We don't have a lot of details on what specifically prompted the latest round of frustration from riders, but honestly, does it matter? The list of grievances at Montgomery is a choose-your-own-adventure of urban dysfunction: broken escalators that stay broken for months, the unmistakable aroma of a station that hasn't seen a deep clean since the Obama administration, fare gates that work on a suggestions-only basis, and a general atmosphere that screams "we stopped trying."

As one SF resident put it with admirable brevity: "I hate these."

Same.

Here's what's maddening. BART's operating budget is north of $2.5 billion. The agency has received billions more in pandemic-era emergency funding from state and federal sources. Riders are paying fares — those who bother to, anyway — and taxpayers are backstopping the rest. And yet the product delivered at a flagship downtown station feels like something a transit system half the budget would be embarrassed by.

This isn't a funding problem. It's an accountability problem. BART has the resources. What it lacks is any meaningful consequence for delivering a subpar experience. Ridership is still well below pre-pandemic levels, and instead of winning people back with a clean, safe, reliable system, the agency seems content to limp along while lobbying Sacramento for its next bailout.

Montgomery Station sits in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. It should be a showcase. Instead, it's a daily reminder that when government agencies face no competition and no real oversight, the customer — that's you, the taxpayer and rider — comes last.

You deserve better. Start demanding it.