New SF Muni Eco-Friendly Bus Malfunctions During Photo Op With Mayor Onboard
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - An event intended to unveil dozens of new San Francisco Municipal Railway buses hit a snag Monday when one of the buses malfunctioned.
Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials were on the new bus waiting to be taken to City Hall after a news conference at Pier 48 near AT&T Park when the mishap occurred.
The bus could not be driven away, and the mayor and the rest of the group had to be ushered onto another bus. Muni spokesman Paul Rose said it appears there was an issue with the bus' hydraulic system.
Crews were initially looking at the bus' hydraulic system as the source of the problem, but later determined that a sensor was incorrectly showing that the rear door of the vehicle was open, which prevented the bus from driving away, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.
The problem has since been resolved and crews will check the rest of the new buses to make sure similar issues don't pop up, Rose said.
The vehicles are part of a fleet of 62 new biodiesel-electric hybrid buses being introduced into the Muni system, which has not had any new buses since 2007, agency officials said.
Beginning this month, Muni will deploy the new hybrid buses, part of a five-year plan to replace the current fleet of buses with 62 new hybrids, according to officials.
The new buses were expected to bring clean, brand-new vehicles that use state-of-the-art hybrid and biofuel technologies to make one of the cleanest bus fleets in the nation, officials said.
In addition to the unveiling of the new buses, Mayor Lee honored Muni operator Felicia Anderson.
Anderson was the driver of the Muni bus who transported an injured passenger directly to a hospital after a shooting aboard a 19-Polk bus earlier this month.
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