The SFMTA hopes to collect $5.5 million from cable car fares this year, but payouts to passengers injured in accidents on the vehicles could take a chunk out of that revenue.
While Muni pays an $2.4 million annual premium for an insurance policy designed to cover “major incidents” (quantified as claims between $5 million to $25 million), it’s doubtful if that insurance policy will cover two large-but-not-large-enough awards the MTA’s expected to pony up in the coming months.
In one case, a July 2008 derailment at Washington and Powell injured four passengers. According to the Ex, one of the victims, Alma Del Bosque, has been offered $2 million to compensate her for injuries. Two more injured passengers, Marie Romo and Dyllan Lopez, have been offered $50,000 each. Total there: $2.1 million, to come out of the MTA’s coffers.
The Ex also notes that a collision between a cable car and a double-parked car in December 2009 caused passenger John Gainor’s left foot to be “crushed in the accident and later…to be amputated.” The city offered Gainor $2.75 million for his troubles, but he refused to settle and will take the matter to trial in June, 2011.
I’ll freely admit that it’s imperfect thinking to break this down as a simple $5.5 million “profit” to a $4.85 million (or more, depending on Gainor’s jury) loss. After all, accident payouts are perhaps part of the cost of the transit business. Maybe it makes more sense to think of cable cars as attractive but somewhat unreliable loss leaders for the agency?
In any case, the plight of some of the players in these incidents remains unchanged: MTA spokesperson Paul Rose tells the Ex that the operators involved in both accidents remain employed by the SFMTA.
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