List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) is the primary public transit system for San Francisco, California. Muni is part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which is also responsible for the streets, parking, traffic signals, and other transportation in the city. In 2019, Muni had the eighth-highest ridership among systems in the United States, with an average weekday ridership of 684,600.[1][2] Service is operated to all parts of San Francisco - including Treasure Island - as well as small sections of Daly City and Marin County.

Muni operates seven light rail lines in the Muni Metro system, two streetcar lines (E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves), and three cable car lines. Daytime bus service includes 44 local routes, 5 limited-stop "Rapid" routes, and 15 peak-hour express routes. Four additional express routes provide weekend service to the Marin Headlands, service to Oracle Park (home of the San Francisco Giants) and the Chase Center (home of the Golden State Warriors) and supplement BART in the early morning. Overnight night bus "Owl" service - part of the All Nighter network - includes eight 24-hour routes, two night-only routes, three bus replacements of Muni Metro lines, and five weekend early-morning Muni Metro replacement lines. Fourteen local routes (two only at certain times), one rapid route, and four Owl routes run as electric trolleybuses. Muni service operates out of ten yards and garages: one cable car barn, three light rail / streetcar yards, two trolleybus garages, and four bus garages.[3]

Routes have two-part names like "1 California" and "K Ingleside", where the second portion is usually a street served by the route (or in some cases, a neighborhood or landmark). Light rail and streetcar lines are lettered, while bus routes are numbered. The letter/number scheme was created by Muni, while the two-part naming scheme was created by the Market Street Railway, which Muni absorbed in 1944.[4]^:127 The three cable car lines are largely known by name (Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California), though they are abbreviated to PM, PH, and C on maps, and have internal numbers 59-61 for operational purposes.[5]

Muni began service on December 28, 1912, when the A Geary-Park line was inaugurated, running between the Financial District and the Richmond District on the western side of the city.[4]^:27 The streetcar system was expanded over the next 16 years, including the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 and the Sunset Tunnel in 1928. Muni began operating buses in 1917, and trolleybuses in 1941.[4]^{:89, 111} The city acquired the competing Market Street Railway in 1944, doubling the size of Muni; its purchase of the bankrupt California Street Cable Railroad in 1952 made it the city's sole transit operator.[6] Replacement of streetcars by buses in the 1940s and 1950s left only five streetcar lines; they were converted to Muni Metro light rail in 1980 with the completion of the Market Street subway. Numerous services changes over the lifetime of Muni gave rise to the lines in use today; a number of other lines have been discontinued.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a limited set of "core service" routes are operating. This includes two Muni Metro routes, four bus replacements for Muni Metro routes, 27 local bus routes, one express route, and three Rapid routes.[7] Eleven overnight Owl routes are in operation.[7]

Key

	Electric trolleybus routes
♦	Community routes using 30-foot (9.1 m) buses
^	Routes using 60-foot (18 m) articulated buses
N	Routes not operating during COVID-19 pandemic
M	Routes with modified routing during COVID-19 pandemic

Cable car lines

A cable car on Powell Street in 2015

All three cable car lines are based out of the cable car barn at Mason and Washington. Cable car service is suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

Route	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Ridership[3]	Links
California (C)	California and Market	California and Van Ness	4,000	Link
Powell-Hyde (PH)	Powell and Market	Hyde and Beach	7,800	Link
Powell-Mason (PM)	Powell and Market	Taylor and Bay	5,100	Link

Muni Metro and historic streetcar lines

A PCC streetcar and an ex-Milan streetcar on the F Market & Wharves line at the Ferry Building

An N Judah train at Powell station in 2017

Muni runs six Muni Metro light rail lines (J, K, L, M, N, and T), plus a shuttle service (S). The M and T are normally interlined; trains switch designation at West Portal station (inbound) and Embarcadero station (outbound). The K and L are interlined with a switch at West Portal; trains do not enter the subway. The S Shuttle operates as additional subway service at peak hours, and to serve events at Oracle Park (primarily San Francisco Giants games) and Chase Center (primarily Golden State Warriors games).

Two streetcar lines (E and F) use historic streetcars but serve as full transit routes rather than mere tourist attractions. Muni Metro lines are based out of two yards at Balboa Park (Green Division and Cameron Beach Yard) plus Muni Metro East; the historic streetcar lines are based at Cameron Beach Yard.

