The majority of the street is served by the T Third Street light rail line.[3][4][5] It was the first new light rail line in San Francisco in more than half a century, and the first fully accessible line in the system. It is also the first true light rail line in the mostly streetcar Muni Metro system, as it operates primarily in the median.[citation needed]
In 2009, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed Third Street be renamed for former mayor Willie Brown.[6] The proposal was not adopted.
In the 1960s, the downtown section of Third Street was known as San Francisco's "skid row", with most of its (then much smaller) homeless population concentrating there.[7]