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 troll ...

line operated by the

San Francisco Municipal Railway The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni ) is the primary public transit system within San Francisco, California. It operates a system of List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines, bus routes (including Trolleybuses in San Franc ...

(Muni). It is one of several routes which connects the Outer Richmond 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 headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

Route description

The line runs from the Salesforce Transit Center to Cabrillo and La Playa in the Outer Richmond 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 a service on a bus route or rail line that does not operate along the full length of the route. Short turn trips are often scheduled and published in a Public transport timetable, ti ...

that terminates outbound at Fulton and 6th Avenue. Much of the route runs adjacent to

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

. The 5R Fulton Rapid runs an identical route, but makes limited stops east of 6th Avenue to speed up end to end travel times. 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 (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

in 1906, running on Market Street, McAllister, Central and Masonic and Fulton. It acquired the number 5 in 1909, being the fifth of the United Railroads of San Francisco 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. Muni implemented safety and speed enhancements throughout the corridor between the late 2000s and early 2020s, including bulb-outs,

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a ...

es, and

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...

s, among others. Overnight "Owl" service was extended from Jones Street to 4th Street on June 10, 2023.Due to a budget crisis, as part of the Summer 2025 Muni Service Cuts, weekday daytime 5 service will be truncated to Civic Center station on June 21, 2025.

References

Bibliography

External links

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