughts

A small list reasons why Schedules are LATE (show me a printed schedule)

Wheelchairs - take forever to load and secure have your money ready Dumb Ass!
Read the sign!
EXACT CHANGE!
Watch the whole film I ASSUME her intention was to try to get a FREE RIDE by holding up the bus and asking 4 change hoping the driver would forget about to stay on schedule.
I would not pick her up either after watching the WHOLE FILM and her OVER REACT to a comment made by the driver. Notice she keeps going on and on amd the driver had said nothing more.

Traffic

Accidents

Construction

Parade

Fairs

Protests

Driver Shortage (missing schedules causes next schedule to pick up 2Xs the people and takes 2Xs longer depart each stop)

PEOPLE COMPLAIN! IF 2 PEOLPE COMPLAIN AT EACH STOP AND TAKES AN EXTRA 10 SECONDS TO LOAD AND THERE ARE 50 STOPS THATS 500 SECONDS OR OVER 8 MINS.

BETTER LATE THEN NEVER!

SPEED LIMIT LAWS
Guess you NEVER broke them before. There are 1800+ operators and 1 of you..... and can't speed to catch up with time so it's OK to be late. Don't know why people are complain about late buses. SAFETY 1st!

TOO SLOW?
I WOULD NEVER WANT A BUS TO RUN EARLY, ITS NOT THERE FAULT SCHEDULERS SCHEDULE TOO MUCH RUNNING TIME.

Went five seconds (over exagerated) before green light lit to get ahead of cars waiting for green.
IN S.F. if you had to wait for every car to pass you will be late and people will complain.(again) Most cars don't yield to buses pulling out even though its the LAW.

Skipped stops intentionally to make-up time
I noticed usually there is a bus right behind or it was FULL.

Sat packed bus for five minutes to not get caught by supervisor for being too early. - ONCE AGIAN TOO MUCH RUNNING TIME.

Same driver intentionally skipped a major bus stop multiple times, continued to complain to driver and officials. DID THE CHIME aka BELL MALFUNCTION maybe a FULL BUS or EMPTY BUS and NO ONE AT THE STOP. WERE YOU DRIVING?

I said to a driver that a crime was committed on the train, and that I already reported it to police on the phone. Driver just shrugged and kept driving.
I HEAR A LOT OF DRIVERS SAY "MUNI WILL NOT BACK YOU UP" SO DRIVERS DON'T GET INVOLVED BECAUSE IT MAY POSE A DANGER MAYBE EVEN LOST OF LIFE IN THE FUTURE IF THEY REGONIZE THE DRIVER THAT TURNED THEM IN BUT THEY MAY NEVER FIND YOU AGAIN.

[James]

ONE MORE THING, THE DRIVER HAS NO CONTROL OF THE BACK DOOR IT'S AUTOMATIC AND ITS ILLEGAL TO GO THROUGH THE BACK DOOR ANYWAYS. SO TECHNICALLY THE OPERATOR DID NOTHING WRONG AND THE BUS CAN'T MOVE UNTIL ALL DOORS ARE FULLY CLOSED UNLESS THE SYSTEM WAS DEFECTIVE. ALSO ITS HARD TO TELL IF THE BACK DOOR WAS OPENED CLOSING OR CLOSED BEFORE THE BUS STARTED FORWARD ACCORDING TO THE VIDEO.

[James]

ONE MORE THING, THE DRIVER HAS NO CONTROL OF THE BACK DOOR IT'S AUTOMATIC AND ITS ILLEGAL TO GO THROUGH THE BACK DOOR ANYWAYS. SO TECHNICALLY THE OPERATOR DID NOTHING WRONG AND THE BUS CAN'T MOVE UNTIL ALL DOORS ARE FULLY CLOSED UNLESS THE SYSTEM WAS DEFECTIVE. ALSO ITS HARD TO TELL IF THE BACK DOOR WAS OPENED CLOSING OR CLOSED BEFORE THE BUS STARTED FORWARD ACCORDING TO THE VIDEO.

[Akit]

Hey... thanks for the insults in capital letters. How about next time, you do your personal attacks somewhere else?

All of what I said is true to the point. I could save hundreds by not driving, but I have no trust in Muni.

[Peter Dalton]

I think the public needs to get inventive regarding this seeing Muni and its drivers Union doesn't want to do anything regarding this. One thing someone suggested to me was to picket Anthony Jones's bus and see what happens when he keeps handing in a bus with no fares in its cash box. I hope the ADA and Supervisor Alito-Pier really gives it to this guy. I do agree with a previous post regarding show casing the good drivers as well.

[Brandon]

True enough... there are bad drivers at Muni and elsewhere across the country.

But, after watching the video I am prompted to ask, "what did the driver do wrong?"

How is he suppose to know someone is boarding the rear door when no one is suppose to do that to begin with. It's illegal.

But, he shouldn't have left teh bus stop with the doors open.

[MrTemplar1]

Regardless of legality and of weather a person is entering or exiting a bus using the rear door.
It is the Bus drivers' responsibility to be sure that the rear door is not only closed, but that the passengers are safely away from it before movement can commence...so any claim that illegal entry clears the bus driver is just wrong.
Also video I've seen clearly shows the disregard the driver had even after being informed that children had fallen off the bus until the momma showed up front...Clearly the family needs a good lawyer to sue the SHIT out of San Francisco Muni. A public entity which should also have public access to all records. If the company is private, it makes not a difference in the world.

[Tara]

Not only are the bus drivers rude in San Francisco, they are also performing this same behavior in Oakland.

The disable word must be spreading throughout the transportation union. When these bus drivers become disable they will understand the rule of ADA.

[MrTemplar1]

Does anyone know what line the busdriver runs so I can avoid it?
I would like to avoid that bus, I am not a weakling and will defend my rights as a passenger if he were to do something against another or myself........

[gg]

Muni's buses are equipped with an interlock system. The buses will not move with a door opened. The irate lady passenger,that was screaming and attacking the driver, kids did not fall out of the bus...they never got on. The back doors are activated from the inside by touhing the door touch bars on some or stepping down on the second step on others. The mother made it on after a passenger stepped off, but the doors will close on you if you get caught in them but, with the sensitive edge mechanism equipped on muni vehicles the doors will reopen when that happens. Her children didnt get caught in the door...the driver had closed the doors and the mother and apparently 1 of her children made it on, but the other ones never did. The mother said to the driver that he LEFT her kids. The mother is not saying that they fell out of the bus...! How could they? They never made it on. SHE left her kids. Not to mention she was teaching them an illegal act. The passengers intervening said her kids fell out of the bus. If those kids would have fallen out...they would have been seriously injured and/or possibly run over. The mother is upset because she had to get off and go get her kids. The news really should get their facts straight before they air a story. This story is a clear case of the public lies that muni has to fight in court. Its common sense that had those kids fallen out of a bus that they would have been injured, ambulance, police and city claims would have been involved. It's really sad as to how a reporter as well known would not do his investigation on this story before he aired it. Shame on you. That video actually shows that the driver did not do anything wrong. He has a clear view out of his mirrors as he leaves a bus zone. The police actually cited the mother. The driver contiunued on in service. No injured kids and this story is actually false. Anthony Jones actually has a law suit against Dan Noyes for false allegations because the video clearly has the mother saying that her kids were left behind.