Meetings, those passenger enhancements will be retrofitted back into the fleet as well. I am pleased to have the opportunity to have to have you here from our Union Partners on the vehicle. We have been working now with two generations of Union Leadership to improve these vehicles. And we try to address concerns and some of the improvements that we have already made. I also shared by email this board and a response to a recent article that talks about white out for the cameras, and unfortunately, i believe there were several inaccuracies to that article. One of which is that the issue of glare is not unique to the l. R. P. Four or the fact that we use cameras instead of mirrors. The glare is most acute at west portal, which is why 15 years ago, we actually put up a convex mirror to provide additional availability visibility for our operators, which is part of how they are currently trained. [please stand by] we have, as part of the costing package that we originally brought to you, we have some place holder costs for what we anticipate things to be, so Something Like the flat wheels, which is an issue that both operators and mechanics have been raising for a long time are already built into that overall package that we brought, and at this time, we do not anticipate that package changing significantly, but theres still a lot of work to do as we get to those final estimates. So thats essentially where we are today. I know you had a long meeting, so i wont i wont go into too much more detail. I am committed to continuing these conversations. I know theres not an august meeting, but we will be back in september and im very hopeful that well start to see some strong traction on those 90day goals and really start to seeing these vehicles get to where we need them to be. Chair peskin thank you for your candor, the good news, the notsogood news, but really appreciate your constant updates to the sfcta. Are there any questions to miss kirschbaum from members . Supervisor safai . Supervisor safai yes. Thank you, miss kirschbaum, the flat wheels, i didnt see anything in your presentation, but that was the real reason that i wanted to have this presentation. What we learned from previous presentations is theres the way you all are training or have asked the operators to operate these vehicles is to hit the emergency mushroom versus using the manual break. The mushroom worked well, i think on the older brada is that how you say it . Brada. Supervisor safai i heard a life span of 100,000 miles versus 120,000. I know it is a mechanism that you just talked about. Youd have to ask the contractor, siemens to retrofit and change. Whats the cost of that overall to the entire system to fix that defect that was not known before purchase . Its about 30,000 per vehicle and about 5 million to 6 million total. Supervisor safai so is that something youll have to come back for approval or is that something youre asking the t. A. For . Its build into the package and prop k is one of the several Funding Sources that will go to address the overall replacement costs of these two. Supervisor safai so this was something that you would say based on the training of the operators because of what i heard you say about the whole emergency situations that people are safe, you taught them to hit the mushroom, and thats something that youve continued with the new system, the siemens . To clarify, we put a strong focus on using the mushroom on the brada vehicles. It was a campaign that took place a couple years ago, and it was based on some very serious safety issues, when we provided operators with familiarization on the new vehicle, we did highlight that you can get to the emergency break from the tstick, but many operators use that muscle memory and use that mushroom break when they have to make a lifeordeath decision. So we think that is a reality of operating two fleets at the same time. We will be continuing to operate a mixed fleet for the next four to six years, and during that time, well want to make sure to have as high a vehicle availability as possible. Supervisor safai so for you, it was a safety issue. That was why you didnt update the training and you encouraged the operators to use the mushroom. Is that what youre saying . We have made a strong investment in operators using the emergency button on the brada, which is the safest course of action. That same muscle memory theyre using when they use the l. R. V. 4s. Were not training them that way on the l. R. V. 4s, but thats what they do on the brada training. Supervisor safai so youre not encouraging them to use the mushroom on the brada . We are not. Supervisor safai so youre going to ask the 5 million to fix this . Yes. Supervisor safai so can we ask why that wasnt anticipated when you purchased the new vehicles because theyre, what, 3 million or 3. 5 million a vehicle . Thank you for that question. It is something that we learned along the way. So one of the things that we dont that we have learned with the l. R. V. 4s is the frequency of which operators are encountering these types of emergency situations where they need to use that. I think we underestimated the impact of operating two fleets, and that operators would need to maintain all of their brada skills while also adapting to the new vehicle. Supervisor safai and how much does this so you have to make a 6 million youre going to ask for a 6 Million Investment to change the brandnew vehicles that you just bought to accommodate this training. But before you do that, how much does it cost i understand you get flat wheels. What is it costing you for the system with that manner of using the emergency break rather than using a tstick . Its having two types of impacts. The first is that we have several vehicles that have had their wheels flattened too many times, and the entire wheel system needs to be replaced. Supervisor safai and whats the cost of that . [inaudible] so theres a Customer Impact such as crowding on our busy routes. Supervisor safai i mean, i guess, again, i just i know that again, im not accusing you. You just came into the position, but it makes no sense to me that we spend millions and millions of dollars on new vehicles, and we didnt anticipate vehicle replacements, we didnt anticipate training hours, we didnt