5 Fulton is a

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

line operated by the

San Francisco Municipal Railway The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cabl ...

(Muni). It is one of several routes which connects the Outer Sunset to the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

Route description

Trolleybuses at Cabrillo and La Playa loop, November 2018

The line runs from the

Transbay Transit Center The Transbay Transit Center (officially the Salesforce Transit Center for sponsorship purposes) is a transit station in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal — and potentially as a future rail terminal — for the San ...

to Cabrillo and La Playa in the Outer Sunset primarily via McAllister and Fulton Streets. Local service during the day midweek is a

short turn In public transport, a short turn, short working or turn-back is an earlier terminus on a bus or rail line that is used on some scheduled trips that do not operate along the full length of the route. Short turns are practical in scheduling when t ...

that terminates outbound at Fulton and 6th Avenue. Much of the route runs adjacent to Golden Gate Park. The 5R Fulton Rapid runs an identical route, but making limited stops to speed end to end travel times. It is the agency's only rapid service served by trolleybuses. The route operates 24 hours with less frequent

Owl service overnight as part of the All Nighter network.

History

The Line was originally established as the McAllister

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

in 1906, running on

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

, McAllister, Central and Masonic and Fulton. It acquired the number 5 in 1909, being the fifth of the

United Railroads of San Francisco United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

lines to turn off Market Street. Tracks were extended to the ocean at La Playa and Balboa Streets in 1911. Rail service was replaced by buses on June 5, 1948, and trolleybus operation began on July 3 the following year. The line was renamed to the 5 Fulton in 1976. Service was extended to Cabrillo and La Playa in 1995. The 5L (later 5R) was established in 2013. Safety and speed enhancements were implemented throughout the corridor between the late 2000s and early 2020s, including bulb-outs, 60-foot articulated buses, and bus lanes, among others.

References

Bibliography

External links

5 Fulton
— via San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency {{Muni San Francisco Municipal Railway trolleybus routes Railway lines closed in 1948