San Francisco Cable Cars

Back when the cable cars first launched on August 2, 1873, the firs ride of the day was free, but by the end of the day, cable car rides cost a nickel. In July 2011, the fee for a one way ride was raised from $5 to $6.

Leland Stanford opened his California Street Cable Railroad (Cal Cable in 1878 on California Street and is the oldest cable car line still in operation. Listed on the National Historic Register, the original cars are not in operation. They were quite small.

http://www.seecalifornia.com/california/getting-around-rides.html

Fight back

In 1947, Mayor Roger Lapham proposed the closure of the two municipally owned lines. In response, a joint meeting of 27 women's civic groups, led by Friedel Klussmann, formed the Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars. In a famous battle of wills, the citizens' committee eventually forced a referendum on an amendment to the city charter, compelling the city to continue operating the Powell Street lines. This passed overwhelmingly, by 166,989 votes to 51,457.


The SFMTA San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) runs three cable car lines. These historic vehicles are not self-powered; rather they move using a mechanism that grips cables that run beneath San Francisco's streets.

Muni transit service is operated by the Transit Division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

Founded in 1912, Muni is one of America's oldest public transit agencies and today carries over 200 million customers per year. Muni provides transit service within the city and county of San Francisco 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Muni operates approximately 80 routes throughout San Francisco with stops within 2 blocks of 90% of all residences in the city. Operating Historic streetcars, modern light rail vehicles, diesel buses, alternative fuel vehicles, electric trolley coaches, and the world famous cable cars, Muni's fleet is among the most diverse in the world.

California Cable Car Construction

* Rail Line: California Cable Car.
* Area: Entire line.
* Dates: Monday, Jan. 3, through Sunday, June 19, 2011.
* Times: All hours of service.

About construction service

Due to construction, the California Cable Car will not operate. Motor coaches will provide service. The hours of service and leaving times from terminals remain the same.

Regular bus fares and transfer policies apply.


Cable car fares

* No transfers/fare receipts are accepted.
* Fare receipts are issued; one-ride-only receipts are not valid as transfers.
* Adult and youth, ages 5 to 17: $5 each ride through June 30, $6 each ride effective July 1, (about the increase) a single ride on a single cable car vehicle.
* Senior, ages 65 or older; disabled; Medicare card holder:
o before 7 a.m.: $2 each ride through June 30, $3 each ride effective July 1 (about the increase). Valid ID required.
o 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.: $5 each ride through June 30, $6 each ride effective July 1 (about the increase).
o after 9 p.m.: $2 each ride through June 30, $3 each ride effective July 1 (about the increase). Valid ID required.
* An All-Day Passport is sold for $13 through June 30, $14 effective July 1, (about the increase) by the conductors on the cable cars. This passport is equivalent to a 1-Day Passport only on the day sold. You may want to purchase this if you will be riding more than one cable car vehicle, e.g., transferring between a Powell line and the California Line, as well as riding other Muni vehicles.
* Clipper or TransLink cards containing active Muni monthly passes are accepted. Show card to Cable Car conductor.

Monthly passes, whether paper or loaded to your Clipper or TransLink card; monthly pass loaded to your RTC Discount Photo ID card; BART Plus; and Passports are valid on cable cars.


In 2010, while preparing its two-year operating budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11 and FY 2011-12, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all surface transportation in San Francisco, was forced to declare a fiscal emergency to bridge projected budget shortfalls of $56 and $45 million respectively. Proposed funding solutions to bridge these shortfalls included transit service modifications and fee and fine increases. Also proposed were transit fare increases as determined by the Automatic Indexing Plan, a formula based on the Bay Area Labor Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U). Previously, the SFMTA Board reviewed and adopted the Automatic Indexing Plan for smaller, more predictable fare increases partly based on the CPI-U and factored in during the budgetary process.

sfmta.securesites.net/


The first proposal for an historic streetcar line on Market Street was made in 1971, and the first proposal for a line on The Embarcadero was made in 1974. The late Maurice Klebolt was one of the leading advocates for the historic streetcar service – he was the person largely responsible for obtaining the first historic streetcar from another country (the streetcar from Hamburg, Germany), which came to San Francisco in 1979.


