Your Guide to San Francisco's California Street Cable Car Here is everything you need to know to have a memorable ride on one of the three cable car lines serving San Francisco, the California Line.

California is the state most famously associated with cable cars, specifically the city of San Francisco. The San Francisco cable car system is an iconic National Historic Landmark and the world's last manually operated cable car system. