San Francisco Cable Cars

One of the main tourist attractions that are a must-see for visitors is the San Francisco Cable Car system. This manually-operated system is currently run by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) and is only operated on three routes: Powell-Mason (Line 59), Powell-Hyde (Line 60), and California Street (Line 61). Each of these routes pass through residential areas and tourist attractions such as: Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, and the Financial District. Because of the higher cost to ride the cable cars, San Francisco commuters generally avoid riding these trolleys and stick to taking the busses and riding the subway system. This frees up a lot of space on the cable cars for all tourists or residents wanting to take a break to catch the breath-taking views that San Francisco has to offer.

History

The San Francisco Cable Car was invented by Andrew Hallidie in 1869. In his day, the San Francisco streets were made of cobblestone which had been smoothed with wear and age, thus making it slippery after rainfall. Hallidie witnessed a horse-drawn carriage slipping down a steep Jackson Street hill from the weight of the load, which inevitably dragged five horses to their death.

After much testing, Hallidie was able to test his first cable car on August 2, 1873 at 4:00 am on Clay Street. From there, he started the Clay Street Hill Railroad with his engineer, William Eppelsheimer, which received great support from the public. Because of his success, his invention became the main model of how cable cars were to be designed and ran. After 4 years of being the sole cable car company, more began springing up, including: Sutter Street Railroad (1877), California Street Cable Railroad (1878), Geary Street, Park, & Ocean Railroad (1880), Presidio & Ferries Railroad (1882), Market Street Cable Railway (1883), Ferries & Cliff House Railway (1888), and Omnibus Railroad & Cable Company (1889). The street cars covered approximately 53 miles of various parts of San Francisco, which made traveling much easier in any weather condition.

But in 1892, San Francisco began operating cheaper and faster electric streetcars powered by overhead wires. Although this put some pressure on the Cable Car system, they kept their trolleys running strong. Then San Francisco's Great Earthquake of 1906 damaged many of the cable cars, which forced the United Railroads company to change the mode of public transportation to the electric streetcar. In 1912, only 8 cable cars remained because they could climb the steeper San Francisco hills that electric streetcars could not conquer. But after newer improvements in bus designs, San Francisco cut down to 3 cable car lines which still exist today. After several years of voting, it was decided that the San Francisco Cable Car system would stay!

Visitor Information and Events

RIDE A CABLE CAR!

General: $5.00 (or $3.50 with valid token coupon)

Seniors, Disabled, Medicare: $1.00 (before 7:00am / after 9:00pm)

For route information, see the Bay Area's Public Transit Planner 511.org.

VISIT THE CABLE CAR MUSEUM!

1201 Mason StreetSan Francisco, CA 94108

Admission is FREE!

For more visitor information, see cablecarmuseum.org.

BELL RINGING CONTEST

Every July, SFMTA hosts a Bell Ringing Contest in Union Square! The contestants are the Cable Car gripmen who compete in front of San Francisco residents and tourists and is a time for everyone to have fun downtown!