Passengers waited in long lines Monday as they eagerly waited their turn to board the iconic cable cars in San Francisco.

According to the Associated Press, “25 million tourists visited San Francisco annually before the pandemic, with many of them riding the cable cars. About 17,000 riders packed onto the cable cars daily before they were parked in March 2020 as the city locked down and sheltered in place. It was the longest shutdown since the 1980s, when the system was fully reconstructed, according to the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency.”

“Our cable cars are part of what makes San Francisco a world-class destination, and their return is just the latest sign that our city is bouncing back,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Visitors from cities such as Houston and Washington boarded the Powell-Hyde line and rode the cars all the way to the end of the line. The cable cars currently are free to ride and are on limited service. However, starting in September, they will return to full service from 7 am to 10 pm on all three cable car lines; the fare is $8.

A San Francisco cable car on the Powell-Hyde line is turned around near Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. The world-famous cars returned to service after a 16-month shutdown because of the pandemic. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Passengers hold on tight while riding a cable car on the Powell-Hyde line Monday in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Lisa Abrams, of Los Angeles, points to a landmark to her daughter Rose, 6, as they ride a cable car on the Powell-Hyde line Monday in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Francis Givens, a cable car gripman, rings the bell while during a trip along the Powell-Hyde line Monday in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Lafayette Allen, 15, of Houston, rides a cable car on the Powell-Hyde line Monday in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Passengers huddle close as they ride a cable car Monday on the Powell-Hyde line in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Hundreds of passengers line up as they wait to board the cable cars Monday on Powell Street in San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

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On a cool autumn morning on board the Powell-Mason Cable Car in San Francisco, operator Tsombe Wolfe is taking a break. We stop at the edge of an intersection, to the nearest cent.

I ask him how long he drives the car. “Two minutes,” he jokes before revealing that he has been with it for 16 years.

Most public transit experiences feel impersonal at best, but on a cable car, tourists and commuters alike converse with conductors who are also unofficial ambassadors for the city. This won’t be news to most long-time San Francisco residents – the average pre-pandemic ride number was 40,000 a day – but as a newcomer who hadn’t ridden it, I knew next to nothing about the cable car system.

Then I went to one of the most pleasant free museums in town.

Giant motorized wheels inside the San Francisco Cable Car Museum pull the large cables that allow cars to move through the city streets.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

The first thing you notice upon entering the Cable Car Museum in Nob Hill is the loud hum of the giant spindle pulleys known as “sheaves” that twist the ropes that pull the cars up and down the hills. This is not just a museum, but a fully functional powerhouse that acts as a hub for the entire railway line. Of course, there are historical exhibits and a gift shop – where you can actually buy old cables! – but this is not just a historical curiosity for tourists, it is a crucial piece of the urban infrastructure.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say: ‘Oh God, they’re a tourist trap, they’re expensive,’” says Museum Director Michael Phipps from the cable cars. A ride costs $ 8. “But it’s such a unique experience. The great thing about it is that you are part of the landscape, you don’t just move through it … you experience something that is only available here. “

Michael Phipps, director of the San Francisco Cable Car Museum, pictured at the entrance to the museum.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

San Francisco is the last city in the world with a functioning cable car system. And legend has it, it would not have existed if it hadn’t been for a rainy day in around 1869 when inventor Andrew Smith Hallidie saw a group of horses dragged to their death across the slippery cobblestones of Jackson Street. Hallidie devised a solution, partly inspired by his sympathy for horses as a founding member of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but it could also have something to do with the wire rope factory he owned in North Point Street.

Four years later, San Francisco launched its cable car system. At its peak it was operated by eight companies and traveled as far west as Golden Gate Park and Inner Richmond and south to 28th St. in Mission. Since then, the system has shrunk significantly with just four lines, but don’t expect them to go away anytime soon. Thanks to the protection of city rights, they are an eternal part of the landscape.

A San Francisco cable car arrives at the top of the hill at the intersection of Powell and California on Thursday, December 9, 2021.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

“When you get in this car, you are not only traveling through space, but also through time,” says Phipps.

It also helps that they are still a relatively environmentally friendly way to get around the city.

“We won an award from NASA in the 1960s. We don’t use rubber, we don’t use gas. They are powered by electricity, so we don’t emit any pollutants into the atmosphere, ”explains Phipps, who later adds that the cars themselves are only powered by a small battery that powers the headlights.

Various exhibits in the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

The entrance to the left of the San Francisco Cable Car Museum and a trio of replica cable car models on display in the museum.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

Aside from curiosity to see an antique car from 1873, the real reason to visit the museum is for a glimpse into the heart of the city itself. Go down a few quick flights of stairs and through a series of glass windows and you can see the underground mechanisms that power the entire system, the spinning discs that look like giant clock gears that keep the cables running in and out of the power plant lead out. They slowly pull the cars up and down the streets of San Francisco, directing the traveling pieces of city history.

