User:Mjdestroyerofworlds/A (AC Transit)

The A was a bus service operated by AC Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was one of the operator's many transbay routes, which are intended to provide riders a long-distance service across the San Francisco Bay between the East Bay and San Francisco. The service was descendant from a Key System streetcar and ferry line that operated prior to the formation of AC Transit.

History
A horse car line was established on 12th Street east of broadway in 1871 under the Oakland, Brooklyn and Fruitvale Railroad — this was locally referred to as the Tubbs Line, after the Tubbs Hotel, which was a major investor in the line.

The line was established on June 9, 1909. A full trip required a transfer to streetcars from the large interurban cars at 22nd and Poplar to continue into downtown Oakland. Through service from Broadway to the Mole was initially established on June 11, 1911, but the company was ordered by the city to cease operating limited cars on 12th Street a month later. The Oakland Traction Company (owners of the line, though under the same corporate ownership as the Key System) were in violation of the terms of their franchise, which required them to pick up passengers at every crossing. To fool city officials, the company repainted several interurban-style cars in streetcar livery, running them direct from the Mole for a time until they were discovered, then would reinstate the shuttle service for a while and soon reestablish the through service. The streetcar shuttle was extended to 13th Avenue via 14th Street on September 28, 1911.

Interurban cars were again run downtown in 1914 between June 18 and October 14 by temporary permit due to road works. The city finally relented and allowed full ferry-train service along 12th Street starting August 5, 1915. The line received new rolling stock from the American Car Company in 1917. By then, the outbound terminal had moved to 3th Avenue and East 18th Street.

Cars began running across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge to the Transbay Terminal upon the facility's opening in 1939. The Key System adopted letter designations for its transbay routes at this time, with the Berkeley route designated as A and rollsigns reading 12th Street. Service was extended to 105th Avenue East Oakland to near the San Leandro border on the East Bay Transit Company tracks along 14th Street in March 1941. Less than two weeks later in early April, the line was rerouted on its outer end over former Interurban Electric Railway trackage along Bond Street to Havenscourt. Trains still run to the old 3rd and 18th terminal were given a new name as A-1 trains, while the new route was designated as the A-2 line.

The line was truncated to 12th and Oak in Oakland on October 29, 1950. Rail service ended after April 20, 1958, and motor coaches began operating on the route.

Public ownership
AC Transit took over operation of the Key system's assets in October 1960.

Buses ceased serving the Transbay Terminal on August 7, 2010, and the San Francisco terminus was moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal. The F line began running to the Transbay Transit Center on August 12, 2018.