Market Street

Carl Nolte, the San Francisco Chronicle's historian, writes on the 150-year anniversary of the Market St. Railway that began operation as a 2-car steam train on July 4, 1860, and the evolution of rail on/under Market St including BART & Muni Metro.

San Francisco's Market St. is the main street in town, but has had mixed success as a public space and a history of accidents involving pedestrians and bikes. Mayor Newsom has announced a new effort to improve safety and the public realm.

San Francisco's notoriously congested Market Street will soon see a lighter load of traffic, as officials roll out a pilot project that will ban private vehicles from the roadway.

Officials in San Francisco have proposed permanently banning cars from a 2.3 mile section of Market Street, downtown's major thoroughfare.