The SFMTA just approved its new budget, and if you were hoping the city's transit agency had discovered fiscal discipline, we regret to inform you: it has not.

Among the highlights — or lowlights, depending on how often you feed a parking meter — cable car fares are climbing to $18 a ride, parking meter rates are going up, and various other fees are being tweaked in ways that will nickel-and-dime San Franciscans and visitors alike. To soften the blow, the agency also lowered some fines, which is the budgetary equivalent of punching you in the stomach and then offering you a cough drop.

Let's be clear about what's happening here. The SFMTA is, by its own admission, cash-strapped. And its solution, as always, is to extract more revenue from the people who use its services rather than seriously reckoning with the spending side of the ledger. This is an agency that presides over a transit system plagued by delays, reliability issues, and safety concerns — and its answer is to make you pay more for the privilege.

The $18 cable car fare is particularly rich. At this point, the cable cars are essentially a theme park ride for tourists, and SFMTA is pricing them accordingly. But here's the thing: when you charge theme park prices, people expect theme park quality. Are the cable cars getting a major overhaul? Are Muni buses suddenly going to run on time? Don't hold your breath.

The parking meter hikes are arguably worse for everyday San Franciscans. If you drive in this city — already an exercise in masochism between the traffic, the break-ins, and the labyrinthine street redesigns — you're now paying even more for the right to park on a public street. This in a city where the average worker is already stretched thin by housing costs, taxes, and a cost of living that would make a Manhattan resident wince.

What's missing from this budget is any serious conversation about efficiency. How much of SFMTA's budget goes to administrative bloat? What's the agency doing to reduce per-rider operating costs? Why is the default always "raise fares and fees" instead of "deliver better service for less"?

San Franciscans deserve a transit agency that treats them like customers, not ATMs. Until SFMTA demonstrates it can manage the dollars it already has, every fare hike should be met with deep skepticism.