I know, the way I said it was poorly worded. It was a first in the minds of the planners and builders for, among other reasons, the approval process, the engine

I know, the way I said it was poorly worded. It was a first in the minds of the planners and builders for, among other reasons, the approval process, the engineering conditions they built it under (a compressed air tunnel was required to keep out the mud and water from the Bay, I'm not sure if that was a first for just the US or the entire world), the amount of funding required (largest US public project to date), the specifications of the system, and the supposed comforts of the trains themselves. In short, it was supposed to be a revolutionary metro, not just "yet another metro system". As it turned out, they would have been much better served by copying what was tried and true.