More Than Half of Muni’s Pint-Sized Buses Sidelined by Stress Cracks on Brakes

“ When an issue like this one happens, the vehicle simply stops because of those redundant systems,” said Judson True, SFMTA chief of staff. “We are 100% confident that none of our riders or operators faced any safety issues from this incident. Safety is our top priority, and our response to this issue demonstrates that.”

In the short term, SFMTA said it plans to replace the brackets with new ones of an identical design, as parts become available. The agency said brake chamber brackets are not part of a normal maintenance inspection schedule, but the agency will now inspect the part once a month or every 2,000 miles.

In the long term, SFMTA said the manufacturer Meritor is making new reinforced and redesigned brake chamber brackets for its buses, and that it plans to install the component in the next few months. The fleet, made by El Dorado National California, first hit city streets in 2022, and the last was delivered last year.

The problem forced the agency to modify service for the 35 Eureka, 36 Teresita, 37 Corbett, 39 Coit, 56 Rutland, as longer replacement 40-foot buses couldn’t navigate some of the routes’ tight turns and narrow streets. Service has since been restored on all routes except the 36 and 37.

Theresa Flandrich, 70, a longtime resident of the city’s Telegraph Hill neighborhood, said she panicked when she found out her regular stop on the mountainous 39 route would no longer be serviced.

“I thought, my God, what are we going to do?” Flandrich said. “ We have so many seniors who have lived here for decades and decades and now really depend on this bus.”

Flandrich said she learned the news from fellow riders while waiting for the bus, and later from her neighborhood group, the Telegraph Hill Dwellers.

“It was very discombobulating to essentially have one day’s notice,” Flandrich said.

The SFMTA initially told riders that the fleet changes were due to preventative maintenance and that the service adjustments could last until at least December 2026. SFMTA told KQED on Thursday that it regretted the word choice and that “preventative maintenance is not the way we would describe what’s going on with these vehicles.”

Flandrich said service was disrupted on the 39 for about a week before it was restored.

SFMTA said it plans to return full service to the 36 Teresita by Monday, and that temporary reroutes of the 37 Corbett will remain in place until enough vehicles are available to restore full service. The agency said the stops affected have fewer than 150 average daily riders, but acknowledged that they are in steep terrain and riders may be especially challenged by service changes.

True said he does not expect that the SFMTA will incur any additional costs related to the brake chamber bracket issues.