“We are one of the few national landmarks that are a moving landmark,” says Phipps.

It is an engineering achievement that can be viewed spectacularly on site and that also leaves a lasting impression in retrospect. The ornate cars that drive down California Street are one of the city’s most famous landmarks, but seeing what goes on under the tracks gives a much better sense of something that otherwise easily blends in with the busy cityscape.

“One of the foremen upstairs once said, ‘This cable is the heartbeat of the city,’” says Phipps. “People who don’t understand the cable cars simply don’t understand the city. They are inextricably linked. “

Two cable cars are idling in the cable car garage between Jackson and Washington in San Francisco.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

A selection of different cable cars that are installed for repair in the mechanic’s pit in the working cable car garage above the museum.

Charles Russo / SFGATE

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – thing! Thing! The iconic San Francisco cable cars rang their bells on Monday and rolled back up the city’s hills after being incapacitated by the pandemic for 16 months.

At Powell and Market, one of the cable car stops, a line of people wound around a cable car turntable, waiting to drive to Ghirardelli Square or Fisherman’s Wharf.

“Our cable cars are part of what makes San Francisco a world-class travel destination, and their return is just the latest sign that our city is recovering,” said the Mayor of San Francisco London Breed.

Breed said it will be free to ride the cable cars in August and asked people to be patient as the service won’t follow a regular schedule until September, when the historic trams go into full operation on all three lines and one Collect the fare.

Frank Miller of San Antonio said he and six members of his family arrived in San Francisco last week and had already visited some of the city’s top attractions. They took the ferry to Angel Island and visited Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf, but Miller said riding the cable cars was a highlight for him.

“I grew up on ‘full house’ so everyone knows the cable cars. We definitely want to take the trams around town,” said Miller, 40, who was waiting with his family from Powell Street and the Market drive to the fisherman’s wharf.

Before the pandemic, 25 million tourists visited San Francisco annually, many of whom rode the cable cars as synonymous with the city as Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Roughly 17,000 riders packed the cable cars daily before they were parked in March 2020 when the city was cordoned off and protected. According to the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, it was the longest shutdown since the 1980s when the system was fully reconstructed.

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The sound of cable cars going up and down the roller coaster hills of San Francisco has not been heard since March 2020, when the city was closed by an on-site protection order at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Clickety-Clack will be back in the first week of August.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday that the cable cars will come out of hibernation in August for testing and operator training, the city said, and will run on a near-normal schedule.

Drivers don’t have to pay in August and are encouraged to provide feedback on customer service and help operators get used to picking up and dropping off people.

“This is an attempt at a ‘mock service’ that will run and stop the lines on which cable cars are operating,” Eric Kato, a spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation System, said in a statement. “This bogus service will be irregular and not follow a specific schedule.”

From September onwards, scheduled services will return to the typical tariffs.

Breed stated at a news conference Tuesday morning that Muni officials said the cable cars wouldn’t be operational until the fall, and she and Muni boss Jeffrey Tumlin came up with this creative solution to get people back in cars before summer End, according to CBS News.

“At the beginning of August, the cable cars will be available to all drivers free of charge for the whole of August,” said Breed, according to CBS. “So we’re bringing them back a little earlier, not as early as I would have liked, but early enough for you to catch them at the end of summer, right before you send your child back to school when they open this fall, and it should better open this fall. “

Masks will be required for cable cars, as the state and the district will continue to require face coverings in local public transport.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – After parking in a Muni yard for more than a year, the city’s iconic cable cars returned to the streets of San Francisco on Monday for test drives and free rides as the transit line made its return prepared for full operation in September.

The return of the cable car is just another sign that San Francisco is recovering after more than 15 months battling COVID-19.

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“I’ve been counting the days,” said William Kouzi, a North Beach resident who was lucky enough to catch one of the first free rides on the Van Ness-California route. “I asked them (when would they return to public service) and they were so nice. They said, ‘Come on, since you live here.’ It was amazing.”

The West family from New York were fortunate enough to be in the Embarcadero turnaround when the test runs began.

“We came here hoping we could get on the cable cars,” they said. “It’s a pleasant surprise.”

Last month, an upbeat Mayor of London Breed revealed plans for the return of the legendary cable cars.

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When the city closed in March 2020, the cable cars were parked in their service yard as public transport was practically suspended during the months of on-site protection. While Muni resumed operations in the following months, the cable cars remained silent.

Muni officials had told Breed that they would not be able to put the cable cars back into operation until the fall.

