Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > San Francisco > Trolley Coaches

San Francisco, California:
Trolley Coaches

Description

The San Francisco Municipal Railway operates the largest network of electric trolley coach routes in the United States. (In other cities, these vehicles are called "trolleybuses" or "trackless trolleys".) Trolley coaches excel at climbing steep hills, and cheap hydroelectric power is available from a city-owned reservoir and dam in the California mountains.

The current routes are:

• 1 California
• 3 Jackson
• 4 Sutter
• 5 Fulton
• 6 Parnassus
• 7 Haight
• 14 Mission (the longest route, extending from near the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street to just beyond the southern city limits in Daly City)
• 21 Hayes
• 22 Fillmore
• 24 Divisadero
• 30 Stockton
• 31 Balboa (the most recent route, electrified in 1994)
• 33 Stanyan
• 41 Union
• 45 Union-Stockton
• 49 Van Ness-Mission

• Overhead wire map as of June 2000, on the Electric Trolleybus Home Page
• [outside] | [inside] Municipal Railway 7-day passport (May 1997)

Pictures

These pictures were taken in June 1997.

[picture] A couple of articulated coaches of the 14-Mission route lay over on Steuart Street near the foot of Market Street, while a 21-Hayes coach turns into the loop on the other side of the street.

[picture] An outbound 14-Mission coach stops at Goethe Street near the end of the line in Daly City. Here, one can transfer to SamTrans buses that extend into Daly City and further south into San Mateo County.

[picture] On the other side of the street from the preceding picture, an inbound 14-Mission coach.

[picture] A 31-Balboa articulated coach heads out Market Street near Powell.

[picture] A 45-Union coach heads north on Stockton Street in Chinatown.

[picture] A 6-Parnassus coach turns south onto Ninth Avenue from Judah.

This page was last updated on 17 November 2002, and reviewed on 28 May 2005.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > San Francisco > Trolley Coaches

This page is © 2002 by Jon Bell (jbell at presby.edu), who is solely responsible for its content. If you're interested in using these pictures, please read my terms of usage.