A state inspector reports that a Muni operator was sleeping while his light-rail vehicle was on automatic. Another incident notes the operator left a vehicle unsecured to buy a snack from a store. And on a separate day, five out of 13 vehicles were observed by radar to be speeding through school zones.

Thee CPUC announced that it is formally investigating San Francisco’s Muni light-rail system for pervasive safety problems. The agency could be fined as much as $20,000 a day per violation, depending on the case outcome. The CPUC began investigating Muni because the transit agency failed to respond quickly enough to safety concerns. After CPUC made the announcement, regulators released almost 300 pages of inspection reports covering the past three years. The report provides insight into ongoing safety concerns — each violation has been outlined, though many cases have been “closed,” meaning that Muni responded to the CPUC’s satisfaction.

Muni spokesman Paul Rose said these were isolated incidents and each case was handled appropriately. “These specific incidents are not reflective of our overall operations, and in each case appropriate disciplinary actions were taken to ensure this didn’t happen again,” Rose said. Walter Scott III of the Transport Workers Union Local 250A said these incidences are rare.  “That is a safety issue, but I don’t see how that’s a widespread safety issue,” Scott said. “I think they’re isolated cases.”