Ride on a Cable Car in San Francisco, California, USA
Climb aboard, grip the rail and let the cable pull you up one of San Francisco’s hills. The cars rattle through intersections, climb gradients that look too steep for ordinary street transport, then drop towards neighbourhoods, waterfront views and busy downtown streets. Riding outside on the running board gives you the full experience, with the city moving past only a few feet away. San Francisco introduced cable cars in 1873, when Andrew Smith Hallidie developed the system as a practical alternative to horse-drawn transport on the city’s steep streets. The cars are still pulled by continuously moving underground cables, which the grip operator connects to and releases using a large mechanical grip. Three lines remain in regular service today: Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason and California. For the classic first ride, use one of the Powell Street routes and travel towards Fisherman’s Wharf, or take the California line if you want a less tourist-heavy journey across Nob Hill. Current single-ride tickets cost $9 and do not include transfers between cable car lines. Queues can build at the main terminals, so boarding farther along the route can sometimes be easier. Add this to your list and ride a piece of nineteenth-century engineering that still works as part of San Francisco’s public transport system.