The Third Street Light Rail Project was the construction project that expanded the
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, United States. Operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), a part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Muni Metro served an average of 15 ...
system in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California, linking
downtown San Francisco
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012-2016. It is home to the city's largest conce ...
to the historically underserved southeastern neighborhoods of Bayview-Hunters Point and
Visitacion Valley
Visitacion Valley (; Spanish: ''Valle de la Visitación''), colloquially referred to as Viz Valley, is a neighborhood located in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco, California.
Visitacion Valley is roughly defined by McLaren Park and Gle ...
along the eastern side of the city. Construction was finished in late 2006, non-revenue weekend service began on January 13, 2007, and full service began on April 7, 2007. The new service, as the
T Third Street
The T Third Street is a Muni Metro light rail line in San Francisco, California. It runs along the east side of San Francisco — primarily in the median of Third Street — from to the Market Street subway. It is interlined with th ...
Metro line, replaced the 15 Third bus line, which ran south from the Caltrain Depot at 4th and King streets, along Third Street and Bayshore Boulevard to the southeastern neighborhoods.
History
In 1993, the San Francisco Municipal Railway published the ''Bayshore Transit Study'', which offered the following seven goals:
# Improve transit service to, from and within the Bayshore corridor (decrease transit times and improve ridership)
# Facilitate economic development in the area (stimulate new development and employment)
# Enhance the area's environment (air quality and visual improvements)
# Enhanced current and planned City & regional transportation (connections to other modes of transportation)
# Implement a cost-effective and financially feasible system (minimize operating and capital costs)
# Implement project as soon as possible
# Implement an equitable system (bringing transit service to citywide levels)
The ''Bayshore Transit Study'' presented nine alternatives (including a "do nothing" alternative) ranging from building a trolley coach to expanding the MUNI Metro light rail system. In the two alternative light rail routes proposed, rail service would be extended south to Caltrain's Bayshore Station along Third Street from 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 ...
. Potential future extensions studied included lines along Hunter's Point, in Little Hollywood (to
Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...
), and along Bayshore and Geneva to the Balboa Park station.
The project was initially budgeted at $667 million. As of July 2006, the budget increased by $120 million.
Route
The
T Third
The T Third Street is a Muni Metro light rail line in San Francisco, California. It runs along the east side of San Francisco — primarily in the median of Third Street — from to the Market Street subway. It is interlined with th ...
officially starts at West Portal, when trains switch signs from their original
K Ingleside
The K Ingleside is a light rail line of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, California. It mainly serves the West Portal and Ingleside neighborhoods. The line opened on February 3, 1918, and was the first line to use the Twin Peaks Tunnel ...
designation to T Third prior to proceeding through the
Twin Peaks Tunnel
The Twin Peaks Tunnel is a light rail/streetcar tunnel in San Francisco, California. The tunnel runs under Twin Peaks and is used by the K Ingleside/T Third Street, M Ocean View and S Shuttle lines of the Muni Metro system.
The eastern entra ...
and
Market Street Subway
The Market Street subway is a two-level subway tunnel that carries Muni Metro and BART trains under Market Street in San Francisco, California.Caltrain Depot at 4th and King streets and then along the new extension. The 15-Third bus line was eliminated and the 8-Bayshore bus line was extended to replace the 15 in areas not served by the metro extension, including City College and Fisherman's Wharf.
The extension was supposed to connect directly to the Bayshore Caltrain Station when the station was in San Francisco County. However, as part of Caltrain's 2004 CTX project, Caltrain relocated the Bayshore Station to
San Mateo County
San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...
without informing Muni. To complicate matters, this connection has been plagued by cost and design issues. As a result, the southern end of the line terminates at the
Sunnydale Station
Sunnydale station (also signed as Visitacion Valley) is a light rail station on the Muni Metro T Third Street line, located in the median of Bayshore Boulevard in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The station opened ...
on Bayshore Boulevard for the time being.
Features
18 new stations were built along the line. They consist of either
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s between the tracks or
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s, with elevated platform heights to allow level boarding with the internal train stairs raised, similar to the ones used by the N Judah along the Embarcadero.
As part of the project, the entire Third Street corridor was repaved and received new streetlights. Additionally, palm trees were planted, sidewalks reconstructed and the pavement on 3rd Street repaved. Stations along the route have a distinctive marquee pole with a sculpture or mobile.
Light rail vehicles (LRVs) operate in an exclusive
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
in the center of the street along most of the line to bypass vehicular congestion and increase speed along the line. LRVs operate in mixed flow traffic at the 4th Street Bridge (the bridge does not have enough room for LRV exclusive right-of-way) and in a 10 block segment (from Kirkwood/La Salle stop through Revere/Shafter) in the Bayview business district to maintain parking on both sides of the street for customers of local businesses.
In addition, transit signal priority has been implemented along the entire corridor. The goal is to allow LRVs to have a green light at every intersection so they can travel from station to station without stopping.
Future plans
The Third Street Light Rail Project is the first part of a multi-phase plan to expand the Muni Metro system. The second phase, known as the Central Subway, will take T Third off the tracks it shares with K Ingleside and
N Judah
The N Judah is a hybrid light rail/streetcar line of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, California. The line is named after Judah Street that it runs along for much of its length, named after railroad engineer Theodore Judah. It links downt ...
north of 4th and King. Once the second phase is complete, T Third will move to new tracks extending north from the Caltrain depot at 4th and King above ground to a new station at 4th and Brannan, then proceed underground with intermediate stops at the new stations Yerba Buena/Moscone Station and Union Square/Market Street Station before terminating at a new Chinatown Station at Stockton and Washington streets. In addition, the second phase includes
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 via the new Mission Bay Loop, which was completed in 2019 at a cost of $10.2 million. This will also improve service to
Chase Center
Chase Center is an indoor arena in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The building is the home venue for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and occasionally for the University of San ...
.
In early March 2009, media and community groups proposed that as the Central Subway is being built, plans should be drawn up to extend the T Third past Chinatown through North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf neighborhoods, passing
Pier 39
Pier 39 is a shopping center and popular tourist attraction built on a pier in San Francisco, California. At Pier 39, there are shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of Cali ...
, potentially using an old coal railroad line underneath
Fort Mason
Fort Mason, in San Francisco, California originated as a coastal defense site during the American Civil War. The nucleus of the property was owned by John C. Frémont and disputes over compensation by the United States continued into 1968. In 188 ...
and ending up at
The Presidio
''The Presidio'' is a 1988 American crime film directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery and Mark Harmon. Hyams also handled the cinematography and the score was composed by Bruce Broughton.
Plot
At the Presidio Army base in San Franci ...
. These plans were presented in October 2014 as a third phase (northern extension to Fisherman's Wharf) and a conceptual fourth phase (extension west to the Presidio). Formal planning for a Central Subway extension was kicked off in late 2018 with several community meetings, and an Alternatives Study is underway with a projected completion in late 2019.