anticipate trains being offline because we have one manner in which weve been training people to use one train, and that doesnt translate into the new train system. So its not really a 6 million increase, its significantly more than that from missing the opportunity to understand and again, this is not my area of expertise, this is your departments area of expertise, but it seems as though when you would be purchasing a vehicle, you would also understand or work with the operators to understand where they are in terms of the tool or the machine that theyre going to use to make this system effective. So again, i just asked the question. Why didnt that happen . Why were they not brought into the conversation to try to anticipate this stuff . Because you know, trains not being out the door means theres not trains and means theres a decrease in service in the system which decreases delays and frustration all over the city. Its very much what we as member of the t. A. And supervisors hear most frequently about the m. T. A. Theres not justienough vehicl the road. You seem to have went through a process of negotiation, and that went well, and now, were going to hire more operators, but it seems like this neverending cycle that, no pun intended, mushroom into these large issues for the agency. I think we share a common goal of trying to deliver Excellent Service for our customers and adjust problems as we see them, so i understand your attempt to i sign blame, and i apologize assign blame, and i apologize that i may not have the best understanding up to this point, but we are committed to our partners and moving forward on what is the best solution to this issue, which is putting additional track breaks on the vehicle. The testing of the brakes has been going smoothly. We anticipate in the next month or two, well be bringing it to the cpuc which is our safety and regulatory body and move from there. And im happy to answer any other questions. Supervisor safai i actually would like to hear from the operators to hear some of the insight that they have and as it pertains to some of the particular issues that they have with the old and new l. R. V. s. Earlier everybody was talking to safety, and safety pertaining to traffic, safety pertaining to pedestrians. Id like to talk about one word, blame, blame. If and when these new l. R. V. 4s, id like to ask you to please not blame the operators for manufacturing defects. Operators asked for a Rearview Mirror to be able to see in the back of their cab. Theres a Rearview Mirror that doesnt see anything, cant see anything. Operators asked for mirrors on the side of their trains so they could hopefully prevent people from being dragged under the trains as weve seen in the past couple of months, little old ladies and Senior Citizens. Two virtually identical situations of Senior Citizens being dragged under trains due to faulty doors. Very similar situations, however, the people that get blamed with it are the operators. I brought with me ramon galderamez, and hes more of an expert than i am. I only drove the p. C. C. S, and he drove the light rail, so he has a much more understanding of the defects related to the bradas, the l. R. V. 4s. However, i want everybody to take that word, blame. Its not the operators fault that they have a monitor approximately this size right here inside their vehicle in which theyre supposed to look 150, 160 feet back. And on top of that, their monitor whites out, as weve seen through the reporting thats been done on the some news stations. So please, lets just take that word into consideration and try and shift that blame, that focus. With that in mind, id like to bring up ramon galdamez. Good morning, commissioners. Im ramon galdamez. Ive been with the department 18 years. The light rail operators are deeply concerned about the safety mechanism in place on the lrv4s. They are concerned with the lrv4 not stopping in a timely manner. As you all know, the lrv4 has many issues, including a safety efficiency. Something needs to be done. We are being instructed to apply this. Proper planning appropriates poor performance. They should have come to this. Actually, i may know more about this equipment than i know about my wife. I spend 10, 12 hours on a daily basis. We are responsible for this equipment. As i stand before you, i am asking you to reconsider before we let this unat ttamed lion o dinosaur into the street. With that said, i will please implore you. I have had numbers of conversations and discussions with m. T. A. Team, and it seems like to be they are going down the tube. They are reluctant to do something about it because the trains are here, and we realize that being here means theyre going to force for us to adjust and to accommodate ourselves rather than saying we have something here that is something here that we have to deal with but its something thats not being built. Thank you. Supervisor safai thank you, gentlemen. Im happy to have someone else ask questions. But what i heard loud and clear, it doesnt sound like there was a lot of consultation with the operators when purchasing this. I guess, miss kirschbaum, if you could come back up, i have a couple questions. All those contracts with siemens are all the lrvs purchased and are we stuck with siemens going forward, or is this the only option that you all are committed to . I believe that addressing the design issues that were facing with the current vehicle is our best option the alternative would be to start from scratch and replace the bradas on a much slower time frame. Its anticipated that the First Vehicles would arrive six years from now, and until then, we would continue to operate them as best we could, which would not be very good for at least ten years. And its also very unlikely that the next vehicle that we purchased would not be it would likely be more expensive. Supervisor safai one of the things that i heard you say yesterday that was positive was that now that you have discovered this issue with the breaking mechanism going forward, the new siemens vehicles will be retrofitted, and you wont have all the mechanic hours and replacement is that correct . Yes. Supervisor safai so because weve anticipated this short coming, we can go forward. What about some of the other things