We recommend you to use this line if you want to reach the famous Lombard Street and also because at Lombard St, you can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the bay and of Alcatraz. Powell-Hyde: It ends near Ghirardelli Square.However, the two lines have different routes and final destinations. Cable Car Map: Routesīoth the Powell-Mason and the Powell-Hyde lines start at Market Street and make a stop at Union Square. To stop the cable car, rather than tighten the grip on the cable, it is loosened and the operator hits the brakes.Īt the end of the route, there is a large circular platform that allows you to literally turn the cable car around so that it can resume its journey and head in the opposite direction. In other words, for the cable car to start moving, the operator operates a lever which, like a pair of pliers, grabs the cable through an opening in the road surface and the amount of pressure that is applied, determines the speed. There is an iron cable that runs at a constant speed under the road surface to which the cable car “hooks up” on the surface. What sets the cable cars apart is precisely the fact that they travel along the city streets without being powered by a motor.
![cable car california street cable car california street](https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/aCOcIwC9hpzy6v4KEGbWPQ/348s.jpg)
Most of the passengers are tourists, while locals now rely on more modern and faster public transportation in the Bay Area. Today the cable car system is part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and, although only three lines remain active, it is estimated that as many as seven million people use this service every year.
![cable car california street cable car california street](http://gardenstuffetc.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Ingrids_rose.27210729_std.jpg)
The historical importance of cable cars is underlined by the fact that they were the first public transportation system to be included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1964. In other words, he wanted to create a system that would adapt to the city’s geography and allow its citizens to travel safely through San Francisco. As the story goes, which may be partially true and part legend, after seeing a horse-drawn carriage slide down a hill in San Francisco, Halladie had the inspiration to develop cable cars.
![cable car california street cable car california street](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/mH8AAOSwhJFb31vW/s-l300.jpg)
The one who invented the cable car was a Londoner named Andrew Hallidie. Between 18, 23 cable car lines operated around San Francisco.