Some hysterically accurate cartoons:

Right to DRIVE!

I remember the San Francisco Muni Metro. It was supposed to be the answer to all traffic congestion in downtown SF, all of Market Street from Van Ness to the Bay. Have you see the traffic on Market from Van Ness to the Bay?

So, what happened? Oh, a variety of things, but most of all -- it seems to me -- The City couldn't stick with the original plan. Thus, what was sold to the citizens isn't what they got. What was sold was an underground "metro" system that sat above the BART subway, and was built at the same time. (Both were built via the trench system. That is, they dug up Market Street and went to work, closing the street back up when they were done. It was, to put it mildly, a mess, but my Grandfather -- a civil engineer from Ohio -- BS'd his way into a tour and was happy.)

The design called for sidewalks along Market to be widened to allow improved pedestrian flow. Market was, at the time, six lanes wide, three in either direction, with the center two being shared as rail lines for the existing Muni railway. The plan was that the above ground Muni system, would vanish, at least from Van Ness on down.

(Actually, the K, M, and L lines would go underground on the other side o' the mountains, while the J and N lines would vanish as they approached Market. If you've got a map, the first three go under Twin Peaks and end up in the avenues, Sunset District, etc. The J runs on Church, and the N on Judah. Or at least did; I haven't kept completely up to date and there are new "lines" in operation.)

Anyway, from Van Ness on not only would the Muni railway be underground (the new Metro system), but there would be no surface buses either. Muni would cease to function on Market. Routes that formerly ran on Market would either cease to be, or be shifted one block over to Mission Street (which, at this point, runs parallel to Market). Passengers would be encouraged to transfer from surface buses to the Muni Metro at the Van Ness Station, a large complex just set up for the flow. Either that or further up at Castro Station (featured in "48 Hours," don't you know). Market, from Van Ness on down, would be for passenger cars or delivery trucks. Large cut outs in the brick sidewalks would allow for parking for delivery vehicles; there would be no parking on Market for civilian cars.

Sounded nice. The Metro was built with this in mind. The sidewalks were widened with this in mind. The city changed its mind.

Now Market is only four lanes wide, two in either direction. The sidewalks are huge, brick affairs. The two center lanes are still dominated by surface rail traffic, because while the Metro is now in full swing, The City decided it loved its aboveground rail service, to. Market is now a traffic nightmare that makes any previous tie-ups seem pale by comparison.

Ah, progress, thy name isn't San Francisco, "my City by the Bay...."