One more Muni Metro route is returning to service on Saturday along with a half dozen restored Muni bus routes, a new bus route for Lake Merced, and a bunch of route extensions and changes.

M-Ocean View trains will start rolling again on August 14, as part of the SFMTA's ongoing but slow return to pre-pandemic service levels. As the agency explains, "Resources previously tied up by mandatory COVID-19 restrictions, like removal of the heightened cleaning regimen, were able to be redistributed so that service could be expanded."

M trains will now run their full pre-pandemic route between Embarcadero Station and San Jose and Geneva Avenues, starting Saturday. And it seems that an earlier plan to interline the M and T lines has been switched up — since the K trains began running in mid-May, it's now the KT-Ingleside/Third Street, with trains running outbound along the K route, and inbound along the T route past Embarcadero.

Restoration of the L line is still yet to come, and like the J-Church, the plan has been to keep the L line above ground only, terminating at West Portal. In the early part of the pandemic, Muni director Jeffrey Tumlin announced that the goal was to reduce the number of trains traveling through the downtown core tunnel, to speed up service overall.

Starting Saturday a new bus route is being added to the Muni map: the 58-Lake Merced, which will go along John Muir Drive and Sloat Boulevard, "serving communities west of the lake and connecting to shopping destinations, Daly City BART and Muni’s 14 Mission."

Also starting next week, Muni's Owl All-Nighter service will be restored between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., with 30-minute bus frequencies on the L-Owl, N-Owl, 5-Fulton (between Cabrillo & La Playa and McAllister & Jones), 14-Mission, 22-Fillmore, 24-Divisadero, 25-Treasure Island, 38-Geary, 44-O'Shaughnessy, 48-Quintara/24th Street (between 24th St at Castro and 20th at 3rd St), 90-San Bruno Owl, 91-3rd Street/19th Avenue Owl.

Late-night service up to midnight on a dozen bus lines will also resume. (See details here.)

Regular Muni Metro service will continue stopping at 9 p.m., but bus service will run on the K-Ingleside, N-Judah, and T-Third lines during times when Owl service isn't running, or overlapping with Owl service — from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight on weekdays, and 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight on weekends.

Additional service restorations and changes on August 14 are as follows:

  • 5R-Fulton Rapid  - service will be returning from La Playa to the Transit Center Bus Plaza.
  • 18-46th Avenue - will connect customers from the Richmond and Outer Sunset to Stonestown.
  • 28-19th Avenue - service will be returning between Daly City BART and the Marina (via Lombard).
  • 35-Eureka - will provide additional access from hilly districts to Muni Metro and BART.
  • 36-Teresita - full route will be restored.
  • 39-Coit - will return, providing service in North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Adjusted Route Restorations

  • 23-Monterey will resume providing service between Palou Avenue & 3rd Street and Saint Francis Wood and will connect to West Portal Station instead of Great Highway.
  • 31-Balboa will provide service from Cabrillo Street and La Playa to Cyril Magnin at Market Street.
  • 52-Excelsior will resume providing service between Dublin Street & La Grande Avenue in the Excelsior and Forest Hill Station. Service will be extended to connect to 14th Avenue & Quintara Street via 7th Avenue, Judah Street and 9th Avenue, providing service to Golden Gate Heights via a segment of the temporarily suspended 6 Parnassus.
  • 56-Rutland will resume providing service between Visitacion Valley Middle School and Executive Park. Service will be extended to connect to 29 Sunset and Burton High School on Mansell Street.
  • 57-Parkmerced will resume providing service along a shortened route between Eucalyptus Drive & Junipero Serra Boulevard and Daly City BART Station, providing direct connections from Stonestown and Parkmerced to BART and KT Ingleside-Third Street. The new 58-Lake Merced will provide service along John Muir Drive.
  • 66-Quintara will resume providing service between Vicente Street & 30th Street and 9th Avenue & Judah Street. Service will be extended to provide connections to UCSF and Haight Street & via Parnassus Avenue along a segment of the temporarily suspended 6 Parnassus.

Route Extensions

  • 12-Folsom will be extended to the south from Market Street to provide service between Jackson Street & Van Ness Avenue and Caesar Chavez & Bartlett Street. In the Mission, service will run along 26th Street instead of connecting to 24th Street BART Station. South of Market, instead of running along 2nd Street, service will be provided to Rincon Hill via routing along Main Street and Spear Street.
  • 48-Quintara/24th Street will be extended to the west from West Portal Station to resume providing service along the pre-pandemic route between 20th Street & 3rd Street and Great Highway & Rivera Street.

Don't forget that SF's iconic cable cars are free to ride all this month while the SFMTA continues testing and re-training of operators.

Photo courtesy of SFMTA