Published Friday, May 6, 2005, in the San Francisco Examiner

Letters to the Editor

Muni noise suit

Just when I thought I'd seen them all, another frivolous lawsuit is
introduced <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/24201> into
our courts. How does the plaintiff suing over San Francisco's Muni
buses expect Muni to rectify his perceived problem? Muni faces many
difficult challenges, including the purchase of safe transit
vehicles with clean engines that are powerful enough to climb San
Francisco's hills.

If this guy thinks his neighborhood is noisy, he should spend a
day around Hyde and California, where I live. Between St. Francis
Hospital and three fire stations within a mile of the neighborhood,
there are emergency vehicles with sirens blaring coming down the
streets throughout the day, and sometimes the night.

It's difficult to sympathize with an individual who lives in a rent-
controlled unit in one of our city's most exclusive neighborhoods.

One of the reasons why I moved to San Francisco from Michigan is
because of the mass-transit options available to folks like me who
do not have cars. I don't think Muni is perfect, but I also don't
think it's as bad as many claim. San Franciscans should worry about
solving Muni problems that actually have reasonable solutions.

Mike O'Dell
The City