Beginnings

An outbound L Taraval PCC entering the (now demolished) eastern portal of the Twin Peaks Tunnel – the original Muni subway segment, February 1967

The first street railroad in San Francisco was the San Francisco Market Street Railroad Company, which was incorporated in 1857 and began operating in 1860, with track along Market Street from California to Mission Dolores.^[11] Muni Metro descended from the municipally-owned traditional streetcar system started on December 28, 1912, when the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) was established.^[12] The first streetcar line, the A Geary, ran from Kearny and Market Streets in the Financial District to Fulton Street and 10th Avenue in the Richmond District.^[13][14] The system slowly expanded, opening the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1917,^[15] allowing streetcars to run to the southwestern quadrant of the city. By 1921, the city was operating 304 miles (489 km) of electric trolley lines and 25 miles (40 km) of cable car lines.^[16] The last line to start service before 2007 was the N Judah, which started service after the Sunset Tunnel opened in 1928.^[17]

In the 1940s and 1950s, as in many North American cities, public transit in San Francisco was consolidated under the aegis of a single municipal corporation, which then began phasing out much of the streetcar network in favor of buses.^[18] However, five heavily used streetcar lines traveled for at least part of their routes through tunnels or otherwise reserved right-of-way, and thus could not be converted to bus lines.^[19] As a result, these lines, running PCC streetcars, continued in operation.

Market Street subway

Original plans for the BART system drawn up in the 1950s envisioned a double-decked subway tunnel under Market Street (known as the Market Street subway) in downtown San Francisco; the lower deck would be dedicated to express trains, while the upper would be served by local trains whose routes would spread south and west through the city. However, by 1961 these plans were altered; only a single BART route would travel through the city on the lower deck, while the upper deck would be served by the existing Muni streetcar routes.^[20] The new tunnel would be connected to the existing Twin Peaks Tunnel. The new underground stations would feature high platforms, and the older stations would be retrofitted with the same, which meant that the PCCs could not be used in them. Hence, a fleet of new light rail vehicles was ordered from Boeing-Vertol, but were not delivered until 1979–80, even though the tunnel was completed in 1978. The K and M lines were extended to Balboa Park during this time, providing further connections to BART. (The J line also saw an extension there in 1991, which provided yet another BART connection at Glen Park.)

K Ingleside USSLRV passes an M Ocean View PCC at West Portal, November 1980

On February 18, 1980, the Muni Metro was officially inaugurated, with weekday N line service in the subway.^[21] The Metro service was implemented in phases, and the subway was served only on weekdays until 1982. The K Ingleside line began using the entire Metro subway on weekdays on June 11, 1980, the L Taraval and M Ocean View lines on December 17, 1980, and lastly the J Church line on June 17, 1981.^[22] Meanwhile, weekend service on all five lines (J, K, L, M, N) continued to use PCC cars operating on the surface of Market Street through to the Transbay Terminal, and the Muni Metro was closed on weekends. At the end of the service day September 19, 1982, streetcar operations on the surface of Market Street were discontinued entirely, the remaining PCC cars taken out of service, and weekend service on the five light rail lines was temporarily converted to buses.^[23][24] Finally, on November 20, 1982, the Muni Metro subway began operating seven days a week.^[24]

At the time, there were no firm plans to revive any service on the surface of Market Street or return PCCs to regular running.^[23] However, tracks were rehabilitated for the 1983 Historic Trolley Festival,^[24] and the inauguration of the F line, served by heritage streetcars, followed in 1995.

A train of Boeing USSLRVs at Embarcadero station, August 1993

By the late 1980s, Muni scheduled 20 trains per hour (TPH) through the Market Street subway at peak periods, with all trains using the crossover west of Embarcadero station to reverse direction. To allow for high frequencies on the surface branches, eastbound trains were combined at West Portal and Duboce Portal, and westbound trains split at those locations. Two-car N Judah trains and one-car J Church trains (each 10TPH) combined at the Duboce Portal, while two-car L Taraval trains (10TPH) alternately combined with two-car M Ocean View and K Ingleside (each 5 TPH) trains at West Portal to form four-car trains. However, this provided suboptimal service; many inbound trains did not arrive at the portals in time to combine into longer trains.^[25]

Muni meltdown

In the mid- to late-1990s, San Francisco grew more prosperous and its population expanded with the advent of the dot-com boom, and the Metro system began to feel the strain of increased commuter demand. Muni criticism had been something of a feature of life in San Francisco, and not without reason. The Boeing trains were sub-par and grew crowded quickly.^[26] And the difficulty in running a hybrid streetcar and light rail system, with five lines merging into one, led to scheduling problems on the main trunk lines with long waits between arrivals and commuter-packed trains sometimes sitting motionless in tunnels for extended periods of time.^[26]

