30 Stockton 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 troll ...
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 cable ...
. The line is notable for being the slowest trolleybus route in the city of San Francisco because it travels through the densely populated neighborhood of
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
.
Route description
Daytime buses operate between
Townsend and 4th and Sports Basement in
Crissy Field
Crissy Field is a public recreation area on the northern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United States, located just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It includes restored tidal marsh and beaches.
Crissy Field is a former Un ...
. Evening trips terminate outbound at Divisadero and Chestnut. 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 ...
service operates a slightly modified route between
Van Ness Avenue
Van Ness Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed Van Ness Avenue in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness.
The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs fro ...
at North Point in the north and Townsend at 5th in the south. It operates primarily on its namesake
Stockton Street as well as
Columbus Avenue, Chestnut Street,
Third Street, Fourth Street, and Fifth Street with short segments on
Van Ness Avenue
Van Ness Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed Van Ness Avenue in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness.
The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs fro ...
, Divisadero Street, and Broderick. Trips beyond Divisadero and Chestnut operate in battery mode due to lack of
overhead wire
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
on the outbound side of the line.
30X Marina Express
Express
Express or EXPRESS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn
* '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid
Music
* ''Express'' ...
rush-hour service operates between the
Marina District and 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 ...
, without stopping through most of
Russian Hill
Russian Hill is a Neighborhoods in San Francisco, California, neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of List of San Francisco, California Hills, San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".
Location ...
. From Chestnut Street, inbound (morning) buses run on Van Ness, North Point, and Columbus, not starting local service until Jackson and Columbus. It continues inbound on Montgomery, Clay, Sansome, California, Davis, Beale, and Howard to the
Embarcadero. Outbound (evening) buses originate further west at Spear and Howard and run on Howard, Main, Market, Pine, and Sansome where it continues express on Broadway, and Van Ness before beginning to stop on Chestnut. The line was discontinued in 2020 amid the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
History
F Stockton streetcar
The F Stockton was a
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 are ...
route that ran from Market and
Stockton to the
Marina District via Stockton, Columbus, North Point, Van Ness, and Chestnut to Laguna. This was one of four routes planned as a result of the 1915
Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
The
Stockton Street Tunnel, opened in 1914, was built primarily for these streetcars. In 1916, the line was extended from Chestnut and Laguna to Chestnut and Scott. It was further extended in 1947 from Market and Stockton down 4th Street to the
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
terminal on Townsend.
Trolleybus operation
![N on Stockton (3955731309)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/N_on_Stockton_%283955731309%29.jpg)
Streetcar route F was replaced by
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 troll ...
service on January 20, 1951,
and was re-designated as route 30. (The F designation was later reused for the unrelated
F Market & Wharves
The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other lines in the system, the F line runs as a heritage streetcar service, almost exclusively using historic equipment both from San Franc ...
historic streetcar route in 1995.)
Wires on Harrison and 5th Streets were installed in 2002 to provide a diversion for construction in the area.
Between 2012 and 2019 the line was detoured around 4th Street to allow for construction of the
Central Subway. The route was extended at its outer, northern end by almost one mile (around 1.5 km) to
Crissy Field
Crissy Field is a public recreation area on the northern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula in California, United States, located just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It includes restored tidal marsh and beaches.
Crissy Field is a former Un ...
on September 19, 2020.
[''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 354 (November–December 2020), p. 235. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ] The overhead trolley wires were not extended, and the trolleybuses operate over the new section solely using battery power,
a feature that is sufficiently powerful in the fleet's newest vehicles that they can do so on a regular basis (over short distances).
[''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 357 (May–June 2021), p. 118. National Trolleybus Association (UK). ]
References
External links
30 Stockton— via San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
{{Muni
San Francisco Municipal Railway trolleybus routes
Railway lines closed in 1951
1951 establishments in California