[No1]

"It's unclear how Chariot is getting around San Francisco's anti-jitney regulations."

From the article:

"... Vahabzadeh says it has received support from SF city Supervisors in neighborhoods that it currently serves."

Seems like they have at least some political support.

[pjlegato]

This seems likely. SF supervisors are innundated with citizen complaints about poor Muni service on a daily basis, and seem to be unable or unwilling to do anything about Muni itself.