Another day, another ride on Muni, for Maria Meyer.

She's a regular public transit user who's rode the bus for over 50 years. Meyer is not associated with any transit advocacy groups.

Her honest take on public transit right now?

"It's working really well for me," she said. Based on what she sees on a daily basis, Meyer said regular ridership must be improving.

"More people are going to work downtown and I see more people on the buses," she said.

Meyer is correct, though, it's a bit complicated.

Ridership is recovering for Muni and public transit systems across the board. But it's happening slowly, and the agencies are facing massive budget shortfalls.

Muni's average weekday ridership in June was at 482,160 people, per SFMTA data. That's more than last June.

But it's still only at a

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