Friday, May 13, 2011

Muni Overtime Budget Exceeds Expectations

Muni's budget for overtime this year was $30.8 million out of a total budget of $775 million. Now overtime has gone up $18 million to $48.3 million. Why?

A normal day for Muni requires 1,491 operators to run all services. And also on any normal day, they are short 300 of those required operators (which might explain why your bus never seems to be coming). Muni officials say that if they were to decrease the budget for overtime, buses would have to run less frequently, angering more passengers.

However, passengers are already angry. Comments in Chronicle article say things like, "The riding public will not miss the runs as it'll just be normal riding Muni" and "Is anyone working for this agency competent? Problems with drivers are well known, but it's pretty clear that management (especially the absentee Nat Ford) are a pack of idiots as well."

And the criticisms aren't just coming from the public, but from city officials as well. Board President David Chiu is accusing Muni officials for not taking their budget mishaps seriously, saying, "The years of promises remind me of Groundhog Day. Management is far better at providing excuses than delivering results."

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