Muni did take steps to address these problems. Newer, larger Breda cars were ordered, an extension of the system towards South Beach — where many of the new dot-coms were headquartered — was built, and the underground section was switched to Automatic Train Operation (ATO). The Breda cars, however, came in noisy, overweight, oversized, under-braked, and over-budget (their price grew from US$2.2 million per car to nearly US$3 million over the course of their production).^[27][28] In fact, the new trains were so heavy (10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) more than the Boeing LRVs they replaced) that some homeowners, claiming that the exceptional weight of the Breda cars damaged their foundations, sued the city of San Francisco.^[29] The Breda cars are longer and wider than the previous Boeing cars, necessitating the modification of subway stations and maintenance yards, as well as the rear view mirrors on the trains themselves.^[28] Furthermore, the Breda cars do not run in three car trains, like the Boeing cars used to, as doing so had, in some instances, physically damaged the overhead power wires.^[30] The Breda trains were so noisy that San Francisco budgeted over $15 million to quiet them down, while estimates range up to $1 million per car to remedy the excessive noise.^[31] To this day, the Breda cars are noisier than the PCC or Boeing cars. In 1998, federal inspectors mandated a lower speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h), down from 50 mph (80 km/h), because the brakes were problematic.^[32][33]

The ATC system was plagued by numerous glitches when first implemented, initially causing significantly more harm than good. Common occurrences included sending trains down the wrong tracks, and, more often, inappropriately applying emergency braking.^[34] Eventually the result was a spectacular service crisis, widely referred to as the "Muni meltdown", in the summer of 1998. During this period, two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle—one riding in the Muni Metro tunnel and one on foot on the surface—held a race through downtown, with the walking reporter emerging the winner.^[35]

After initial problems with the ATC were fixed, substantial upgrades to the entire Muni transit systems have gone a long way towards resolving persistent crowding and scheduling issues. Nonetheless, Muni remains one of the slowest urban transport systems in the United States.

Recent expansions

In 1980, the M Ocean View was extended from Broad Street and Plymouth Avenue to its current terminus at Balboa Park.^[5] In 1991, the J Church was extended from Church and 30th Streets to its current terminus at Balboa Park.^[5] In 1998, the N Judah was extended from Embarcadero Station to the planned site of the new Pacific Bell Park and Caltrain Depot,^[36] The extension was briefly served between January and August of that year by the temporary E Embarcadero^[37][38] light rail shuttle (restored in 2015 as the E Embarcadero heritage streetcar line).

In 2007, the T Third Street, running south from Caltrain Depot along Third Street to the southern edge of the city, opened as part of the Third Street Light Rail Project. Limited weekend T line service began on January 13, 2007, while full service began on April 7, 2007. The line initially ran from the southern terminus at Bayshore Boulevard and Sunnydale Street to Castro Street Station in the north.^[39] The line ran into initial problems with breakdowns, bottlenecks, and power failures, creating massive delays.^[40] Service changes to address complaints with the introduction of the T Third Street were implemented on June 30, 2007, when the K and T trains were interlined, or effectively merged into one single line with route designations changing at the entrances into the subway (T becomes K outbound at Embarcadero; K becomes T inbound at West Portal).^[41]

The Central Subway runs between Chinatown station in Chinatown and a portal in South of Market (SoMa), with intermediate stops at Union Square/Market Street station in Union Square and Yerba Buena/Moscone station in SoMa. A surface portion runs through SoMa to connect to the existing T Third Street line at 4th and King station. Muni estimates that the Central Subway section of the T Third Street line will carry roughly 35,100 riders per day by 2030.^[42] Originally set to open in late 2018, the subway opened with weekend-only shuttle service on November 19, 2022. Full service as part of the T Third Street line began on January 7, 2023.^[43][44][45] Additional shuttle trains signed "S Chase Center" will operate between Chinatown and UCSF/Chase Center for events at Chase Center.^[46]

COVID-19 pandemic

2020 Muni Metro system map showing the combination of the K/L and the M/T lines

On March 30, 2020, Muni Metro service was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[47] The SFMTA reopened rail service on August 22, 2020,^[48] but returned to bus substitution three days later, citing malfunctioning overhead wire splices and the need to quarantine control center staff after a COVID-19 case.^[49][50] During this brief time, routes were reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway:

• J Church service operated as an only-surface route between Balboa Park and Church and Market, requiring transfers to the Market Street subway at Church station.
• K Ingleside and L Taraval service was interlined as the LK, running between Taraval and Sunset and Balboa Park; no J, K, or L service entered the subway. Light-rail service west of Sunset Boulevard was replaced by buses to allow for construction. Transfers were required at West Portal station.
• M Ocean View and T Third Street service was interlined as the TM, running between Sunnydale and Balboa Park.
• S Shuttle service was increased, running with the TM and N in the subway.