that you heard . Rearview mirrors, monitors being so small that they white out . Have you heard these concerns from the operators . Yes, and that was the intent of my slide six was to talk about the improvements that weve made, the improvements that we have finalized the design on, and the improvements that we are working closely to finalize, including replacing the monitoring to a teninch screen. Supervisor safai but i dont see mirrors on that. The mirror that ramon was commenting on was considered, but we are not planning ongoing to an exterior mirror. We believe that the monitors offer enhanced visibility. Supervisor safai i know that commissioner walton wanted to ask some questions through the chair. Commissioner walton . Supervisor walton i think you asked the questions i had. Supervisor safai having worked with organizatied laborr almost a decade, that was often missed. When were crafting legislation and policies, were not thinking about people that are actually doing the work and on the front lines, and i think it causes these types of mishaps, and in our situation, its costing millions and millions of dollars and could have been anticipated better, for sure, including some of the people that actually do the work. Mirrors, monitors, but training in terms of braking seems to e a very obvious thing. Mr. Marenco, did you have Something Else that you wanted to add . Well, i just wanted to say that our communication is impro improving, and with the help of ramon, the agency has been addressing them, so we are in the process of remedying as many safety issues as we possibly can. Its just unfortunately its just somewhat timeconsuming. Were not against bringing in any time of new vehicle because were all with the hopes of improving our overall general lifestyle in transportation and just improving. However, what it is that were operating has to be in a safe manner, it has to be done in a safe manner, so we are definitely in the process of trying to fix whatever little quirks or safety issues that arise. Supervisor safai thank you. And ill just say, having been a commissioner here for 2. 5 years, this is the first time that weve actually had someone from organized labor come in to the sfmta. So i would say particularly when it comes to light rails or any other operation in terms of mechanics or decisions that are being made, i would encourage the Transportation Authority and the leadership of the sfmta to have that conversation up front. We want to invite you back on a more frequent basis so you can be part of these conversations up front so that youre not an afterthought and were not spending millions of dollars to correct something that you and your operators could have anticipated very easily. So thank you for taking the time and sitting here with us. Thank you, mr. Chair, and thank you, miss kirschbaum. Chair mandelman we do have some Public Comment. Hi, everyone. Thank you for a very interesting meeting today. And i also want to thank julie for your report that changes are being made, so i appreciate that. I just want to say one little thing about the operator situation. He feels very concerned about being blinded by the cameras, and he would like the Rearview Mirrors back. Theres a strong vote for mirrors. Okay. So now, i want to address another issue of health and safety, which is the number of passenger seats. And i want to first say that i was in a hard stop in the tunnel at 36 miles an hour and it was only the seats that stopped our motion. I am concerned about sudden braking in these open cars, and i am worried that people will get thrown about and hurt. Since i was also injured sitting sw sitting sideways in the new cars, i interviewed last fall the muni riders and found out that half liked the new cars and half didnt. It was the same 50 that the 2014 survey that the muni got. They didnt like the trains where they wanted to sit, so at least seats are coming back, which is good. Oh, 30 seconds, okay. Im very concerned, a lot of people are getting injured sitting sideways, and i interviewed 400 more in march. They told me think have sciatica, they have scoliosis, they have pregnancy, back problems, motion sickness, a rod in the back. I have lyme disease. My joints are unstable. We need the forward seat does back, and seats back, and im also concerned about the double number. I would like to see forward seats as part of a health and safety design in these new cars. Supervisor mandelman next speaker. Vice chair mandelman, this is a very important issue as i ride the subway often. Im paying for this in two ways. I tap my clipper® card, and then, 1 out of every sales tax pays for that, so ive got some standing here. Safety above all and this is very complex work. I read that the new york city subway, which im sure some of you have been on. If not, i encourage you to try it. Has 16 different types of vehicle in active service, some of which go back to 1964, so i would like to see how they manage slotting employees into 16 different types of vehicles. We have to work on our mean distance between failures. Im seeing as 5,000, 6,000 miles between failures. Thats the range of the new york city subways back in the days of the graffiti, and the broken lights and all of that. They worked through that, but they still have issues that they have to solve. I mention to you as a person of disabilities, that sideways seats are very important to me. I ask that you not totally eliminate the sideways facing seats. Some sideways facing seats must be preserved in these vehicles. Im not saying it has to be one or the other. There must be a reasonable mix. I do not have to explain to you my reasons for my disabilities, but please do not eliminate the sideways facing seats, and remember, safety above all. Thank you. Supervisor mandelman thank you. Are there any other members of the public who would like to speak before i close Public Comment . Good afternoon, edward mason. Im really disappointed that this is a 30year decision and consequently to me, its a 30year disappointment. The flat wheels is continuing. When i came down today at 24th and church on a grade, the vehicle seemed to have the wheels spin before it would engage and get traction. The acceleration is slow, and also, the door opening and closing is slow, so thats p