They say when you are travelling to the Golden City aka San Francisco, it is only logical to take the cable car to move from one destination to another. But cable cars in this Northern California city are not just a mode of commute. They are a historic symbol, something that even attracts tourists to this financial and cultural hub. The city boasts of the world's last manually operated cable car system and this iconic symbol, by all means, deserves to be celebrated.
Keeping that in mind, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and its nonprofit preservation partner, Market Street Railway, have collaborated with over a dozen other organizations to host a couple of events all throughout the Summer and Fall of 2023 to celebrate cable cars' 150th anniversary.
It will be a six-month-long celebration where the residents and the tourists will get to participate in the first-ever public tour of the Muni shop where cable cars are built and rebuilt. Alongside, history-themed walks and ride along will be organised across all neighbourhoods that are served by the cable car lines.
Also Read: Bhutan, the kingdom of quiet
This experience will be open till the end of the year. To participate, a special $5 all-day pass will let riders hop on and off the California cable car line and explore neighbourhoods along the route. Residents and visitors can even opt for the existing all-day, all-Muni Visitor Passport for $13 to hop on and off all cable cars, F-line historic streetcars, Muni trains and buses and make a day out of it. The passes are available on the Muni Mobile smartphone app.
Other events such as a reenactment of cable car founder Andrew Hallidie’s historic first run are also being organised. At the inaugural event on June 13 at California, Drumm and Market Streets, Mayor Breed, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin will join the city's civic, business and neighbourhood leaders to ride the oldest surviving cable car, ‘Big 19’ a National Historic Landmark.
President of Market Street Railway, Rick Laubscher, in a statement, honoured the cable car system and touted it as one of the foundational stones for the city's advancement.
"No other city in the world has cable cars. San Francisco was the first city with cable cars, and since 1957, we’ve been the only city to run them. Our special 150th-anniversary website, sfcablecars.org, is filled with cable car history and little-known stories. It also makes it easy to combine cable car rides with walking tours of Chinatown, the Barbary Coast, Fisherman’s Wharf, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Union Square, Polk Gulch and the Financial District. It’s a great year to rediscover San Francisco and the cable cars," he said.
Mail: muskankhullar@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @muskankhullar03