M Ocean View - WikiHQ

The M Ocean View is a light rail line that is part of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, California. Named after the Oceanview neighborhood, it runs between San Jose and Geneva and Embarcadero station, connecting Oceanview, San Francisco State University, and Stonestown Galleria with the city center. The line opened on October 6, 1925.

Route description

thumb|left|An M Ocean View train in the private right-of-way at Ocean Avenue

The line runs from Embarcadero station in the Financial District to Geneva Avenue and San Jose Avenue near City College of San Francisco in the Balboa Park neighborhood. The downtown portion of the line runs through the Market Street subway, which it shares with three other Muni Metro lines. It continues through the much older Twin Peaks Tunnel, emerging at West Portal Station. From there, it follows West Portal Avenue to the Saint Francis Circle, where it then takes its own right-of-way to 19th Avenue. The portion of the line on 19th Avenue between where it joins 19th near Eucalyptus Drive and Junipero Serra Boulevard is a right-of-way separated from the street. This section has two stations with high-platforms, one at the Stonestown Galleria on Winston Drive and the other at San Francisco State University on Holloway Avenue. It continues on 19th Avenue past Junipero Serra to Randolph Street. At the end of Randolph, the M uses Orizaba Avenue to get to Broad Street and takes that to San Jose Avenue. The rest of the line follows San Jose Avenue to Geneva Avenue, where the line loops around the Metro yard there on the corner opposite from Balboa Park Station.

Operation

The M Ocean View begins service at 5 a.m. on weekdays, 6 a.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. Sundays, with the end of service occurring around 12:30 a.m. each night. Daytime headways are 10 to 12 minutes.

Service on most of the route is provided by overnight Owl buses during the hours that rail service is not running. The serves the portion between Embarcadero and West Portal, and the serves the portion between West Portal and SF State. On weekends, the M Ocean View Bus service runs from 5 a.m. until the start of rail service. The bus line largely follows the rail line, but it uses surface streets to parallel sections where the rail line has dedicated rights-of-way.

History

The M Ocean View line began operation on October 6, 1925, as a shuttle service from St. Francis Circle to the wye at Broad and Plymouth in the city's Ocean View District. It was extended through the Twin Peaks Tunnel to the downtown Ferry Building on October 31, 1927, but reverted to a shuttle service on February 27, 1928. On August 30, 1980, the line was extended to Balboa Park BART station. The full line was partially converted to modern light-rail operation with the opening of the Muni Metro system on December 17, 1980. Original plans called for the two existing stations to be rebuilt with high-level platforms, and a pocket track to allow J Church trains to turn back. After objections from neighbors, the pocket track was removed from the plan. The line was temporarily replaced by buses from June 25 to August 24, 2018 due to the Twin Peaks Tunnel shutdown. During that time, a new traffic signal with transit signal priority was installed where the line crosses the northbound lanes of 19th Avenue at Rossmoor Drive, and red transit-only lanes were painted to indicate that drivers must not block the crossing.

On March 30, 2020, M Ocean View light-rail service was replaced with buses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Light-rail service on the M resumed on August 22, 2020, with the routes reconfigured to improve reliability in the subway. M Ocean View and T Third Street service were interlined, running between Sunnydale station and San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park station). M Light-rail service was re-replaced by the M Bus on August 25 due to issues with malfunctioning overhead wire splices and the need to quarantine control center staff after a COVID-19 case. M rail service resumed on August 14, 2021, with the line terminating at Embarcadero again.

Subway proposal

The M Ocean View moves at only during afternoon commute hours over a distance along 19th Avenue/Highway 1. The slow speed is attributed to trains stopping at multiple busy street crossings. In addition, the majority of riders access 19th Avenue stops from the west side of 19th, since Stonestown Galleria, San Francisco State University and Parkmerced are all located west of 19th. In order to access the stops, which are located in the median of 19th Avenue, pedestrians cross three lanes of traffic and a turn lane. In San Francisco, 55% of severe and fatal pedestrian accidents occur on 7% of its street miles, which includes the 19th Avenue/Highway 1 corridor. In response, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority published studies in 2010 and 2014 which explored options to facilitate pedestrian access and improve travel times. Under the preliminary concept for MSXP, the rail line would remain underground past West Portal station. K Ingleside would branch off from the underground line and surface on Junipero Serra Boulevard just south of Saint Francis Circle. M Ocean View will remain underground along the current right of way under West Portal Avenue and 19th Avenue, branching off at Holloway to Parkmerced. The underground line would continue with J Church service along 19th until surfacing just east of the intersection of 19th and Junipero Serra, then continuing on to Balboa Park via Randolph, Broad, and San Jose.

The current West Portal station would most likely have to be redesigned as a two-level station with the K/M lines on the lower level and the L line on the upper level. New underground stations would be constructed at Saint Francis Circle (K/M lines), Winston Drive (M, serving Stonestown), Holloway (J/M, serving SF State), and Parkmerced (M). A potential infill station could be constructed at Ocean Avenue in Lakeside Village. Several existing surface stations would be removed; in most cases, they would be replaced by underground stations.

Muni Forward project

In 2022, the SFMTA begin planning the M Ocean View Transit and Safety Project, a MuniForward project intended to improve reliability of the segment between Junipero Serra Boulevard and Balboa Park station. Initial proposals released that September included transit lanes and platform lengthening on San Jose Avenue, consolidation of several closely spaced stops, and four new traffic signals. A revised proposal in May 2023 eliminated one stop consolidation and two traffic signals, but added modifications to the terminal at San Jose and Geneva. , "quick-build" implementation of some changes is expected to begin in late 2023, with main construction beginning in 2026.

In May 2024, the Federal Transit Administration awarded the SFMTA $4.7 million to construct accessible platforms at eight Muni Metro stops, including three M Ocean View stops.

Station listing

The M Ocean View line stops at large stations for the downtown section of the route and on 19th Avenue and at smaller stops on the rest of the line. Most of the smaller stops are nothing more than a sign on the side of the street designating a stop and a few others are concrete 'islands' in the middle of the street next to the tracks that provide access for wheelchairs. Muni bus routes provide service to all stations and other systems with access to the stations are noted.

{| class="wikitable"

!Station/Stop

!Neighborhood

!Muni Metro lines

!Notes and connections

| rowspan="2" |Financial District

| rowspan="3" |Civic Center, Mid-Market, Tenderloin

| (at )

|Duboce Triangle, Mission Dolores

| (Surface stop)

|Castro District

|Laguna Honda

| Muni: , , ,

| rowspan="2" |West Portal

| Muni: ,

| Muni:

|St. Francis Wood

| Muni: ,

| rowspan="2" |Merced Manor

|Located in Muni's private right-of-way

| () ()

| rowspan="3" |Merced Heights

| Muni:

| rowspan="6" |Oceanview

| () ()

| Muni:

| () ()

|Balboa Park

References

External links

SFMTA – M Ocean View
M Ocean View Transit and Safety Project