Ask someone to picture San Francisco and they’ll probably describe a bright red cable car going up an impossibly steep street, clanging its bell. That’s one of the iconic images of San Francisco—and although the cable car system may be facing budgetary concerns right now, it’s still a magical way to experience the city.
The cable cars still represent the best way to get up these crazy streets. Immortalized on the Rice-A-Roni box, the cable car represents something important about San Francisco: the ability to see a problem (a street that no horse-drawn carriage could summit) and come up with a plan to resolve it. May we all be moved to come up with ways to solve our modern issues as well!
There are actually three cable car lines: the California cable car (Line C), the Powell/Hyde cable car (Line PH) and the Powell/Mason cable car (Line PM). Line C starts at California and Market streets and continues to Van Ness Avenue and back, while lines PH and PM start at Powell and Market streets and go to Fisherman’s Wharf and back. You can buy tickets using the MuniMobile app, your Clipper card or by paying cash with exact change. To board at Powell & Market, Bay & Taylor and Hyde & Beach streets, you must purchase your fare in advance. At other stops, you could pay when you board. The cable car fare is a flat $8, regardless of how long you stay on the ride. There are discounts for youth, seniors and disabled; you can visit the website for more details.
Many San Franciscans may not have ever ridden a cable car themselves, thinking that it’s just for tourists. Well, I rode as recently as last month so that I could share with you the actual experience. Here are seven things that may surprise you about the ride!
1. Once you’re inside, it feels like pretty much any other kind of public transit.
It’s crowded. You may be nose-to-armpit with someone. If you were lucky enough to get a seat, you’re probably staring at someone’s belt. The seats face the interior of the car, so it’s hard to see out the window without twisting around. If you’re standing, you’re wishing you were sitting.
2. It’s not that long of a ride.
You’ll pay $8 for a ride that lasts about 15 minutes. Hopefully you’re not expecting it to last all afternoon—but maybe the ride length is exactly right to give a solid taste of what it feels like.
3. If you try to board along the way, you might not get on.
Last month, I needed to use the cable cars to get somewhere—I used it like it was literal transit rather than just a fun run. I boarded just up the hill on Powell Street from the cable car turnaround about five blocks below. I was lucky that I was able to board, because after my stop, no one was getting off and so there wasn’t enough room for anyone new to get on. I watched with empathy as we would stop in front of a long line of visitors ready to board, only to lurch back into motion when no one got off. To be frank, people looked peeved, and I wondered how many cable cars had gone by that were unboardable. To make it more likely that you’ll get on, you should board at the start of the line.
4. Given that, you might not want to prepurchase your ticket.
It’s like that some families in that line would have been willing to give up on the ride and find something else to do if they hadn’t already purchased tickets for everyone. So maybe board first and then start fighting with your phone and the SFMTA app (but then since you’re not paying attention, you lose the in-the-moment experience of riding the cable car).
5. The most fun part is holding onto the outside.
The part of riding a cable car that feels exhilarating is when you are hanging onto the posts outside. When you pass by cars (or a bus), you feel the thin sliver of air between you and them and marvel afresh that lawyers have not made San Francisco give this up. You’ll have to hope for good luck to hold onto the outside; only half of the car is exposed to the open air, the rest is enclosed.
6. The cable is constantly moving.
Did you know the underground cable is constantly chugging along? The cable car doesn’t have its own motor and instead “clips” on to the line to move and detaches from it to stop—the car’s grip is basically a big pair of pliers that grabs the cable to move the car. Underneath the street, four continuous steel ropes are always in motion (you can learn about the fine details, down to each bundle of wires, from the Cable Car Museum website). For the California cable car, the cable stretches over four miles long, while the Powell line, the shortest, is under two miles long. The cables run at 9.5 miles per hour, although it can feel much faster than that while you’re on it!
7. It’s totally worth it.
Despite the grumpy things said above, riding the cable car is still totally worth it. You feel that rush when the car is at a steep pitch and still moving quickly. You love the slight, perceived sense of danger when cars brush past. You have to do it, so stand in line and try to get your place on the outside. Embrace the noise, the lurch, the bell, the glide. It’s San Francisco and you’re riding on a bright red cable car, knocking it off your bucket list, you lucky devil.