Looks like the $18 million temporary Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco, which has been mostly done for months, will finally be ready to board its first passengers in August.

The question is, how did the largely outdoor bus stop - originally intended to be used for five years, but which now may be needed for seven - wind up costing as much as a small office building?

Transit officials chalk it up to the price of new construction, including:

-- $4.5 million for the structures, mostly to house Greyhound.

-- $2.2 million for power and lighting.

-- $2 million for paving and sidewalks.

-- $1.5 million for canopies.

Toss in furniture, signage, traffic signals and a few other extras, and it adds up to a very expensive bus stop.

Incidentally, AC Transit and Muni balked at jumping to the new location until they got a clear signal that the move will, indeed, be temporary - and that a $4.5 billion permanent terminal will in fact be built.

AC Transit boss Mary King said they finally got all the assurances they requested this past week - but not every rider is on board.

Glen Schembari of San Mateo, who works right across the street from the temporary terminal, said he had been looking forward to the opening until cash-strapped SamTrans eliminated all but one of its express buses into San Francisco.

Now, he said, "I take BART."

Hall pass: The primary for state schools superintendent is shaping up as a three-way spending race between some of the biggest special-interest education groups around.

To date, the California Teachers Association has pumped $616,000 to elect state Assemblyman TomTorlakson, D-Antioch.

State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, has the backing of Edvoice, the charter school lobby, and had received more than $110,000 in contributions from charter fans including the Fisher family (of Gap fame) and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

Meanwhile, Larry Aceves, the former president of the Association of California School Administrators, has gotten $239,000 from - who else - the school administrators.

Merritt's merits: They've already received $208,000 in help from the city in the past few months to help pay off their creditors - now the owners of Oakland's landmark Merritt Restaurant and Bakery are poised to get another $150,000 taxpayer loan to try to revive their sagging business.

With the blessing of Mayor Ron Dellums, the City Council's economic development committee voted 3-1 last week to approve the small-business loan to owners Charles Griffis and his wife, Patricia Tyler-Griffis. The full council will take up the issue Tuesday.

Councilman Larry Reid, who supports the bailout, says the Merritt Bakery on East 18th Street "is one of our last standing institutions ... and for a lot of seniors in and around the area, that's the only place they know of."

Reid and others acknowledge the money itself - a combination of federal and local dollars - won't stop the hemorrhaging. So they also want the city to come up with technical assistance and a solution to the owners' long-running parking battle with the next-door Albertsons supermarket.

Griffis blames the city for allowing the grocery store to be rebuilt at twice the size, and insists: "If you wreck my car, it's incumbent on you to fix it."

Even if, in Griffis' case, he happens to drive a Ferrari.

FYI: The suspect arrested for allegedly throwing a 57-year-old woman to the ground from a Muni platform in the Bayview in March is over 6 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds.

He was released from Alameda County lockup on Jan. 21 with a monitoring bracelet on his ankle because he was facing robbery and burglary charges. When he failed to show up in court on Feb. 25, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

All this, and he was just 14 years old.

Ticket to ride: Muni chief Nathaniel Ford said fare-evasion patrols will be back on the buses within 60 days.

Ford pulled the cops after meeting a few weeks back with Mission District activists in Supervisor David Campos'office.

At the meeting, Ford and Police Chief George Gascón listened to a litany of complaints about the police presence, the $75 fine for evading a fare and the police asking for IDs when writing up the tickets.

So Ford pulled the cops to give them "cultural sensitivity" training and to mount an informational campaign for riders.

"I just thought it was prudent to stop the program until we could do some more outreach," Ford said - 60 days' worth.

We'll see.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.