San Francisco Controller's Audit Critical Of MTA's Sustainable Streets Program

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Does San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency waste money leasing public parking garages to private operators? Is the agency, known commonly as the MTA, falling behind on maintenance of street signs, traffic signals and curb markings? The answer is a resounding yes, according to a just-released Controller's audit, which is highly critical of the agency's Sustainable Streets program.

Specifically, the audit takes aim at MTA's Sustainable Streets division because that's the arm of the agency charged with managing San Francisco's parking and traffic programs. The report says leasing six public parking garages to private corporations unnecessarily costs the agency more than $500,000 annually.

The audit also maintains there's little to no preventative maintenance performed on the signals, signs and street markings, and accuses of the agency of failing to comply with federal standards established to make certain they are clearly visible to motorists and pedestrians.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

Two years ago, the MTA created its Sustainable Streets division to manage the public parking garages and oversee the care of signals, curb markings and traffic signs.

It's a division that, by its own account, is still getting organized.

""We do constant preventative maintenance throughout the city," insisted MTA spokesman Paul Rose. "Because we have to. And we do it on a daily basis."

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)