All Muni Metro and streetcar service, except for the J Church and T Third Street, is suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bus replacements operate for the remaining four main Muni Metro lines.[7]

	Route	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Links
	E Embarcadero	Jones and Beach station	4th and King station	Link
	F Market & Wharves	Jones and Beach station	17th Street and Castro station	Link
	J Church	Church and Market	Balboa Park station	Link
/	K Ingleside / L Taraval	Wawona and 46th Avenue station	Balboa Park station	Link
/	M Ocean View / T Third Street	Sunnydale station	San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park station)	Link
	N Judah	4th and King station	Judah and La Playa station	Link
	S Shuttle	Embarcadero station	West Portal station	Link

Local bus lines

A route 5 Fulton bus at the street-level bus plaza at the Transbay Transit Center in 2018

A route 18 bus on 46th Avenue in 2018

Route 21 Hayes and 31 Balboa trolleybuses at Ferry Plaza in 2019

A 30-foot (9.1 m) route 37 Corbett bus in Cole Valley in 2018

A route 49 bus on red transit-only lanes in the Mission District in 2017

Muni operates 44 local bus routes. Most routes operate on weekdays and weekends; the 41 and 88 operate only during weekday peak hours. A number of routes have different terminals during evenings and/or weekends. Route 2, which uses diesel hybrid buses, is supplemented by short turn trolleybuses at peak hours. Route 5 uses trolleybuses only during evenings and weekends.

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Ridership[3]	Links
1 California		Clay and Drumm	Geary and 33rd Avenue	23,500	Link
2 Clement	N	Steuart and Market (Ferry Plaza)	Clement and 14th Avenue (Park Presidio)	5,200	Link
2 Sutter	N		California and Presidio
3 Jackson	N	Sutter and Sansome	Presidio and California	2,500	Link
5 Fulton		Transbay Transit Center	Fulton and 6th Avenue (weekday daytime)	8,400	Link
5 Fulton	^		Cabrillo and La Playa (other times)
6 Haight/Parnassus	N	Steuart and Market (Ferry Plaza)	Quintara and 14th Avenue	7,800	Link
7 Haight/Noriega	^	Transbay Transit Center	Ortega and 48th Avenue	9,400	Link
8 Bayshore	^	Kearny and North Point	City College (Unity Plaza)	22,800	Link
9 San Bruno		Market and Steuart	Bayshore and Arleta (weekday daytime) McLaren School (other times)	9,700	Link
10 Townsend	N	Jackson and Fillmore (weekday daytime) Jackson and Van Ness (other times)	24th Street and Potrero	6,500	Link
12 Folsom/Pacific	M	Van Ness and Pacific	24th Street Mission station	6,300	Link
14 Mission	^	Steuart and Mission (Ferry Plaza)	Mission and San Jose	24,900	Link
15 Bayview Hunters Point Express	♦	Sutter and Sansome	Palou and 3rd Street	Woods	Link
18 46th Avenue	N	Legion of Honor	19th Avenue and Buckingham Way	3,200	Link
19 Polk		Beach and Polk (Aquatic Park)	Galvez and Robinson (Shipyard)	6,900	Link
21 Hayes	N	Steuart and Market (Ferry Plaza)	Fulton and Shrader	6,600	Link
22 Fillmore		Fillmore and Bay	Mission Bay North and Third Street	16,000	Link
23 Monterey	N	Palou and Third Street	Great Highway and Sloat (San Francisco Zoo)	3,800	Link
24 Divisadero		Jackson and Webster	Third Street and Palou	12,000	Link
25 Treasure Island		Transbay Transit Center	Avenue H and 13th Street (Treasure Island)	2,800	Link
27 Bryant	M	Jackson and Van Ness	Cesar Chavez and Bartlett	6,200	Link
28 19th Avenue	M	Van Ness and North Point	Daly City station	11,700	Link
29 Sunset		Bowley and Lincoln (The Presidio)	Fitzgerald and Keith	17,500	Link
30 Stockton	^	Townsend and 4th Street	Divisadero and Chestnut Van Ness and North Point (some trips - as 30S)	20,400	Link
31 Balboa	N	Steuart and Mission (Ferry Plaza)	Cabrillo and La Playa	8,800	Link
33 Ashbury/18th Street		Sacramento and Cherry	25th Street and Potrero	5,700	Link
35 Eureka	N ♦	Castro station	Glen Park station	1,100	Link
36 Teresita	N ♦	Forest Hill station	Valencia and Cesar Chavez	1,500	Link
37 Corbett	♦	Masonic and Haight	Parkridge and Burnett	2,200	Link
38 Geary	^	Transbay Transit Center	32nd Avenue and Balboa (daytime) Fort Miley Hospital (daytime) 48th Avenue and Point Lobos (evenings)	21,500	Link
39 Coit	N ♦	North Point and Stockton	Coit Tower	500	Link
41 Union	N	Main and Howard	Lyon and Greenwich	3,500	Link
43 Masonic	M	Marina and Laguna (Fort Mason)	Munich and Geneva	12,600	Link
44 O'Shaughnessy		6th Avenue and California	Hudson and Third Street	15,500	Link
45 Union/Stockton		Townsend and 4th Street	Lyon and Greenwich	10,000	Link
47 Van Ness	N	Powell and Beach	Townsend and 4th Street	11,900	Link
48 Quintara/24th Street	M	20th Street and Third Street	Great Highway and Rivera (weekday daytime) West Portal station (other times)	7,600	Link
49 Van Ness/Mission	^	Van Ness and North Point	City College (Unity Plaza)	25,000	Link
52 Excelsior	N ♦	Forest Hill station	Dublin and La Grande	2,000	Link
54 Felton		Newhall and Hudson	Daly City station	6,800	Link
55 Dogpatch		16th Street Mission station	20th Street and 3rd Street	1,900	Link
56 Rutland	N ♦	Visitacion Valley Middle School	Thomas Mellon Circle (daytime) Arleta and Bayshore (evenings)	400	Link
57 Parkmerced	N	West Portal station	Sloat and 36th Avenue	2,100	Link
66 Quintara	N ♦	9th Avenue and Judah	Vicente and 30th Avenue	800	Link
67 Bernal Heights	N ♦	24th Street Mission station	Ellsworth and Crescent	1,400	Link
88 BART Shuttle	N	Balboa Park station	Sickles and Alemany (AM) Mission and Sickles (PM)	400	Link

