San Francisco public transportation
San Francisco occupies a compact area, making it a sightseer’s dream. Many of the sights that feature prominently in visitors’ itineraries are only a short walk from each other. The city’s public transportation is also very easy to use and efficient. Few visitors can resist a cable car ride. Bus routes crisscross town and pass many attractions. Muni Metro streetcars and BART lines serve the suburbs and the outlying neighborhoods. Taxis are affordable but are often difficult to find. They are recommended if you have to make a trip after dark or even during the day through certain parts of the city. Passenger ferries and boat trips run regularly east and north across the bay.
PLANNING YOUR JOURNEY
All public transportation and taxis run at capacity during the rush hours, which are Monday to Friday, 7am to 9am and 4pm to 7pm. The entire city is busy at these times, and it is easier to face the crowds on the sidewalks than to board a bus, cable car or train full of commuters, or to sit in a traffic jam. South of Market Street, city center roads are particularly busy at the end of the day, when cars line up to take their turn on the Bay Bridge and head for the southbound freeway.
Parades and special events can often jam up an area. Ask at your hotel’s reception desk and check their calendar of events to avoid getting caught in the middle of a particular celebration.
Protests at City Hall are fairly common, and police escort these planned, peaceful demonstrations into the city center, maintaining crowd control. Look in newspapers and local publications and check with the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau or your hotel for the day’s events.
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STREET LAYOUT AND NUMBERING
Most of San Francisco’s streets are based on a grid system. Market Street crosses the city from southwest to northeast. This divides the northern and southern sections.
With few exceptions, each block is designated a number by hundreds, starting at zero. So, the first block from Market Street has addresses between 1 and 99. The second block has addresses between 100 and 199, and so on.
House numbers on east – west streets increase as they move west. Numbers on north–south streets increase going north of Market Street, but also increase as they move south of Market Street.
When asking for an address, make sure you also get the name of the nearest cross street and the neighborhood of your destination.
Local residents refer to the numerically named avenues in the Richmond District as “The Avenues.” Numerically named streets begin on the south side of Market Street, in the city center, and end in the Mission District.
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