San Francisco –  F Line Success

Rail Transit Online – September 2004

Most U.S. heritage trolley operations have been extremely successful but those communities planning to revive their streetcar systems should examine San Francisco’s F-Market and Wharves line as a transportation benchmark.  The full four-mile (6.4 km) route from the Castro District down Market Street to the Ferry Building, then along the waterfront to Fisherman’s Wharf, opened in March 2000, although the Market Street segment had been running sporadically for years using a fleet of antique streetcars.  To operate a daily service, the Municipal Railway bought 17 worn out PCC cars from Philadelphia’s SEPTA and refurbished them, painting them in the color schemes of various U.S. cities that once owned similar trolleys.  The streamliners were later supplemented by nine Peter Witt-style streetcars purchased from the Milan, Italy, transit system.  Some of the MSR fleet is often pressed into service as well.  Tourists find the $1.25 ride a bargain, especially the section along the Embarcadero with magnificent views of the harbor.  Ridership has increased steadily and the F-Line now carries an average of 20,000 passengers a day, a number usually far exceeded during the summer vacation season.  Cars are often packed to capacity, causing stops to be bypassed.  “We are basically overwhelmed,'” Muni executive director Michael Burns told the San Francisco Chronicle.  "It's carrying twice the (ridership), projections.  It's a tremendous success.  We are proud of what it does.”  To ease its equipment shortage, Muni has purchased 11 more PCCs retired three years ago from New Jersey’s Newark City Subway.  The cars are basically ready to run but need to be cosmetically upgraded and modified to operate in San Francisco, which will delay their introduction to next year.