TheSan Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) is the primarypublic transit system forSan Francisco, California. Muni is part of theSan 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, includingTreasure Island, as well as small sections ofDaly City andMarin County.

Muni operates sevenlight rail lines in theMuni Metro system, two streetcar lines (E Embarcadero andF Market & Wharves), and threecable carlines. 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 theMarin Headlands, service toOracle Park (home of theSan Francisco Giants), and theChase Center (home of theGolden State Warriors) and supplementBART in the early morning. Overnightnight bus "Owl" service—part of theAll 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 aselectric trolleybuses. Muni service operates out often 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 consisting of a number or a letter and a designation, such as "19 Polk" and "N Judah," where the second portion is usually the street on which the longest section of the route runs (or in some cases, a neighborhood, destination 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 theMarket 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 theA Geary-Park line was inaugurated, running between theFinancial District and theRichmond District on the western side of the city.^[4]: 27 The streetcar system was expanded over the next 16 years, including theStockton Street Tunnel in 1914,Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 and theSunset 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 bankruptCalifornia 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 theMarket Street subway. Numerous service changes over the lifetime of Muni gave rise to the lines in use today;a number of other lines have been discontinued.

During theCOVID-19 pandemic, service was initially reduced to a limited set of "core service" routes, then gradually expanded. As of July 2022^[update], six Muni Metro routes, one streetcar route, one bus replacement for a Muni Metro route, three cable car routes, 43 local bus routes, four Rapid routes, and three express routes are in operation.^[7] Several of those routes have been temporarily modified. Twelve overnight Owl routes and one early-morning express route are in operation.^[7]

All three cable car lines are based out of the cable car barn at Mason and Washington.

Muni runs sixMuni Metro light rail lines (J, K, L, M, N, and T), plus a shuttle service (S). The S Shuttle operates as an additional subway service at peak hours; extended S service is also used to serve events atOracle Park (primarilySan Francisco Giants games) andChase Center (primarilyGolden 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, Green Division (located atBalboa Park station) and Muni Metro East; the historic streetcar lines are based at Cameron Beach Yard (also near Balboa Park).

All routes except the E Embarcadero are in operation.^[7]

Muni streetcar lines

Route	Inbound terminal	Outbound terminal
E Embarcadero	Jones and Beach (Fisherman's Wharf)	4th and King (Caltrain Depot)
F Market & Wharves		17th Street and Castro
J Church	Embarcadero	Balboa Park
K Ingleside
L Taraval		46th Avenue and Wawona (SF Zoo)
M Ocean View		San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park)
N Judah	4th and King (Caltrain Depot)	Judah and La Playa (Ocean Beach)
S Shuttle	Embarcadero	West Portal
T Third Street	Chinatown	Sunnydale

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 5 uses trolleybuses only during evenings and weekends. Route 9 uses articulated buses on weekends.

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 operate, 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.

Muni operates several types ofexpress 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 weekdaypeak hours, with service only in the peak direction. Buses in the opposite direction rundeadhead 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 except routes 1X, 8AX, 8BX, 30X, and 78X are suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7]

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

Two additional routes provide shorter-distance express service between theCaltrain commuter rail terminal at4th 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).

Owl routes providenight bus service from 1am to 5am daily (including holidays) as a part of the Bay Area'sAll 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 theEarly Bird Express system, which provides service whileBART performs seismic retrofit earthquake work in theTransbay 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 theMarket Street subway,Twin Peaks Tunnel, andSunset 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.

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) to allow for overnight maintenance work in the subway.^[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. Several of the early morning routes are suspended, while the L bus operates the same shortened route as the daytime bus.^[7]

• SFMTA -Muni Routes & Stops

• San Francisco Municipal Railway
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• Lists of railway lines in the United States
• Lists of California bus routes
• San Francisco Municipal Railway bus routes

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