>In those days, the CPUC exercised much oversight over all railroads in California. Federal law has since changed, leaving private railroads mostly to the F.R.A..

Changing the Federal Law doesn't necessarily affect nor reduce the PUC oversight. The PUC's jurisdiction over interstate railroads has been mostly for things like clearances, with just about everything else being pre-empted by the Federal (ICC/FRA). However, the PUC has/had a lot of oversight over private, intrastate operations, like the Key System, Market Street Ry, LA Ry, etc. (unlike the ICC regs, which are still in effect although under a different name, hammer tests are not required for un-drillable main reservoirs, for example, but this isn't so much the PUC as State pressure vessel law). It has never had oversight over municipal operations nor local agencies like the Muni and AC Transit. What has changed with regard to PUCinterstate railroad oversight is that about 10-15 years ago, there was [Federal] enabling legislation enacted to allow the PUC jurisdiction and oversight over many things the ICC/FRA used to keep all to itself, like blue flags (it was/is a manning and funding issue).

>While the CPUC plays a much smaller role, it does still regulate all public transit in the state.

It still doesn't regulate Muni, AC Transit, SCRRA, San Jose, Sacramento, etc.. It wouldn't have been able to regulate BARTD if the specification hadn't been written into the law in the first place.

>But this goes to show, as I have said on previous posts, that due to California State Law, municipalities and other public agencies are often sitting ducks to plundering contractors and vendors.

I like your story about Frank answering his own letters, and amen to the above paragraph.