Cable cars are a premier San Francisco attraction, but due to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week, one line will be completely out of commission and stops on other lines were restricted.
President Joe Biden will be staying at the Fairmont Hotel in Nob Hill, which sits directly along the California cable car line. The Secret Service is establishing a security perimeter around the hotel, and the entire line will be shut down.
San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency officials had said last week the California Line would go out of service on Monday. However, on Sunday, California Street was already crawling with workers installing security fences, and buses seemed to be running in place of the cable cars.
Meanwhile, the Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason cable car lines will still be running during APEC, but starting Sunday, they were shortened and were not traveling south of Washington Street on Powell Street.
That means visitors who were planning to grab a ride at Market and Powell up through Union Square are out of luck. Buses were available at Ellis and Powell to take riders up north to a point where they could get on a cable car.
Bus service will be available for the stops along Powell Street that were not available during the summit, SFMTA said.
San Francisco’s transit agency urged anyone who would like to experience a cable car ride during APEC week to board at the Cable Car Museum for travel toward Fisherman’s Wharf.
The Cable Car Museum, a free attraction at 1201 Mason St., is a great place to learn about cable cars and see the pulley system that makes them work.
Single cable car rides are $8, while an all-day pass that allows access to buses, Muni trains and cable cars is $13. More information on how to purchase tickets can be found on Muni’s website.