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Controller audit finds fare-collection gaps on San Francisco cable cars; MTA outlines training and booth-staffing plan
Summary
A controller observational audit found conductors failed to collect fares on 17 of 42 cable-car boardings (40%) and reported inconsistent issuance of receipts; MTA said it will retrain conductors, increase terminal staffing, use plainclothes monitoring and request a re-audit next year.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee heard the controller's financial audit of Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) cable car fare-collection practices and recommended operational fixes.
Cynthia Fong, the controller's financial audit manager, said auditors rode 42 one-way cable-car trips in December and January and observed that conductors failed to collect fares on 17 boardings — about 40% of observed trips. The auditors also recorded at least 76 passengers who did not pay or were asked to show passes, and noted several instances in which receipts were not offered even when cash was collected.
MTA's Judson True told the committee the agency does not believe policy is the primary problem but acknowledged gaps in implementation. MTA proposed to retrain and certify conductors on hands-on fare collection, perform frequent operations briefings, deploy rotating plainclothes observers and manager ride-alongs, and fully staff revenue booths at cable-car terminals through the FY2007-08 budget to encourage fare payment before boarding. True said the agency will also develop management reports to monitor collections and invited the controller to re-audit next year to check progress.
Supervisors pressed for more granular revenue data. MTA representatives said there are roughly 7.5 million cable-car boardings a year and that systemwide fare-revenue assumptions have been revised downward this fiscal year by about $10 million to $15 million; MTA said it will provide precise shortfalls and daily or crew-level breakdowns if requested. Public comments from San Francisco Beautiful and other riders urged pre-boarding fare collection, use of transfers and shorter headways to reduce overcrowding that impedes onboard collection.
The committee took no formal vote on policy changes at the hearing and continued the item to the call of the chair for follow-up reporting and potential further oversight.
