Given the downturn in the availability of funding for transit projects at all levels, cities are having to get more creative and crafty in their attempts to expand such systems. This condition results in incremental progress and substitution of other modes for rail service ... but in the case of San Francisco, rail service on Geary to the Pacific Ocean is a slam dunk and an essential extension to the Muni franchise (read: this should have been a priority over the recently opened T-Third line). I do not know how busy the 38-Geary route is compared to similar lines in other cities, but in San Francisco it is an extremely busy transit corridor at all hours.