Market Street (San Francisco)

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Market Street is a major street and transit corridor in San Francisco. It stretches from the foothill of Twin Peaks, through the Castro, Civic Center, and Union Square, to the downtown waterfront. Running diagonally, it bisects the east-west/north-south grid streets to the north. Many of the city's parades and marches take place on Market Street, from the Chinese New Year's parade, the Pride parade, as well as championship parades of the city's professional sports teams. Market Street is served by various transit modes from surface buses to underground trains.

Since the mid-19th century, Market Street was served by omnibuses, steam-powered streetcars, and later horsecars, with the last horsecar service continuing until 1913. In the 1880s, cable car tracks were built on Market Street, offering faster and more reliable service without pollution, manure, or overhead electrical wires. After the 1906 earthquake, electric streetcars replaced the damaged cable car tracks. From 1918, with two competing transit providers in San Francisco, Market Street had four streetcar tracks serving much of the city. This arrangement was reduced to two tracks in the late 1940s as buses replaced many streetcar routes. In the 1960s, voters approved a bond to construct Bay Area Rapid Transit, including a subway under Market Street for both regional BART trains and modernized Muni streetcars. In 1973, BART began service in San Francisco. Muni continued surface streetcars until the early 1980s, when the Muni subway under Market Street was completed.

Market Street was initially planned to be wider and currently carries four lanes of traffic. The lower Market Street, from about 4th Street to the waterfront, near The Embarcadero, is mostly lined with high-rise offices and hotels. The mid-Market, from Van Ness Avenue to 4th Street, features live theaters and retail, but some blocks remain economically depressed. This is often blamed on the BART subway construction in the 1960s, when the ground was excavated, and more recently on COVID. The upper Market, west of Van Ness Ave, features neighborhood retail and restaurants until Castro Street, where residences line Market Street further west. Frequent surface and underground transit services are available on Market Street from Castro Street to the waterfront. Bike lanes are provided on Market from Castro Street to 9th Street. To speed up surface transit and create more space for cyclists, private automobile traffic is prohibited on Market from 10th Street to Main Street. Besides transit, Market Street east of 10th Street is accessible to taxi cabs and limousines at all times, robo-cabs during midday, night, and overnight hours, and premium ride-hail cars during night and overnight hours.


Underground - BART, Muni Metro

Market Street is served by two rail systems underground with shared stations. BART has four stations between the Embarcadero and Van Ness Avenue and is served by all trains in San Francisco. Muni Metro has seven stations under Market Street between the Embarcadero and Castro Street.

Muni Metro BART
to surface - Embarcadero
to East Bay via Transbay Tube
Embarcadero Station
BART connectioncable car connectionF-Market & Wharves connectionFerry Building connection
Point of interest:Downtown San Francisco
Montgomery Station
BART connection Point of interest:Moscone Center
T
 
Powell Station
BART connectioncable car connection
Point of interest:Union Square
Civic Center Station
BART connection
Point of interest:Civic Center
Van Ness Station
N J lines leave subway
Church Station
Castro Station
The Castro
Continue via Twin Peaks Tunnel

Surface transit - Historic Streetcar, bus

Muni's F-Market & Wharves streetcar operate on Market Street between the Ferry Building and Castro Street, and have stops located approximately at every block. However, only certain stops in the mid and lower Market have accessible ramps for boarding and disembarking passengers in wheelchairs.

Many buses operate along or crosses Market Street to and from other areas in the city, and provide overnight service when rail lines shut down for the night. 🚍 Muni routes:L-Owl L-OwlAll-nighter: San Francisco Zoo - Fisherman's Wharf, N-Owl N-OwlAll nighter: Ocean Beach - 4th & King Caltrain, 7 7Haight/Noriega: Outer Sunset (Ortega and 48th Ave) - Salesforce Transit Center, 9 9San Bruno: 11th & Market - Bayshore/Arleta (weekday daytime), Downtown - Visitacion Valley (night and weekend), 9R 9RSan Bruno Rapid: Downtown - Visitacion Valley, 🚍 AC Transit routes:800 800All-Nighter: Richmond - Oakland - Transbay operate on Market Street between Van Ness and 1st Street.

With four lanes of traffic, transit operates and serves stops on all of them in mid and lower Market Street. In the direction away from downtown, the center lane is used by streetcars, rail-substitute buses, and buses heading to areas south of Golden Gate Park, stopping at boarding islands at intersections. The side lane is used by buses traveling to areas north of Golden Gate Park, stopping at curbside stops located mid-block. In the downtown direction, the center lane is used by streetcars, rail-substitute buses, and buses heading toward the Ferry Building, while the side lane is served by buses going to the East Bay and Salesforce Transit Center.

Besides Market Street, additional local and regional buses operate on Mission Street, which run parallel to Market Street west of Van Ness.

Points of interest


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