Matier and Ross: Muni Bus Trainer Naps With Rookie Driver at Wheel
Photo by lpcmidst0128
A Muni audit uncovered some serious training shortage, not the least of which is the napping incident that San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier and Ross highlighted yesterday. Apparently the trainer was napping, chatting, and eating while the rookie driver navigated the roads. Scary.
A little while back, city auditors hopped on a Muni training bus as it rolled along Van Ness Avenue and watched in dismay as the driving teacher sat with his back to the road, eating and chatting with passengers and – believe it or not – taking a nap.
All this while the rookie recruit tried to navigate the bus through some of the city’s busiest traffic.
A couple of weeks later, the auditors got back on the same bus – and the same instructor was sitting fast asleep, with his back to the rookie driver.
The sleeping instructor was just one of many shortcomings uncovered by a recent city controller audit requested by Muni into its driver hiring and training program.
Matier and Ross said that Muni had to miss about 38 runs per day last year, leading to longer wait times for riders like you. Napping. Really?! More from the Matier and Ross story.
But of course I’m sure nothing happened to the napping “instructor” thanks to the union’s protection.
That guy is definitely not committed to his job.
Another Muni trainer wrote that its a thankless job, but a necessary one. A person really has to like training others (and that is not common). There are no set training vehicles, only what is available in the yard at that time (and if they’re all out, training has to wait). After a driver is promoted to a supervisory position, it could be years before they sit behind in driver’s seat again, so not everyone remembers everything about driving, should they be assigned to training. So, there is a shortage of trainers.