Muni has its origins in the period following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . Until then the city had been served by a number of commercial horsecar , cable car and electric streetcar operators . Many of these had been amalgamated into the United Railroads of San Francisco ( URR ) company . In 1909 , voters approved a municipal rail line down Geary . Three years later in 1912 , the city declined to renew the franchise that bestowed cable car operator Geary Street , Park & Ocean Railway the privilege of operating on Geary Street , and converted the line into a municipal electric streetcar line , the first line of Muni . In 1912 , the average speed of the city 's public transit was approximately 8.5 miles per hour – slightly faster than the average speed of 8.1 in 2007
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
San Francisco Municipal Railway