In support of Fleet Week, SFMTA/Muni has dispatched two “vessels” to cruise The Embarcadero, shuttling happy passengers between Pier 39 and the Ferry Building. They’re supplementing regular F-line service between the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf (Jones and Jefferson) and Castro, via The Embarcadero and Market Street.
The “Hyde Ride”- which we’ve started describing as “the perfect cable car cocktail” – will feature the two most historic cable cars in coming days. On Friday, July 5, Sacramento-Clay Cable Car “Big 19” will do the honors. It’s 8 feet longer than the single-end Powell cars that serve Hyde every day, and older than any of them as well. originally built to run on Market and Haight streets in 1883.
This summer, Market Street Railway is joining with SFMTA/Muni to provide extra vintage rail service in The City, five days a week. It’s part of a wide-ranging effort by City agencies, business groups, and nonprofits like ours to remind San Franciscans of unique aspects of The City and attract more visitors from both near and far.
The greatest Giant – many say the best professional baseball player ever – Willie Mays turned 93 on May 6. Mays received perhaps the ultimate San Francisco tribute eight years ago when the City dedicated a cable car to him. (No prizes for guessing the number of the cable car.)
San Francisco has awarded just about its highest civic honor to a beloved honorary son, the late Tony Bennett. As morning fog chilled the air on Valentine’s Day, Mayor London Breed was joined high on a hill – Nob Hill – by Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto, SFMTA/Muni leaders and workers, VIPs, and friends of the cable cars – to dedicate California Street Cable Car 53 to the singer who drew untold millions of visitors to the City and its cable cars with his rendition of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.
As planned, the special six-month 150th anniversary fare on the California Street cable car line has expired, and the fare has gone back to $8 one-way, the same as the Powell Street cable cars.
They say you never forget your first. Absolutely true for the open-top streetcar from England that turned heads on Market Street 40 years ago during the first Historic Trolley Festival that paved the way for the permanent F-line. People took one look, then a double take, and noted the smiles of the riders. It was quickly dubbed the “Love Boat”.
From November 13-19, leaders of numerous nations will gather in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference. These include many heads of state, including President Biden, China’s President Xi, and others. The US Secret Service is in charge of security, and they have demanded that a portion of Nob Hill around the Fairmont Hotel be sealed off tight as a drum, along with the area around Moscone Center.