Rapid bus lines

A route 9R bus on Market Street in 2019

On five high-ridership corridors, local buses are supplemented with rapid buses with limited stops. The Rapid routes largely follow the route of the local buses, with some variations; at times when the 5R and 9R operates, the 5 and 9 are cut back to a shorter route. The 5R, 9R, and 28R operate only on weekdays until 7pm; the 14R and 38R operate every day until 7pm.

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Ridership[3]	Links
5R Fulton Rapid	N ^	Transbay Transit Center	Cabrillo and La Playa	12,900	Link
9R San Bruno Rapid	^	Main and Mission	Sunnydale and McLaren School	11,700	Link
14R Mission Rapid	^	Mission and Main	Daly City station	18,900	Link
28R 19th Avenue Rapid	N	California and 6th Avenue	Balboa Park station	4,500	Link
38R Geary Rapid	^	Transbay Transit Center	Point Lobos and 48th Avenue	29,500	Link

Express bus lines

A route 8BX bus at Balboa Park station

A route N^x bus on 19th Avenue in 2018

Muni operates several types of express routes. Twelve routes operate between outer neighborhoods and downtown. The local sections in the outer neighborhoods overlap with local routes of the same number, while the non-stop express sections operate on expressways or major arterials. They operate only during weekday peak hours, with service only in the peak direction. Buses in the opposite direction run deadhead except for the 8AX and 8BX, which are paired with the local route 8 in the non-peak direction. Eight of the express routes are paired into 'A' and 'B' types, which have different local segments on the same corridor. All express routes are suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Ridership[3]	Links
1AX California 'A' Express	N ^	Davis and Pine	Geary and 33rd Avenue	1,200	Link
1BX California 'B' Express	N ^	Davis and Pine	California and 6th Avenue	1,500	Link
7X Noriega Express	N ^	Market and Steuart (AM) Main and Market (PM)	Ortega and 48th Avenue	1,600	Link
8AX Bayshore 'A' Express	M^	Kearny and Pacific	Geneva and Schwerin	5,800	Link
8BX Bayshore 'B' Express	N ^	Kearny and North Point	City College (Unity Plaza)	5,600	Link
14X Mission Express	N ^	Steuart and Mission	Mission and San Jose	4,200	Link
30X Marina Express	N ^	Howard and Steuart	Scott and Beach	2,000	Link
31AX Balboa 'A' Express	N	Davis and Pine	Cabrillo and La Playa	1,100	Link
31BX Balboa 'B' Express	N	Davis and Pine	Balboa and Park Presidio	900	Link
38AX Geary 'A' Express	N	Davis and Pine	Point Lobos and 48th Avenue	900	Link
38BX Geary 'B' Express	N	Davis and Pine	Geary and 25th Avenue	1,000	Link
N^x N Express	N	Bush and Montgomery (AM) Sutter and Sansome (PM)	Judah and 48th Avenue	1,300	Link

Three additional routes provide shorter-distance express service between the Caltrain commuter rail terminal at 4th and King station and business areas near Market Street. Like the outer express routes, they operate only at peak hours. The 81X and 82X operate only in the peak direction (the 81X operates only in the morning peak); the 83X has bidirectional service.

