San Francisco has a hit on its hands: a new streetcar line   which uses vintage cars, painted in the liveries of various historic streetcar companies from across the nation and around the world. The F—line runs down Market Street from Castro Street (the gay mecca), and then on the Embarcadero — the shoreline boulevard which has been rebuilt and beautified, following years of darkness under an elevated freeway that had to be demolished following the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

That's quite an irony: a streetcar replacing a freeway.

The F—line goes all the way down the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf, and has been drawing thousands of tourists a day, who recognize a real bargain: an amusement park—worth ride, with great scenery, and a tourist destination at both ends. Locals use it too, because the four mile length goes through office and residential districts along the way. Total ridership is now 20,000 people per day — as much as the entire San Jose area Light Rail Vehicle system, an overpriced, underused, overbuilt project.

I confess that I am a streetcar nut. I spent my early youth two houses away from a busy streetcar line, and flattened many a penny by placing it on the track and letting the next trolley run over it. Watching the old trolleys sporting the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Milan, Italy colors always gives me a kick. Most of the cars are the PCC design — the Presidential Conference Car, a streetcar industry attempt to beat back competition from the automobile in the 1940s. The PCC design is one of the best—designed products in history. How many other 60 year old vehicles continue to deliver reliable service on a daily basis?

The F Line was a bargain to construct, compared to many light rail projects, at $55 million. Plans are afoot to expand it along the Embarcadero in both directions. In fact, San Francisco is a great town for streetcars, with a population density that makes frequent service practical, and a populace accustomed to taking mass transit rather than relying on cars, for which parking places are scarce.

Way back when. San Francsico was the only city in America to have two rival streetcar companies. A private company faced the Municipal Railway, with both firms running cars on four tracks down the middle of Market Street. Those days are long gone, but Market Street now boasts the F line on its surface, the Muni Metro (a subway running light rail vehicles) underneath in layer one, and a BART high speed long distance commuter line underneath that. A total of six tracks.

There is so little good news to report in San Francisco that I couldn't resist passing on a rare good news story.

Posted by Thomas   8 14 04