Bay Citizen: Muni Knew About Inflated On-Time Reports

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The SFMTA may have known about its inflated on-time reports as early as two years ago but did not address the issues, according to a new report in The Bay Citizen. Earlier in May, The Bay Citizen asserted that the SFMTA had “redefined time” (my favorite comment in our comments section: “MUnits are related to minutes because they are both a measure of time. A minute is ALWAYS 60 seconds long. A MUnit can last from 30 seconds to 260 seconds or much much longer.”). Today’s report basically says that the SFMTA knew about it longer than we thought.

In a memo to top executives, including the CEO, Muni’s chief information officer detailed the accounting maneuvers, called “quirks,” that were boosting the numbers reported to the public by as much as 18 percent.

Muni has been under pressure to improve timeliness since 1999, when San Francisco residents voted to require the transit agency to be on time at least 85 percent of the time. For years, bonuses for the Muni chief have also been tied to performance measures, including on-time performance.

There you have it. You can read the rest of the report at The Bay Citizen.