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Ridership[3]	Links
81X Caltrain Express	N	Beale and Howard	Townsend and 4th Street	100	Link
82X Levi Plaza Express	N	Sansome and Filbert (Levi's Plaza)	Townsend and 4th Street	500	Link
83X Mid-Market Express	N ♦	9th Street and Market (Civic Center)	Townsend and 5th Street	300	Link

A route 76X bus at the Rodeo Beach parking lot in the Marin Headlands in 2007

Three express routes provide specialized service. The 76X, which runs only on weekends and holidays, provides service to recreational and tourist areas in the Marin Headlands. The 78X and 79X provide service to the Chase Center; they run only before and after events at the arena.[8]

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Links
76X Marin Headlands Express	N	Sutter and Sansome	Fort Cronkhite (Marin Headlands)	Link
78X 16th Street Arena Express	N ^	Chase Center	16th Street Mission station	Link
79X Van Ness Arena Express	N	Chase Center	Van Ness and North Point	Link

Owl bus lines

A route K Owl bus on Market Street in 2019

Owl routes provide night bus service from 1am to 5am daily (including holidays) as a part of the Bay Area's All Nighter network.

The 90 Owl route is a combination of the daytime 47 Van Ness and 9 San Bruno routes, while the 91 Owl route is a combination of the daytime K Ingleside, 8 Bayshore, T Third, 30 Stockton, and 28 19th Avenue routes. The 5 Fulton, 24 Divisadero, 44 O'Shaughnessy, and 48 Quintara-24th Street Owl routes are truncated from their daytime counterparts.

Route 714 is part of the Early Bird Express system, which provides service while BART performs seismic retrofit earthquake work in the Transbay Tube. It runs a limited number of trips during the early morning between 4am and 5am, while BART is closed.[9]

The K, L, and N Owl motor coaches replace daytime light rail service and run on surface streets, making local stops, rather than in the Market Street subway, Twin Peaks Tunnel, and Sunset Tunnel. The L Owl also covers the route of the daytime F-Market line. The L and N Owl buses run all night, while the K Owl runs only a small number of trips in the early morning and just after the subway closes.

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Links
5 Fulton	N	Jones and McAllister	Cabrillo and La Playa	Link
14 Mission		Steuart and Mission	Mission and San Jose	Link
22 Fillmore		Fillmore and Bay	20th Street and Third Street	Link
24 Divisadero		Divisadero and Sutter	Cortland and Bayshore	Link
25 Treasure Island		Transbay Transit Center	13th and Gateview (Treasure Island)	Link
38 Geary		Transbay Transit Center	Point Lobos and 48th Avenue	Link
44 O'Shaughnessy		Glen Park BART	Hudson and Newhall	Link
48 24th Street Owl	N	Castro and 24th Street	Third Street and 20th Street	Link
90 San Bruno Owl		Van Ness and North Point	San Bruno and Bayshore	Link
91 Third Street/19th Avenue Owl		Holloway and 19th Avenue	West Portal station	Link
714 BART Early Bird	^	Steuart and Mission	Mission and San Jose	Link
K Owl	N	Steuart and Mission	Balboa Park station	Link
L Owl		Jones and Beach	Wawona and 46th Avenue	Link
N Owl		4th Street and Townsend	Ocean Beach	Link

Early morning lines

In addition to the Owl service, buses normally provide weekend service along all Muni Metro lines from 5am until rail service begins (6am on Saturdays, 8am on Sundays).[10] The K, L, and N Bus routes differ slightly from the nightly Owl routes and do not make local stops along their surface street detours, instead stopping only at stops used by the normal L and N daytime light rail routes. Because Muni Metro lines are replaced with buses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the weekend early-morning routes are not operated separately except for the T.[7]

Route	Note	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal	Links
J Church Bus	N	Embarcadero station	Balboa Park station	Link
KT Ingleside/Third Street Bus	N	Sunnydale station	Balboa Park station	Link
L Taraval Bus	N	Embarcadero station	Wawona and 46th Avenue	Link
M Ocean View Bus	N	Embarcadero station	Balboa Park station	Link
N Judah Bus	N	Townsend and 5th Street	Ocean Beach	Link
T Third Street Bus	M	Sunnydale station	17th Street and Castro	Link

References

1. "Transit Ridership Report: Third Quarter 2019" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. November 22, 2019.
2. "Connecting Communities: FY 2018-2019 Annual Report" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
3. "Short Range Transit Plan: Fiscal Year 2019 - Fiscal Year 2030" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. December 2019. pp. 21, 47.
4. Perles, Anthony (1981). The People's Railway: The History of the Municipal Railway of San Francisco. Interurban Press. ISBN 0916374424.
5. "FY11 Q3/Q4 Year-End Service Standards Scorecard – Summary" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. August 17, 2011. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2019.
6. Matoff, Tom (June 1999). "The Muni Paradox — A Brief Social History of the Municipal Railway". Urbanist. San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
7. "COVID-19 Muni Core Service Plan". San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
8. Phelan, Lori (August 21, 2019). "New Transit Service to and from Chase Center" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
9. "Early Bird Express" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. 2019.
10. "Permanent Muni Service Changes Starting Saturday, February 22, 2020" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. February 22, 2020.

External links

• SFMTA - Muni Routes & Stops