"Peter Witt" Streetcars from Milan, Italy

Car numbers 1811, 1814, 1815, 1818, 1856, 1859, 1888, 1893, 1895 are in regular service. Car 1834 is not in regular service. Milan Cars at streetcar.org.

car 1811car 1893
Antique Streetcars (Trolleys)

Muni has several antique streetcars that operate from the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. They only run on Market Street when they are pulling into and out of service (when they also run on Church Street). The following is only a partial listing. (Some of these cars may not be in operating condition at all times.)
Antique Streetcars Car Number Thumbnail City Description
1 Car 1 San Francisco Muni's first streetcar, which began service in 1912, and is the oldest operating streetcar built for a publicly owned and operated transit system in the U.S: gray & red.
106 car 106 Orel (Oryol) & Moscow, Russia Built in Russia in 1920: red & white. Currently not operational.
130 car 130 San Francisco Built for Muni in 1914, it was saved from the scrap heap in the 1950s to serve as a wrecker for many years, until it was restored for Trolley Festival service: blue & yellow.
189 car 189 Oporto, Portugal Built in 1929 for service in Oporto, Portugal: yellow & white with black stripes. Currently not operational.
228 car 228 Blackpool, England The "boat" car, built in 1934 for seaside resort service, has an open top: cream & green.
496 car 496 Melbourne, Australia Built in 1928: green and cream.
578J car 578 from Japan Kobe & Hiroshima, Japan. Built in 1927. Currently not operational.
578S car 578 from San Francisco San Francisco Built in 1895. It was operated as a sand car for many years, and was restored to its original condition for the 50th anniversary of the April 1906 earthquake and fire.
952 car 952 New Orleans The "Streetcar Named Desire," built in 1923, was acquired in exchange for a California Street cable car.
3557 car 3557 Hamburg, Germany Muni's first international historic streetcar, built in 1953, and brought to San Francisco in 1979.

Service to Fisherman's Wharf began on March 4, 2000.

Seventeen PCC streetcars are in regular F-line service (fourteen from Philadelphia and three from Muni). The cars are painted in the PCC colors of Muni and other transit agencies in the U.S. PCCs are streetcars that were originally designed under the direction of the Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee, in an attempt by twenty-five U.S. and Canadian transit companies to develop a standardized streetcar whose many improvements would help to reverse the decline in transit use that had begun in the 1920s. PCC cars were first put into service in 1936. Their streamlined design was attractive, and they were quieter and more economical than earlier versions of streetcars, with better motors, controls, acceleration, and braking.

Streetcars from Milan, Italy, built in 1928, were acquired by Muni for the extension of the service (now called the F Market & Wharves line) to Fisherman's Wharf. The cars are called "Peter Witt" cars because their design is based on one that Cleveland transit commissioner Peter Witt created for faster passenger boardings. The first "Peter Witt" cars entered service in about 1915. They were designed so that passengers would enter by the front doors and leave by the center doors. The conductor would be in the center of the car, and passengers did not have to pay until they left the car or went to the rear - the cars could provide faster service since they did not have to wait while passengers paid to get on board. Nine of the Milan cars are currently in service to Fisherman's Wharf, and others will be ready for service in the future.

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfleet/histcars.php

Cable Cars are available for group charters. Please contact Maggie Lynch at 415.701.4647 or maggie.lynch@sfmta.com for more information on availability.




Cable Car Museum - San Francisco


* Cable Car Heritage
* Cable Cars
* 8 Original Companies
* How Cable Cars Work
* Rebuilding the System
1982-1984
* Bell Ringing Contests
* Articles
* Photo Gallery

Museum

* About the Museum
* Friends of the Cable Car Museum

Address: Cable Car Museum
1201 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

Hours: 10 am - 6 pm
April 1 thru September 30

10 am - 5 pm
October 1 thru March 31

Open every day except New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Admission is Free.

Phone: (415) 474-1887

Access: Ramp and elevator for disabled visitors are located on the Washington Street side of building. Please contact museum staff for additional assistance.