The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, an institute not known historically for its efficiency, actually saved about $1 million during a recent project to fix up its historic streetcar fleet.

The SFMTA, which operates Muni, received $8.9 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the region’s lead transit funding agency, to restore 11 historic streetcars, the vintage vehicles that make Muni’s F-Market line.

The agency was able to fix up these cars for under $8 million — giving it about $1 million in leftover cash. With this windfall, the SFMTA is requesting that the MTC redirect the funds to a separate streetcar rehab project that will fix up another 16 of Muni’s historic vehicles.

The MTC’s Programming and Allocations Committee will vote on whether to reallocate those funds at its meeting today.

wreisman@sfexaminer.com