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38 Geary
38R Geary Rapid bus in the Richmond District in 2021
Overview
Operator	San Francisco Municipal Railway
Vehicle	New Flyer XDE60
Began service	December 29, 1956
Predecessors	B Geary, C Geary–California
Route
Locale	San Francisco, California
Start	Salesforce Transit Center
Via	Geary Boulevard
End	32nd Avenue and Balboa (daytime) Fort Miley Hospital (daytime) 48th Avenue and Point Lobos (evenings/Sunday)
Length	6.5 miles (10.5 km)
Other routes	38R, 38AX, 38BX
Service
Frequency	8–10m
Weekend frequency	10m
Daily ridership	38: 21,500 (2019) 38R: 29,500 (2019)
Map	38 Geary / 38R Geary Rapid Map
Route map Legend Salesforce Transit Center Fremont St Mission St 1st St/Battery St 2nd Street Montgomery St station Market St Kearny St Grant Stockton St Powell St Taylor Jones Leavenworth Larkin Van Ness BRT Van Ness Av Franklin O'Farrell St Gough Laguna St Webster Fillmore St Scott Divisadero St Baker/St. Joseph's Presidio Av/Masonic Av Collins Spruce Commonwealth Stanyan Arguello Bl 3rd Av 6th Av 9th Av 12th Av Park Presidio Bl 17th Av 20th Av 22nd Av/23rd Av 25th Av 28th Av 30th Av 33rd Av Anza & 33rd Balboa & 33rd 36th Av 39th Av 40th Av Point Lobos Av 42nd Av 42nd & Clement 43rd & Point Lobos 43rd & Clement V.A. Hospital 44th Av 45th Av 46th Av 48th Av Key: rapid & local stops local stops only This diagram: view talk edit ← 37 Corbett  List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines  39 Coit →

38 Geary is a bus line operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). Together with the limited service routes that share the number, the 38R Geary Rapid, 38AX Geary 'A' Express, and 38BX Geary 'B' Express, the Geary Boulevard corridor makes up Muni's busiest thoroughfare.

Route description

The route operates between the Salesforce Transit Center and the Richmond District almost exclusively via Geary Boulevard. Much of the route features side-running bus lanes to speed travel times. The route operates 24 hours with less frequent Owl service overnight as part of the All Nighter network.

38R Geary Rapid

The 38R Geary Rapid skips several stops along the route east of 33rd Avenue in order to provide a faster service through the corridor. The line has previously been known as the 38 Limited. Ridership just on this line was 29,500 daily boardings in 2019 — higher than the local line.

38AX / 38BX Geary Express services

Geary is additionally served by two special express bus services. Both lines originate inbound at Davis Street and Pine Street near Embarcadero station and reach Geary Boulevard via Pine Street with only a few stops in the Financial District. Inbound trips run on Bush Street and California Street. The 38AX Geary 'A' Express continues nonstop to Masonic Avenue and Geary Avenue until 25th Avenue where it begins making local stops until terminating at 48th Avenue. The 38BX Geary 'B' Express turns off Pine at Presidio Avenue and makes local stops on Geary between Presidio and 25th. Buses run during peak hours on weekdays. Express buses were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

The Geary Street, Park and Ocean Railway began operating cable cars on Geary starting in 1880. San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) acquired the corridor as its first streetcar line, opening in 1912. Service was initially provided by the A Geary–10th Avenue, B Geary, and C Geary–California. The A was reduced to a shuttle service in June 1913 and the B Geary, itself previously a shuttle between 10th and 33rd Avenues, was lengthened to run from Downtown to the beach. Rail service was replaced with buses on December 29, 1956, with the B Geary becoming the 38 Geary.

During construction of the Salesforce Transit Center, the inbound terminus was moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal. Much of the Geary Bus Rapid Transit project was implemented between 2019 and 2021. Part of the final design was influenced by emergency measures made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ridership

By 2014, over 54,000 daily trips were made along the corridor, more than the entirety of Caltrain. This makes it one of the most heavily-ridden bus lines in North America, slightly behind Vancouver's 99 B-Line, which has the highest ridership of any bus line in America north of Mexico.

See also

• Geary Subway

References

1. ^ "Short Range Transit Plan" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. December 3, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
2. Keeling, Brock (September 19, 2017). "I thought riding the 38 Geary would be horrible—I was wrong". Curbed SF. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
3. "SFMTA transit lanes to support the 38 Geary route in Richmond". Mass Transit. February 8, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
4. ^ "Geary Boulevard Transit Lanes" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. July 20, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 15, 2021.
5. ^ Elinson, Zusha (March 31, 2012). "After 100 Years, Muni Has Gotten Slower". New York Times. The Bay Citizen. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
6. "Cable Car Company - Geary Street Park & Ocean Railroad". Cable Car Museum. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
7. Perles, Anthony; McKane, John (1982). Inside Muni: The Properties and Operations of the Municipal Railway of San Francisco. Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-49-1.
8. Bialick, Aaron (December 7, 2015). "How Muni's Streetcar Lines Got Their Letters". SFMTA. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
9. "San Francisco Transit Routes". Chicago Transit & Railfan Website. 2009. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
10. "End of the line - The last days of the B & C". Museums in Motion. Streetcar.org. 2007. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
11. Chinn, Jerold (December 18, 2014). "Geary transit improvements set to arrive early". SFBay.ca. Retrieved January 13, 2022.

External links

• 38 Geary — via SFMTA

• San Francisco Municipal Railway bus routes
• 1956 establishments in California