With five different modes of transport from many different vendors, the San Francisco Municipal Railway or Muni as it is commonly known, runs one of the most diverse fleets of vehicles in the United States. Roughly 800 buses (500 diesel buses and 300 trolleybuses), 200 streetcars and 40 cable cars see active duty. Muni's cable cars constitute the oldest and largest such system remaining in service in the world and is the only one still running with manually operated cars in street traffic. Its fleet of electric trolleybuses is the largest in the United States. The 30- and 40-ft diesel/hybrid buses are numbered in the 8000 series, the 60-ft articulated diesel/hybrid buses in the 6000 series, the 40-ft trolleybuses in the 5000 series, the 60-ft articulated trolleybuses in the 7000 series, and the streetcars in the 1000 and 2000 series. Muni is in the process of replacing its motor coach fleet - the first of which was procured in 1915 - with diesel-electric hybrid buses. A summary of the current and historic vehicles follows.
Video San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet
Summary
Current fleet
All buses are accessible at all stops. All streetcars are accessible; however, some surface stops on the E and F lines, and many Muni Metro surface stops, are not accessible. Cable cars are not accessible.
Not yet in service
Historical bus fleet
The following shows the buses previously operated by the SFMTA. Some of these coaches have been preserved in the historic fleet, donated to trolley museums, or auctioned.
Divisions
Maps San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet
Buses
Diesel buses
Muni's active diesel fleet contains coaches ranging from thirty to sixty feet in length. For the last complete fleet replacement cycle Muni bought from three manufacturers, NABI, Neoplan and Orion, all of whom no longer sell buses in the U.S. (NABI has merged into New Flyer, Neoplan has left the North American market, and Daimler has shut down Orion). Muni has since purchased 40 ft. and 60 ft. buses from New Flyer with options to replace the remainder of the fleet in those sizes.
In 1984, Muni received its first 60-ft articulated buses, which were used on high-ridership routes because the buses carried more people than the standard length bus.
In December 2007, Muni acquired a double-decker diesel bus for testing purposes. Its proponents claim that the double-decker makes more efficient use of Muni's limited service bays, that the lack of an articulation joint will result in a lower cost of ownership and that the shorter length will also be a boom in congested areas. Its detractors claim that dwell time is increased because there are fewer exits than on an articulated bus and that Muni's traditionally lax security will render the top level of the bus unsafe.
Historically, Muni has run standard length buses from a wide variety of manufactures. Articulated buses were sourced from MAN and New Flyer.
All of Muni's current active diesel buses have met ADA standards since 1980. Muni fuels its diesels with a B20 (20% bio, 80% diesel) bio-diesel blend.
Hybrid-electric diesel buses
Since 2007 Muni's new diesel bus purchases have been for diesel-electric hybrids. Because of their electric motor propulsion these buses can climb hills just as well as trolleybuses without being limited to the overhead grid. Hybrids are also known for averaging more miles between road calls - which is where a mechanic services a transit vehicle on the street - than standard diesels. One of the vehicles was briefly outfitted with wireless internet as a demonstration project. In addition, these vehicles were not operated on the 44-O'Shaughnessy and the 54-Felton routes for several months as vandals consistently flipped a battery switch towards the back of the vehicle, disabling the bus. Over the next five years, the agency plans to replace its entire motor coach fleet with hybrid buses
Electric trolleybuses
Muni's fleet of electric trolleybuses (ETBs) is the largest in the nation and serves many parts of the city. ETBs were very popular in the United States in the middle of the 20th century. Today, San Francisco is one of only five cities in the United States with an operational ETB fleet, but they play a major role in the Muni system, in part because of the city's many steep hills. Although their overhead wires are sometimes considered unsightly, ETBs are able to climb grades much steeper than conventional, non-cable streetcars and are quieter (particularly when climbing hills) and cleaner than diesel- or hybrid buses. The steepest grade on the Muni trolleybus system, 22.8% in the block of Noe Street between Cesar Chavez Street and 26th Street on route 24-Divisadero, is the steepest grade on any existing trolleybus line in the world, and several other sections of Muni ETB routes are among the world's steepest. Muni has operated trolleybuses since 1941 and the mode has been present in San Francisco since 1935--initially a line built and operated by the Market Street Railway and later taken over by Muni. Conversion of some existing diesel bus lines has been proposed.
In 1992, Muni tested its first 60-ft articulated trolleybus, the first in the trolleybus fleet to have a wheelchair lift, which were used on high-ridership trolleybus routes. The buses started service in 1993.
Muni's active ETB fleet consists of articulated coaches from New Flyer and Electric Transit, Inc. (ETI) (Skoda/AAI), as well as standard 40 ft coaches from ETI. Historically, Muni ran ETBs from Brill, the St. Louis Car Company, Twin Coach, Marmon-Herrington and Flyer.
Cable cars
Around the turn of the twentieth century, there were numerous cable car lines providing service to many sections of the city. Some of those cable cars are built by Muni themselves. Currently only three lines and forty cars remain.
Streetcars
Contemporary light rail vehicles
The Muni Metro has run two types of light rail vehicles. Originally, Boeing-Vertol cars, which Muni designated LRV1, were used. However, these proved to be extremely troublesome and were phased out of service beginning in 1997. The Boeing cars were replaced by Italian-built Breda LRV2 and LRV3 models. Initially, the Breda vehicles were hailed as more reliable and easier to service than their predecessors. However, deferred maintenance and design defects have taken their toll on them.
