Federal funds come with a price - in order to hold on to $972m awarded to the Central Subway project, San Francisco's MUNI needs to come up with at least $137m by February.
The Central Subway is planned to connect downtown with Chinatown, a 1.7 mile route. Unfortunately, MUNI is already facing severe budget restraints and coming up with the matching funds will be a considerable challenge.
And those aren't the only obstacles, says SF Chronicle writer Michael Cabanatuan:
"Adding to the uncertainty are new Muni ridership projections that show about 14 percent fewer trips on the Central Subway than initially forecast if the agency is able to fully implement an ongoing program to improve the efficiency of the transit system."
MUNI officials are meeting with the regional transportation authority (MTC) to discuss the shortfall today.
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