San Francisco's Trolley Buses: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's (SFMTA) Municipal Railway (Muni) operates the largest trolley bus fleet of any transit agency in North America. The Muni trolley bus fleet carries more than 236,000 customers each weekday. The trolley buses, also called "trolley coaches" or "trackless trolleys," are rubber-tire vehicles with motors powered by electricity from overhead catenary wires.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's (SFMTA) Municipal Railway (Muni) operates the largest trolley bus fleet of any transit agency in North America. The Muni trolley bus fleet carries more than 236,000 customers each weekday. The trolley buses, also called "trolley coaches" or "trackless trolleys," are rubber-tire vehicles with motors powered by electricity from overhead catenary wires. With no emissions, trolley buses keep San Francisco's skies blue (unless they are foggy) and, as an added benefit, can climb San Francisco's steep slopes easily and quietly.

The first trolley bus service in this country was in Hollywood's Laurel Canyon in 1910. Trolley buses began operating on Staten Island, N.Y., in October 1921, and in Philadelphia in October 1923. San Francisco has had trolley bus service since 1935 and is currently the largest municipal consumer of this technology. The SFMTA continues to be enthusiastic about its benefits, both mechanical and environmental.

Muni's fleet is one of the greenest in the country. In addition to the 331 zeroemission trolley buses, Muni operates hybrids and motor buses with 1999 or newer engines that include PM and NOx exhaust aftertreatment devices (Cleaire Longview devices) and are fueled with 20 percent biodiesel blends. The Muni fleet also includes 151 light rail vehicles, 40 iconic cable cars and 31 vintage streetcars. The streetcars represent various countries worldwide and are painted in their original schemes. The SFMTA fleet of 1,000-plus vehicles is advancing toward zero emissions by 2020.

Although trolley buses are less flexible than motor buses, they are more energy efficient, quieter and less polluting. Also, these vehicles operate better on hills, require less maintenance and are longer lasting than motor buses.

San Francisco's trolley buses (as well as its streetcars and the cable motors for the cable cars) are pollution-free, since their electric power comes from the city's hydroelectric Hetch Hetchy Water and Power Project. The hydroelectric power provided by Hetch Hetchy is largely responsible for the extensive use of trolley buses in San Francisco. As a city department, the SFMTA is able to purchase the power from its sister department, the Public Utilities Commission, at a fraction of the market price.

Muni operates 18 trolley bus routes with a total of 331 coaches; 240 are 40-foot coaches and 91 are 60-foot articulated coaches. Muni's trolley buses are equipped with an auxiliary power unit (APU), which allows the buses to travel off-wire for several blocks and avoid obstructions to their normal route, such as street repairs or police situations.

The private transit company Market Street Railway pressed the first trolley bus into service in San Francisco along one of the steepest routes with one of the tightest turns in the city. The 33-Eighteen and Park Line (now the 33-Stanyan) began trolley bus service on Oct. 6, 1935. Its route followed Market Street, up onto Twin Peaks through a hairpin turn and down to Golden Gate Park. Starting at an elevation of 13 feet above sea level, the 33 route climbs to 466 feet at its highest point. Throughout the route, the 33 encounters 619 feet of 12.3 percent grade and about 2,400 feet of about 9 percent grade. The early trolley buses, carrying 50 customers at 17 miles per hour, proved their worth. 1

Between 1935 and 1951, most of the conversions from streetcar lines to trolley bus routes were completed. Like many other systems throughout the nation, World War Il brought delays to the modernization of transit in San Francisco. The end of private, competing transit services came in 1944 when Muni received approval from voters to acquire the Market Street Railway. In 1947, five bond issues were approved that provided for the wholesale conversion of streetcar service to bus service, much of it with trolley buses. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Muni continued to convert diesel bus routes to trolley bus service.

In an ironic turn, San Francisco once converted a trolley bus route back to a streetcar line. In 1995, the F-Market historic streetcar line had become so successful that the 8-Market trolley bus route, which provided redundant service, was retired. The 8-Market represented the last service on a route that could be traced back to a streetcar line that had started in 1906 and a cable car line that had begun service in 1888. The electric trolley routes on Market Street are now shared by historic streetcars and several trolley bus routes due to market demand through the busy downtown corridor.

Trolley bus routes serve the busiest corridors over the steepest peaks and work hard to keep San Francisco moving in this "Transit First" city. The SFMTA manages and operates a truly balanced transportation system for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit customers and motorists with the aim of making San Francisco a truly green, sustainable metropolis.

Footnote

1. Charles Smallwood, The White Front Cars of San Francisco (lnterurbans, 1978), 366-368.