Then and Now: Keeping the Cable Cars on the Move

Then and Now: Keeping the Cable Cars on the Move
By Jeremy Menzies

When Andrew Hallidie’s first cable car climbed Nob Hill on Clay Street in August 1873, the cars were a brand-new technology to replace the horse-drawn streetcars used at the time. Little did he know that 148 years later, cable cars would still be scaling the steep slopes of Nob Hill.

Many of the methods used to maintain and operate the cars to this day harken back to the golden era of cable cars in the late 1800s. As we ramp up for the return of revenue service on San Francisco’s beloved cable cars, check out the images below for a look at just some of the behind-the-scenes work keeping the system running, both then and now.

Keeping up the Cars
Maintaining the cars on a regular basis is vital to keeping them safe, operable and looking good for the tens of thousands of people who ride them. At the Cable Car Division shops, mechanics, carpenters and painters perform routine maintenance, make repairs and brighten up worn out paint to keep the cars in shape.

Then: Two painters work on California Street Cable Car 15 in the paint shop at California Cable headquarters in 1952 (once located on the SW corner of Hyde and California Streets).

Now: A painter lays down masking tape to paint striping on the side of Powell St. Cable Car 22, which was rebuilt in 2017.

Minding the Cable
Without cables and the machinery used to move them, there would be no cable cars. Today the age-old work of cable splicing, a method of attaching one end of the cable to the other, is done by hand, the same as it has been done for over 100 years. Another critical job is maintaining the winding machinery used to move the cable and cars through the streets.

Then: cable splicing in 1947 involved hand tools, skill and a bit of brute force, much the same as 10, 20, or 50 years earlier. 

Now: This 2014 shot looks about the same as its 1947 counterpart, minus the hats and cigarettes!

Major Overhauls
When a car is too old or damaged to operate safely, it is rebuilt by teams of skilled craftspeople. The metalworkers in our Special Machine shop are responsible for building new metal parts used throughout the vehicle – from heavy wheel and suspension assemblies to decorative parts of the passenger grab bars. Carpenters rebuild the entire car, while painters and mechanics finish getting the car looking its best and ready to roll.

Then: Two mechanics stop for a photo in 1958 with an overhauled cable car truck in the heavy repair shops once located on Ocean and San Jose avenues (present day location of Muni’s Green Division).

Now: A welder cuts up an old cable car truck using a torch at the Special Machine Shop, which handles building brand new trucks from scratch. In addition to using traditional methods, the shop is truly a 21st century operation with computer-controlled machines that can make parts from technical drawings that were painstakingly uploaded into modern machining software.

Tracks to Run On
Today, as throughout the past 100+ years, track crews are responsible for keeping the track system up and running. Unlike regular rails used in our streetcar and subway systems, the cable car rails include complex pieces to not only guide the cars but also move the cable up and over hills and around bends.

Then: A track crew works to replace a depression beam and bumper bar on Powell Street in this 1971 photo.

Now: In this 2019 shot, a track crew replaces an old depression beam just blocks from the 1971 photo. Depression beams are used to push against the cable to keep it from hitting the channel in which it runs wherever the road dips.

The maintenance and restoration efforts of SFMTA's cable car barn staff speak to their unparalleled background skills and their mastery of age-old trades that help keep our very own national landmark on the move. 

Catch a ride on the cable cars for free throughout the month of August and look for them to return to revenue service in September. 
 

Published August 21, 2021 at 05:27AM
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Thanks for Keeping Your Mask On

Thanks for Keeping Your Mask On
By Jonathan Streeter

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Muni customers have consistently demonstrated a strong willingness to comply with health safety mandates, in particular with wearing masks.  As a reminder, the Federal requirement to wear a mask while riding, boarding and waiting for Muni vehicles remains in place, and has been extended until January 18, 2022.

Everyone over the age of two is required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. We are grateful for the cooperation of everyone involved, as it lowers the risks associated with the spread of the virus, not only for Muni customers, but also for vehicle operators, maintenance crews and others. 

If you haven’t already received a vaccination, we encourage you to explore the resources available in San Francisco as well as in other locations.

Thanks for helping to keep your transportation system as safe as we can for everyone.

