L Taraval

Around 1907, the private United Railroads (URR) opened its Parkside Shuttle line, which split from the #17 line on 20th Avenue and ran along Taraval Street, 33rd Avenue, Vicente Street, and 35th Avenue.[3] This trackage, which saw irregular passenger service, formed a barrier to continued expansion of the city-owned Municipal Railway into the Parkside district. On November 25, 1918, the city and the private URR signed the "Parkside Agreements", which allowed Muni streetcars to use URR trackage on Taraval Street and on Ocean Avenue in exchange for a cash payment and shared maintenance costs.[4]^:74

Muni's L Taraval line opened as a shuttle from West Portal to 33rd Avenue (on rebuilt URR trackage west of 20th Avenue) on April 12, 1919. It was extended along Taraval to 48th Avenue at Ocean Beach on January 14, 1923; that October 15, the shuttle service was replaced with larger streetcars running through to the Ferry Building.[4]^:75 The URR discontinued their Parkside Shuttle in late 1927.[5] The L Taraval was subsequently extended south (turning off Taraval at 46th) to the San Francisco Zoo, the line's current outer terminus, on September 15, 1937.[6] Every other streetcar was routed to the new Transbay Terminal on January 15, 1939; they were rerouted back to the Ferry Building on January 1, 1941, but the Transbay Terminal became the inner terminal for all streetcars on June 6, 1948.[5]

The L was partially converted to modern light rail operation as part of the opening of the Muni Metro system in 1980.[6] While many streetcar lines were converted to buses after World War II, the L Taraval remained a streetcar line due to its use of the Twin Peaks Tunnel.

Painted safety zone added at Taraval and 19th Avenue in 2017

The L Taraval Rapid project was conceived to increase pedestrian safety and speed up trains. Nine stops will be eliminated, the roadway upon which the track is laid will be repainted as a transit-only lane, and concrete boarding islands will be installed at some stops.[7][8] Preliminary stop elimination occurred on February 25, 2017,[9] though some plans were amended due to community backlash.[10]

The line was temporarily replaced by buses from June 25 to August 24, 2018 due to the Twin Peaks Tunnel shutdown.[11] On March 30, 2020, Muni Metro service was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] Rail service is expected to return in August 2020, with the routes reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway. K Ingleside and L Taraval service will be interlined, running between Wawona and 46th Avenue station and Balboa Park station; no K or L service will enter the subway.[13]

The original end of the L Taraval line, before the 1937 extension south of Taraval Street, with tracks still in place as a short branch, not normally used. Trains are usually sent here to turn back early, and these are the only tracks left in San Francisco that are embedded in granite block.

The line runs from the Embarcadero Station in the Financial District to the 46th Avenue and Wawona Street, near the San Francisco Zoo in the Sunset District. The downtown portion of the line runs in the Market Street Subway, which is shared with six other Muni Metro lines. It continues through the much older Twin Peaks Tunnel, shared by the K Ingleside and M Ocean View lines, emerging at West Portal Station. Once out of the tunnel, the L begins street running operation. It takes Ulloa Street to 15th Avenue and then turns west onto Taraval Street. It then follows Taraval to 46th Avenue, where it turns south towards the Zoo. The end of the line loops around Vicente, 47th Avenue and Wawona with the terminal stop on Wawona between 46th and 47th Avenues.

Tracks on Taraval Street extend west from 46th Avenue to 48th Avenue (Great Highway), but they are not used in revenue service. However, chartered streetcars and LRVs can operate there if requested.

The L Taraval line stops at large stations for the downtown section of the route and at smaller stops on the rest of the line. Most of the smaller stops are nothing more than a sign on the side of the street designating a stop and a few others are concrete islands in the middle of the street next to the tracks that provide access for wheelchairs. Muni bus routes provide service to all stations and other systems with access to the stations are noted.

The L Taraval operates 7 days a week, primarily with train service beginning at 5 a.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. Sundays and running until 12:30 a.m. Frequency headways range from 7 to 10 minutes during the day, and 15 to 20 during nighttime service.

Service is provided by overnight Owl buses during the hours that rail service is not running. The L Owl bus serves the full length of the route, as well as along The Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. (The Embarcadero section was added on June 15, 2019 to provide Owl service along the F Market & Wharves route.)[14] On weekends, L Taraval Bus service runs from 5am until the start of rail service; it does not include the section on The Embarcadero. The bus lines largely follow the rail line, but use surface streets to parallel sections where the rail line has dedicated rights-of-way.[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to L Taraval.

• Muni Metro and San Francisco rail map (195KB PDF)
• L Taraval route information from the SF Muni Map Project