41 Union

41 Union is a trolleybus line operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). It connects South of Market, the Financial District, Chinatown, North Beach, Russian Hill, and Cow Hollow.

41 Union
Overview
System	Muni trolleybus network
Operator	San Francisco Municipal Railway
Status	service suspended
Began service	1970
Route
Locale	San Francisco, California
Start	Main and Howard
End	Lyon and Greenwich
Length	3.5 miles (5.6 km)
Other routes	45 Union/Stockton
Daily ridership	3,500 (2019)[1]
Map	41 Union Map
Route map v t e Legend Lyon St & Greenwich St Lyon St & Union St Baker St & Greenwich St Union St & Baker St Union St & Divisadero St Union St & Pierce St Union St & Fillmore St Union St & Buchanan St Union St & Laguna St Union St & Gough St Union St & Van Ness Ave Union St & Polk St Union St & Larkin St Union St & Hyde St Union St & Leavenworth St Union St & Jones St Union St & Taylor St Union St & Mason St Union St & Columbus Ave Columbus Ave & Stockton St/Green St Columbus Ave & Broadway Columbus Ave & Kearny St Columbus Ave & Jackson St Columbus Ave & Washington St Clay St & Montgomery St Washington St & Sansome St Clay St & Sansome St Sansome St & Sacramento St Clay St & Front St Sacramento St & Battery St Sacramento St & Davis St Davis St & California St Drumm St & California St Main St & Market St Beale St & Mission St Main St & Howard St ← 39 Coit  List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines  43 Masonic →

Route description

From the outbound terminus at Lyon and Greenwich, buses run east on Union Street until Columbus Avenue where the route turns south. A short segment of the outbound route runs on Stockton Street turning between Columbus and Union. At the foot of Columbus, the route follows a complicated route on one-way streets to the inbound terminal at Main and Howard before returning to Columbus again on one-way streets.

History

The city purchased the Presidio & Ferries Railway's Union Street Line in 1913,^[2] as the route was one of four planned in anticipation of the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition.^[3][4] The E Union opened as a streetcar route ten days before the fair,^[2] running from the Ferry Building to the Presidio via The Embarcadero, Washington/Jackson, Columbus, Union, Larkin, Vallejo, Franklin, Union, Baker and Greenwich into the Presidio.^[5][6]

Streetcar service was discontinued and the E Union was merged into the R Howard trolleybus line on July 20, 1947, becoming the E Union–Howard.^[7][8] It was re-designated the 41 Union/Howard in February 1949.^[8]

When Howard became a one-way street in 1970, the route was split in two, with the northern alignment retaining the 41 Union designation while the southern end became the 12 Folsom/Pacific.^[7] The 41 was reduced to rush-hour service on October 1, 1988. Services were discontinued in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9][10]