A Closer Look At Muni's Meltdown

"The opening of the new T-Third streetcar line in San Francisco was supposed to be a crowning accomplishment for the Municipal Railway, an ambitious project that promised to accelerate economic revitalization and community pride in the city's struggling southeastern neighborhoods.

Instead, the 5.1-mile rail service expansion revealed profound flaws in the city's heavily used public transit system, unleashing a torrent of pent-up public scorn.

The problems run deep and have been years in the making. Severe staffing and funding shortages, inadequate and outdated communications equipment and maintenance facilities, and political inertia have created an operation damned by unreliability.

For riders, that means service delays -- the bane of any mass transit system. The Muni-was-late excuse wears thin for riders who regularly show up tardy to work, school, jury duty and child care.

So while Muni is the busiest transit operation in the Bay Area, arguably making it the region's most successful, it also is one of the most reviled."