Advocates with local nonprofit Senior and Disability Action criticized this route configuration, expressing concern over the need to transfer at West Portal and Church stations.^[51] In November 2020, the SFMTA that announced some rail lines such as the N Judah and T Third would likely return in early 2021, followed by a gradual return to full operation. Kirschbaum said the agency was reconsidering its approach to maintenance after the botched attempt to reopen in August, and that it might take 5 to 8 years to fully address the system's vulnerabilities.^[52] Among the most urgent issues was replacing the track ballast in the Twin Peaks Tunnel, which was meant to be replaced during a maintenance project in 2018 but was instead reused at that time. City supervisors harshly criticized the mistake, which SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin blamed on a "culture of fear" he was working to correct since becoming the agency's leader in 2019.^[53]

The surface-only (from Market Street to Balboa Park) J Church route resumed service on December 19, 2020, followed by the Embarcadero–Sunnydale portion of the T Third Street on January 23, 2021.^[54] N Judah and K Ingleside light rail service resumed on May 15, 2021, with the K and T again interlined, along with S Shuttle service now converted to supplementary.^[55][56] At that time, some stations were converted to new wayfinding signage based on international standards, with compass directions like "westbound" replacing older "inbound"/"outbound" directions.^[57] M Ocean View light rail service resumed on August 14, 2021. The L remained served by buses due to a multi-year reconstruction on the surface section of the line.^[58][59] Service only ran until 9pm until October 2, 2021, when it was extended to 10pm on Sundays and midnight on other days to better align with BART's late-night service.^[60] J Church service resumed subway service on February 19, 2022.^[61]

Future

Several further expansions have been proposed. SFMTA has studied extending the Central Subway as an above-ground light rail line through North Beach, and into the Marina district, with the possibility of eventually terminating in the Presidio.^[62]

A project to grant the M Ocean View its own separated right-of-way called the Muni Subway Expansion Project, building off of a 2014 SFCTA study, has received preliminary engineering studies by the SFMTA as of 2018.^[63][64] The project would extend the Muni subway service in a tunnel under 19th Avenue, providing grade-separated service from Embarcadero station to a proposed Parkmerced station.

The 20-year Capital Plan for the SFMTA, released in 2017, also listed both a Geary Light Rail project (a surface-subway light rail line to the Richmond District via Geary Boulevard) and a Geneva Avenue Light Rail project (a light rail line connecting Balboa Park station to the terminus of the T Third line).^[65]

LRV 1: Boeing Vertol US SLRV (1979–2002)

Boeing USSLRV on N Judah in March 1980, shortly after the opening of the Muni Metro

Muni Metro first operated Boeing Vertol-made US Standard Light Rail Vehicles (USSLRV), which were built for Muni Metro and Boston's MBTA.^[86][87] Boeing had no experience in making LRVs,^[86] and has not made another since.^[87] The first cars of the initial 100-car order arrived in San Francisco in 1978; Boston had been running the cars since 1976 and by 1978, MBTA was already returning 35 cars for manufacturing defects.^[86] After receipt of the first cars, MBTA forced Boeing to make 70 to 80 modifications on each car. Boeing ended up paying US$40,000,000 (equivalent to $205,707,602 in 2022) in damages to Boston.^[86] The purchase price for each car was US$333,000 (equivalent to $1,494,083 in 2022).^[86]

The federal government offered to provide 80% of the funds for design and production of the USSLRV^[87] in exchange for a commitment to keep the cars in service for at least 25 years,^[86] but the cars, as-delivered, were prone to jammed doors, defective brakes and motors, leaky roofs, mechanical breakdowns, and were involved in several accidents.^[86] Muni Metro added 30 more cars to the fleet; these 30 had been rejected by MBTA after suffering numerous breakdowns.^[87][88]

In 1982, the Boeing cars averaged only 600 miles (970 km) between breakdowns; by 1988 this had improved to 1,800 to 2,000 miles (2,900 to 3,200 km) between breakdowns.^[86] In 1998, Rudy Nothenberg, president of the Public Transportation Commission, said the Boeing cars were "impossible to maintain and [...] have many, many design flaws;"^[86] that same year, Muni was only able to supply 66–72 working cars for rush-hour service instead of the required 99 cars, resulting in system delays.^[88] Despite the shortcomings of the USSLRV design, these cars constituted the entire light rail fleet until 1996, when new Breda-manufactured cars were put into service,^[89] replacing Boeing cars as they were accepted for service.^[86] By 1998, the 136-car Muni Metro fleet consisted of 57 Boeing Vertol cars and 79 Breda cars.^[86]

