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 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 ...

. 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 Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for 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, Asia, Africa, O ...

Route description

Daytime buses operate between Townsend and 4th and

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 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 ...

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 in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness. The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs from Market Str ...

at North Point in the north and Townsend at 5th in the south. It operates primarily on its namesake

Stockton Street Stockton Street is a north-south street in San Francisco. It begins at Market Street passing Union Square, a major shopping district in the city. It then runs underground for about two and a half blocks in Stockton Street Tunnel (lending its ...

as well as Columbus Avenue, Chestnut Street, Third Street, Fourth Street, and Fifth Street with short segments on

Divisadero Street Divisadero Street (commonly shortened to Divis, pronounced ) is a north–south city street in San Francisco, California. Beginning at the city's northern waterfront, it runs south, passing through the Marina District, Cow Hollow, Pacific Hei ...

, 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, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the te ...

on the outbound side of the line.

Marina Express

Express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...

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 headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

, without stopping through most of

Russian Hill Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills". Location Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from Nob Hill, to t ...

. From Chestnut Street, inbound (morning) buses run on Van Ness, North Point, and Columbus, Montgomery and Clay, not starting local service until Clay and Montgomery. It continues inbound on 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.

History

F Stockton streetcar

The F Stockton was a

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 ...

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 Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

. The

Stockton Street Tunnel The Stockton Street Tunnel is a tunnel in San Francisco, California, which carries its namesake street underneath a section of Nob Hill near Chinatown for about three blocks. It was opened in 1914. The south portal is located at Bush Street, wh ...

, 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) 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 names ...

terminal on Townsend.

Trolleybus operation

Streetcar route F was replaced by

service on January20, 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 from San Francisco' ...

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 Central subway may refer to: * Central subway (Boston), the system of tunnels used by the MBTA Green Line * Central Subway (San Francisco), a light rail tunnel used by Muni Metro’s T Third Street Line * Central Link, now known as the 1 Line, a ...

. The route was extended at its outer, northern end by almost to

on September19, 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). A new dedicated outer terminal opened on September6, 2024. 30X service was suspended in 2020 amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Limited service, with two southbound trips only in the morning peak, was restored on February 3, 2025. The SFMTA planned to cut the southern end of the 30S short turn route back to Sutter Street near Union Square on February 1, 2025. The change was delayed to accommodate high ridership from Lunar New Year celebrations, NBA All-Star Weekend events, and a temporary closure of the Central Subway. On March 15, 2025, the 30S was instead truncated to Mission Street with reduced frequency.

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