SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – You will soon be able to hop on a cable car again and you may already see it running.
SFMTA is testing the cable cars right now — 10 were being tested on Monday and so far things are going well.
“They are a symbol of San Francisco. They are symbols of our technological ingenuity,” Jeffrey Tumlin said.
Now they’re also becoming a symbol of COVID recovery as they begin to run more.
You can hear the cables and power sources running again. That’s what SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin says they are working on right now.
“All of the mechanics and machinery need to be inspected both by our own crews and also by the California Utilities Commission,” Tumlin said.
People will be able to ride the cable cars again starting at the beginning of August but that will still be part of the testing phase.
“Actual people are a far better test of making sure we can work out all the systems, get customer service down, get our headways down. Come help us retest our service,” Tumlin said.
Service will be free for the month of August but Tumlin warns it will be focused on the Powell-Hyde line and it won’t be running on a perfect schedule.
They’ll still be working on getting all of their operators re-trained after more than a year off.
“We want people to have great experiences here in San Francisco and nothing says San Francisco like a cable car ride,” Mayor London Breed said.
SFMTA is requesting that people continue to wear their masks on the cable cars at least through August.
Right now, the hope is for the cable cars to be back to their old service schedule in September.