San Francisco is considering offering free rides on Muni, one of its public transportation systems.

At a time when the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is struggling with budget deficits and declining ridership, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is examining the potential benefits of a free public transit system. If MTA eliminated fares on the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) the public transit system would become the first in the United States to offer free transit citywide.

The recently commissioned study is part of an ongoing comprehensive analysis of the Muni system, expected to culminate in a major overhaul of the system in 2008. The mayor doesn't expect to eliminate fares in 2007, according to a recent article in the San Francisco Examiner. “If we are going to do it, we would address it on a piloted basis very thoughtfully," he said, adding, “We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves here. It could be a terrible idea.”

MTA predicts $137.6 million in fare revenue in the upcoming fiscal year, equal to approximately 20 percent of the agency's operating budget. Though MTA claims it is struggling with low ridership, and its fare revenue is extremely low, the agency's reported ridership of 700,000 daily riders is the highest on the West Coast. The Muni system currently charges $1.50 per ride or $45 a month for unlimited rides, but the high number of fare evaders gives the agency one of the lowest fare-collection rates in the nation, and costs it millions of dollars every year.

Other cities such as Portland and Seattle offer free rides within metropolitan downtown districts, but San Francisco would be the first to offer free transit citywide. Results of the fare elimination study are expected to reach Mayor Newsom's desk by the end of May.