Muni Apologizes to Biker's Family

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Executive Director Nathaniel Ford expressed his condolences Friday to the family and friends of a bicyclist killed in a collision with a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus on Thursday.
      
Derek Allen, 22, was biking north on Sixth Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Clement Street at about 5 p.m. Thursday when he collided with a Muni bus also traveling north.
      
The cause of the crash is still being investigated.

Initial reports from police indicated Allen may have crossed into the street in front of the bus, and the bus driver swerved but was unable to avoid him.

"This is a terrible tragedy," Ford said in a statement Friday. "I would like to extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

The accident "is a sad reminder that motorists, buses, trains, bikes and pedestrians often share a single transportation space, which
requires all users to remain vigilant."
      
The bus driver, identified by the SFMTA Friday as Tommie Barnett, appeared to have been shaken by the crash and was cooperating with the investigation, police said.
      
Barnett, who was hired by SFMTA in 2008, was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the crash, per the
agency's standard procedure.