Welcome Back to the F Market & Wharves Historic Streetcars

Welcome Back to the F Market & Wharves Historic Streetcars
By Mariana Maguire

Photo: F Market & Wharves historic streetcar making its way up Market Street from the Ferry Building to Castro.

To support San Francisco’s economic recovery and reopening as tourism returns, the SFMTA will bring back the long-awaited F Market & Wharves historic streetcars on Saturday, May 15, between Fisherman’s Wharf and Castro and Market streets seven days a week.

SFMTA staff worked closely with Castro Merchants, SF Travel, Community Benefit Districts including Mid Market, Yerba Buena, Fisherman’s Wharf, Castro Upper Market, as well as district Supervisors and other key stakeholders in the effort to bring the F Market & Wharves back into service in time for the summer season. The F Market & Wharves is popular with tourists and visitors and is a priority for small businesses along Market Street and the Embarcadero.

Photo: One of SFMTA’s historic F Market & Wharves streetcars on display in the Castro.

Service Hours

With resources enabling a single daily shift, stakeholders were invited to select the specific hours of operation for the restored line. Based on their choice, trains from Castro to Fisherman’s Wharf will run from approximately 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Return trips from Fisherman’s Wharf to Castro, will run from  12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Read more about the full route and stops.

When Better Market Street begins construction, we plan to continue to run the F Market & Wharves full route as a combination of historic streetcar service and bus shuttle. The project team is exploring ways to limit construction impacts and will continue to work closely with businesses to support F Market & Wharves service.

Additional Rail Service Returning

On May 15th we will also reopen all Muni Metro subway stations. Full rail service will be restored on the N Judah between Ocean Beach and Caltrain. The combined KT Ingleside-Third will operate between Sunnydale and Balboa Park, through West Portal.

With the restoration of the F Market & Wharves, N Judah and KT Ingleside-Third on May 15th, the full Market Street corridor and several of the city’s major commercial hubs will have more service and connectivity. Since January 23rd, 91% of San Franciscans are now within 2-3 blocks of a Muni stop. And this includes 100% of residents in San Francisco’s neighborhoods identified in the Muni Service Equity Strategy.

Along with the Muni service being restored in May, we expect to be able to expand service so that 98% of San Franciscans will have access to Muni within 2-3 blocks by the end of the summer. SFMTA staff is working hard to support San Francisco’s economic recovery and reopening and the return of tourists, office workers and other visitors.

Published May 03, 2021 at 04:38PM
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