Cracked brake parts ground 17 Muni buses

Over half of Muni’s 32-foot buses are currently out for repair after the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency identified a faulty brake safety component issue, according to reporting from KQED. Repair technicians found stress cracks on the brake chambers for 17 out of 30 shorter buses, according to a July 2 memorandum from Julie Kirschbaum, SFMTA’s director of transportation, to Mayor Daniel Lurie and the SFMTA Board of Directors.

Read more Successful California wildlife tunnel just the start for these struggling pumas

Michael Roccaforte, a spokesperson for SFMTA, explained to SFGATE: “When we discovered that, we grounded the entire fleet of 30 buses until we could inspect them for safety,” he said in an email. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our utmost priority.”

This has affected the routes that cover some of the city’s steepest hills and slightest side streets: the 35 Eureka, 36 Teresita, 37 Corbett, 39 Coit, 56 Rutland, 66 Quintara and 67 Bernal Heights lines, with 40-foot buses not being able to substitute for the shorter buses, given the tight turns and passage though narrow streets. The 36 Teresita, which had nine stops impacted, was able to resume full service on Monday, according to the memo.

Roccaforte told SFGATE that only one line remains affected: the 37 Corbett. The 37 Corbett is still detoured, skipping portions of Buena Vista Terrace, Buena Vista Avenue East and Upper Terrace due to safety issues brought up by its new, larger replacements. The reroute begins at Roosevelt Way & Buena Vista Terrace, with buses continuing via Roosevelt Way to get back to the regular route.

SFMTA reported that it sent ambassadors in the morning and during peak travel times in the evening to direct riders whose stops would be affected. Although the ridership of those stops was reported to be less than 150 daily riders on average, SFMTA acknowledged that the stops are in steep terrain and that riders who use these stops may be “especially challenged” by the reroutes.

The memo concludes that, although brake chamber brackets were not part of a normal maintenance inspection schedule, SFMTA now inspects the brakes once a month or every 2,000 miles.

Read more Calif. rescue team finds 70-year-old man after weeklong search

Roccaforte could not provide an exact estimate as to when the remaining short buses would return to service or when the 37 Corbett will resume full service, but he said SFMTA will be posting an update “as soon as possible.”

The memo stated that SFMTA is working with the bus and component manufacturers to implement a long-term fix to the issue. “We expect our maintenance staff to begin installing the new component in the next few months,” the memo read.

“They’re working as quickly as possible to get these buses back on the road,” Roccaforte told SFGATE.