Muni is now looking to replace the Bredas and expand its fleet with new Siemens light rail vehicles. The first batch of 24 Siemens S200 LRV4s will be delivered by 2018, ahead of the scheduled opening of the Central Subway in 2019. SFMTA's contract with Siemens calls for a total of 260 cars to be delivered. The first LRV4 went into revenue service on November 17, 2017.
Historic streetcars
Historic streetcars are run on the F Market & Wharves line. Introduced as a regular, year-round service in 1995, the F-line heritage streetcar service started out 12 years earlier as a temporary, replacement tourist attraction for the cable cars, during an almost two-year suspension (1982-84) of all cable-car service to permit major infrastructure maintenance to take place. The F line fleet is composed mostly of PCC cars bought second hand from Philadelphia and New Jersey. The cars are painted in liveries from cities around the world, as well as 1920s-vintage Peter Witt cars from Milan. In addition, Muni operates streetcars from around the world which were bought or donated to Muni. The vintage fleet is looked over by Market Street Railway but owned and operated by Muni.
Active PCC fleet
First batch (overhauled by Morrison-Knudsen)
This shows the active PCCs entering service 1995 or before. Most are single-ended; cars 1007, 1010, and 1015 are double-ended "Torpedo" cars. All of these cars were rehabilitated by Morrison-Knudsen before entering revenue service. Car 1054 (original 2121) was damaged beyond repair following an accident on November 16, 2003 and it is stored awaiting scrapping.
In 2014, Muni sent 1056, the first from the original batch of sixteen to be overhauled at Brookville Equipment Company. The entire first batch of sixteen is scheduled to be rebuilt at Brookville; the next cars to be sent were 1051, 1060, and 1059 in that order; followed (in indeterminate order) by 1055, 1062, and 1063. The first streetcar to re-enter service, 1051, was re-dedicated to Harvey Milk in March 2017, and was followed back into service by 1056.
Second batch (overhauled by Brookville Equipment Company)
All of these cars were purchased by Twin Cities Rapid Transit in 1946. They were sold to Newark in 1953 and ran on the Newark City Subway until replacement by modern light rail vehicles in 2001. The San Francisco Municipal Railway acquired these cars in 2004 and had the cars overhauled at Brookville Equipment Company. Some of the cars were put in service in early 2007, but were taken out of service for wiring problems. These problems were eventually repaired. All these cars are single-end cars.
Third batch of rehabilitated San Francisco PCC cars
The following shows cars acquired by Muni in 1948 and 1952 that were restored or are in restoration and are either in service or will enter service within the next year. Car 1040 was restored in this batch and is the last PCC car ever built in North America.
Inactive/retired streetcar fleet
10xx class
The following shows the cars acquired by Muni in the 1940s to 1952 that have yet to be restored.
Retired cars
The following shows F-line PCC cars which have been accident-damaged beyond repair. Only one car, 1054 (ex-SEPTA 2121), was wrecked in 2003 and is stored at Marin Division.
11xx class
The 1100s series of cars were purchased in 1957 by Muni from St. Louis Public Service. These cars were retired in 1982, with most being sold off to Tahoe Valley Lines and then went to St. Charles, Missouri in 2007 for the planned St. Charles City Streetcar.
Boeing LRVs in storage
The US Standard Light Rail Vehicle was an attempt at a standardized light rail vehicle (LRV) promoted by the United States Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) and built by Boeing Vertol in the 1970s. Part of a series of defense conversion projects in the waning days of the Vietnam War, the LRV was seen as both a replacement for older PCC streetcars in many cities and as a catalyst for new cities to construct light rail systems. The USSLRV was marketed as and is popularly known as the Boeing LRV and is usually referred to as such. Both Muni and the MBTA (Boston) purchased the cars, but after a lawsuit with Boeing Vertol and MBTA, they had the ability to reject the last 40 cars. The cars sat in the storage yard, until Muni purchased 31 of them. Muni stored two cars (1264 and 1320) at the Cameron Beach Yard (formerly the Geneva Streetcar Yard) for potential restoration and preservation by the Market Street Railway, but they declined to do so and both were scrapped in April 2016.
Boeing 1213 is preserved (since 2000) at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum while 1258 is preserved at Western Railway Museum. 1271 is used as an office trailer in the yard of Certified Towing in Richmond, California. One of the Boston cars is preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum, six Boston cars are at the US Government training facility in Pueblo, Colorado, and three Boston cars continue to operate as work cars.
Milan "Peter Witt" trams
These Peter Witt streetcars were originally in service in Milan, Italy. This origin can still be seen in the cars, as all the original Italian signs and notices are still in place. In the meantime, additional signs in English were added.
Historic trams
San Francisco
The following shows trams that operated in San Francisco before the 1950s under either San Francisco Muni or Market Street Railway.
United States
The following shows trams (including PCCs) which have operated elsewhere in the United States. Some of these are not in service, and even require extensive restoration.
The rest of the world
Trams acquired from outside the United States:
See also
- Peter Witt streetcar
- US Standard Light Rail Vehicle
- Muni Metro
- Perley A. Thomas
- Jewett Car Company
- W.L. Holman Car Company
References
External links
- "On the F-line & E-line Right Now". Market Street Railway. 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- "The Streetcar Fleet". Market Street Railway. 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- Müller, Maren (April 2009). "Travel-Report: Tramride in San Francisco with heritage streetcars". Draemmli. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- Lappin, Todd (10 September 2014). "Purgatory Station: San Francisco's Boneyard for Zombie Streetcars". Medium. Re-form. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- CPTDB wiki about San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet
Source of article : Wikipedia
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