L Taraval

The line begins at Wawona and 46th Avenue station (near the San Francisco Zoo), which is on a one-way loop on Vicente Street, 47th Avenue, Wawona Street, and 46th Avenue. It runs north on 46th Avenue to Taraval Street, then runs east on Taraval Street to 15th Avenue. The line then runs south one block on 15th Avenue, then east on Ulloa Street to West Portal station where it is through-routed with the K Ingleside line.

Most stops have no boarding islands; passengers board from the street.

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.

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.[6] 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.[7]^: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.[7]^:75 The URR discontinued their Parkside Shuttle in late 1927.[8] 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.[9] 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.[8]

The L was partially converted to modern light rail operation as part of the opening of the Muni Metro system in 1980.[9] 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.

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.[10][11] Preliminary stop elimination occurred on February 25, 2017,[12] though some plans were amended due to community backlash.[13]

The line was temporarily replaced by buses from June 25 to August 24, 2018 due to the Twin Peaks Tunnel shutdown.[14] On March 30, 2020, Muni Metro service was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] Rail service returned on August 22, with the routes reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway. K Ingleside and L Taraval service is interlined, running between Wawona and 46th Avenue station and Balboa Park station; no K or L service enters the subway.[3] At the same time, buses replaced service west of Sunset Boulevard to allow for construction.[3] The forced transfer at West Portal was criticized by disability advocates.[16] Rail service was re-replaced with buses on August 25 due to issues with malfunctioning overhead wire splices and the need to quarantine control center staff after a COVID-19 case.[17] K, L, and M rail service is not expected to return until mid-2021.[18]

Media related to L Taraval at Wikimedia Commons

• SFMTA - LK Taraval/Ingleside