Two Boeing cars were preserved for potential donation to the San Francisco Railway Museum, but have since been scrapped;^[90] five were sold to the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority for the modest price of US$200 (equivalent to $325.4 in 2022) to US$500 (equivalent to $813.51 in 2022) each; one was acquired by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society in 2001, but the Society declined to take any more Boeing cars after experiencing several breakdowns.^[87] Boeing car no. 1258 has been on exhibit at the Western Railway Museum near Suisun City since its acquisition in 2002.^[76]

LRV 2 & LRV 3: Breda (1996–present)

Breda LRV on L Taraval at 42nd Avenue

The first of four prototypes of the new Breda cars was delivered in January 1995.^[91] After delivery of additional cars and training of operators, the cars began to enter service on December 10, 1996. They were the most expensive street railway vehicles built to-date, at a cost of US$2,000,000 (equivalent to $3,731,806 in 2022) each, and they were assembled at Pier 80.^[89] After suffering initial breakdowns^[92] and despite facing complaints of noise and vibrations,^[93][94] the Bredas gradually replaced the Boeings, with the last Boeing car being retired in 2002.^[87] Residents along streetcar lines complained the new Breda cars would screech during acceleration and deceleration and their 80,000-pound (36,000 kg) weight, 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) heavier than the Boeing cars,^[93] was blamed for vibration issues.^[94] At one point in 1998, 12 Breda cars were unavailable for service due to door problems.^[92] Faulty couplers on the Breda cars have been blamed for reduced train capacity, as multiple cars are not able to be coupled together as intended.^[85]

Muni originally ordered 35 cars from Breda in 1991, and exercised options to add another 116 cars throughout the 1990s, including an option to purchase another 15 cars in 1999.^[81][95] The fleet had 151 LRVs in 2014, all made by Breda.^[3][96] The double-ended cars are 75 feet (23 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, 11 feet (3.4 m) high, have graffiti-resistant windows, and contain an air-conditioning system to maintain a temperature of 72 °F (22 °C) inside the car.^[97] The Breda cars feature four doors per car, versus three for the Boeing (only the middle two doors of the Boeing cars were available while in the tunnels due to the cars' end curvature).^[89] The initial batch of 136 Breda cars were ordered on contracts exceeding US$320,000,000 (equivalent to $562,141,430 in 2022), for an average per-car cost of US$2,350,000 (equivalent to $4,128,226 in 2022); the option of 15 additional cars was exercised on a contract worth US$42,300,000 (equivalent to $74,308,070 in 2022), making the last batch of 15 cars US$2,600,000 (equivalent to $4,567,399 in 2022) each.^[95]

By 2011, the fleet of Breda LRVs was only able to manage a mean distance between failures (MDBF) of 617 mi (993 km).^[98][99]

LRV 4: Siemens S200 SF (2017–present)

LRV4 train on the N Judah line

With the Breda cars growing increasingly unreliable and the system expanding with the construction of the Central Subway, Muni requested bids for a new generation of light rail vehicles. Muni prequalified CAF, Kawasaki and Siemens to bid on the request while Breda was disqualified based on a ranking of potential bidders.^[96]

The contract was awarded to Siemens for the purchase of up to 260 cars to be delivered in three phases: the initial firm order of 24 cars would accommodate the Central Subway; the next firm order of 151 cars would replace all of the Breda vehicles and an option to purchase up to 85 additional cars, funding permitting, to accommodate projected ridership growth through 2040.^[100][96] A grant of $41 million from the California Transportation Agency awarded on July 2, 2015, allowed Muni to purchase 40 additional Siemens light rail vehicles.^[101]

Upon awarding the contract, Muni officials cited several lessons learned from the prior Breda contract, including not buying enough cars, dictating too much of the design, lax reliability requirements and a failure to account for maintenance costs.^[100] The US$648,000,000 (equivalent to $801,027,832 in 2022) contract for 175 cars (the first two phases) was signed by Mayor Ed Lee in September 2014, making the cost of each car approximately US$3,700,000 (equivalent to $4,573,770 in 2022).^[102]

Muni ultimately purchased 249 vehicles: the 175 cars from the first two phases, 44 additional cars,^[103] and surplus 30 cars were contracted in 2021.