Published August 19, 2021 at 10:13PM
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​​​​​​​Moving Towards San Francisco’s Transportation Future

​​​​​​​Moving Towards San Francisco’s Transportation Future
By Bonnie Jean von Krogh

Transportation is a vital part of a thriving and equitable community and economy. We are planning for a future transportation system to deliver the reliable and safe transit San Franciscans tell us they want, address changes in travel patterns and demographics and improve safety. We also need to address the historical wrongs of inequitable service and long delayed infrastructure repairs. 

We have looked at our past and begun charting our future. Transportation in San Francisco is on an unsustainable financial path. We are $50 billion short of the transportation system our city needs over the next 30 years. But we can act now to put San Francisco on a path to success. That’s what Transportation 2050 is about.   

Over the last 20 years, the demands on San Francisco’s transportation system have increased while revenues haven’t kept up. The last decade saw tremendous growth in San Francisco and its economy. That strength meant that the SFMTA’s operating revenues met the levels we predicted. Strong growth in the city’s General Fund compensated for the agency’s declining parking and transit fare revenues. Since the SFMTA’s financial structure relies significantly on these declining parking and transit fare revenues, growing costs have resulted in a budget deficit. COVID came along and exacerbated these long-standing budget challenges.  

How did we get here? San Francisco has grown and transportation has changed, but how we fund transit and our transportation infrastructure has not. Uber and Lyft have steadily eroded San Francisco's parking revenue, even as we’ve expanded paid parking. Costs to retain reliable, highly qualified bus and rail operators and maintenance staff have increased due to the extraordinarily high costs of living in the Bay Area. Even with this, we have been understaffed for years. Our fare discount programs – critical for keeping Muni affordable – have also meant declining fare revenue.  

Now the economic shock and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have permanently lowered our revenue projections. At the beginning of the pandemic, we immediately tightened our belts and made $119 million in cuts in a way that prioritized equity. Current federal relief is one-time funding that only keeps transportation afloat in the near term.  

With expenditures growing with Bay Area Cost of Living and revenues declining after federal relief is exhausted, the SFMTA faces a funding gap that cannot be closed. It will be years before enterprise revenues recover, leaving the agency on a financial path it cannot recover from alone. A new funding source could get the SFMTA back on track.  

Community-Driven Vision 

Transportation 2050 is based on transportation needs and priorities identified by the community over the last eight years through two mayoral transportation task forces (T2030 and T2045) and input from the city’s Muni Reliability Working Group in 2020. It outlines the resources needed to achieve the community’s transportation vision developed through ConnectSF, the infrastructure needs identified in the SFMTA’s 20-Year Capital Plan and highlights priorities, post COVID, from the SFMTA’s recent 2021 citywide Community Survey.  

Top community priorities include:  

• Making our service equitable  
• Providing quick, convenient transit access to all parts of San Francisco 
• Improving access to public transit for people who are disabled  
• Repairing and maintaining Muni equipment and facilities 
• Improving service for communities most dependent on transit 
• Ensuring that trips to all destinations work well 
• Making street safety improvements for walking 

Here’s how we're focusing on your priorities and vision:

 

Addressing the needs of San Francisco’s transportation system will require a total of $111.3 billion over the next 30 years, but the costs to deliver on the complete vision are much higher than our revenues can support. Over the next 10 years, the gap between fully implementing this vision and the financial reality we face is $1.04 billion per year on average. We can get part of the way there, but the SFMTA cannot do it alone. We have used most of the tools in our toolbox. 

Transportation 2050 has identified some new potential revenue sources, which combined could amount to $149M per year, beginning the process of recovery on which we can build. These include a transportation special tax, changes to San Francisco’s parking tax, a general obligation bond to fix our infrastructure, advocacy for federal and state grants and revenue from the development of SFMTA properties, the newest tool in the SFMTA toolbox. Combining these new sources with existing funds would allow us to fund nearly 2/3 of the transportation vision for San Francisco over 30 years and put our transportation system on the path to firmer financial footing.  

Stay tuned for further updates as we work towards achieving this vision while identifying future revenue streams and cost savings strategies to create an equitable and sustainable transportation system for San Francisco. Learn more on our website SFMTA.com/T2050. 

Published August 18, 2021 at 03:01AM
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