“I didn’t want to hear it,” she said. “But he (Muni boss Jeffrey Tumlin) found a creative solution. Even if we expected to bring the cable cars back in autumn, we will do something absolutely extraordinary. “

But their arrival on the streets for testing was a little earlier than even Breed expected. When announcing in June, Breed said testing and rides would begin in August.

“From the beginning of August, the mountain railways will be available to all drivers free of charge for the entire month of August. So let’s bring them back a little earlier, not as early as I would have liked, but early enough for you to catch them at the end of summer, just before you send your kid back to school when they open this fall, and they’d better be open this fall. “

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Tumlin said the cable cars will run near their normal timetables during the tests. You will return to the normal timetable at the full tariff on September 1st.

The post Sound Of Clanging Cable Automobile Bells Returns To San Francisco Streets – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A few streetsblog stories are a bit advanced. Here are some quick news nuggets to start your Juniteenth weekend away.

Oakland Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Says “No Thanks, We’re Keeping Our Protected Bike Lanes”

The Oakland BPAC unanimously voted Thursday night to keep the protected bike lanes on Telegraph Avenue in KONO, despite recent pressures by some dealers and the Department of Transportation to remove them in favor of deleted lanes.

The move wasn’t very surprising – BPACs generally don’t support cities that are wasting valuable resources on dismantling cycling infrastructure. As Bike East Bay pointed out, Oakland has higher priorities than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars removing park-protected bike lanes that have been tried and tested in KONO and elsewhere. “Thanks to everyone who called to show your support,” Bike East Bay wrote on social media of the vote.

The proponents not only want to stop the destruction of this infrastructure, but also expand it with continuously protected cycle paths from the city center to Temescal, which connect the two already existing sections. “We are organizing the extension of protected cycle paths and the improvement of pedestrian safety in the north through Temescal by creating a continuous cycle path from the city center to 57th Street,” they wrote on their blog.

Of course, this fight is far from over. The next major meeting on the subject will be the City Council’s Public Works Committee on June 22nd. Bike East Bay urges lawyers to sign up for email notifications and stay informed of the machinations of motorists to clear the lanes.

Would you like to help shape regional transport policy?

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is looking for interested Bay Area residents to volunteer for the Policy Advisory Committee to help them figure out how to keep the area moving. From an MTC version:

This committee advises MTC – the region’s transportation planning and funding agency – on transportation-related policies in the San Francisco Bay Area, taking into account various environmental, economic, and social justice perspectives. Members are appointed by the Commission for a term from January 2022. Please complete this application by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, August 1, 2021.

If you would like to advise the MTC on assisting regional tariff integration, new projects, etc., and have time to serve, click HERE to apply.

Ringing, ringing and ringing!

A cable car in earlier times. Photo: Roger Rudick

Last but not least, the Mayor’s Office and SFMTA announced this week that the San Francisco soundtrack will sound a little more normal starting in August with the return of the cable cars and their signature bells. From the mayor’s message:

“San Francisco just isn’t San Francisco when the cable cars aren’t running, and this is just the latest sign of the City is recovering and recovering,” Mayor Breed said in a statement. “People are ready to visit San Francisco again and experience all that we have to offer, and we know that taking the cable cars is always high on the list of things people want to do.”

SFMTA staff will begin inspecting the cable cars in mid-July, and the city will be offering free rides, albeit unscheduled, until the first week of August. Revenue service will resume in the fall, provided everything goes well.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco’s iconic cable cars are being sidelined from the coronavirus pandemic, but officials said the city’s historic trams will start rolling again this weekend on Friday.

With tourists flocking to San Francisco again and the city reopening more of its economy, it plans to restore service to the vintage trams that run along Market Street and the Embarcadero on Saturday, the mayor’s office said in a statement .

Mayor London Breed and other city officials planned to celebrate the return of trams and other public transport on Friday afternoon with a ceremonial ride to Fisherman’s Wharf. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority will also resume operations on Saturday at subway stations that were closed during the pandemic, the statement said.

Erica Kato, a spokeswoman for SFMTA, said the iconic wooden ropeways are expected to resume operations in the fall.

Prior to the pandemic, 25 million tourists visited San Francisco annually, many of whom rode the cable cars as synonymous with the city as the Golden Gate Bridge.

Roughly 17,000 riders packed the cable cars daily before they were parked in March 2020 when the city was cordoned off and protected. The city continued to operate a skeleton network of transit lines during the closure and gradually restored service.

The post San Francisco streetcars are again however no cable vehicles but | Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Muni is expected to provide an update during its board meeting on Tuesday.

RELATED: The streets of San Francisco are filled with music from the bell of the Muni Cable Car.

ABC7 News has learned that the Powell-Hyde route will be the first to resume service this fall.

The cars run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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The system needs detailed maintenance before the vehicles can be put back into operation.

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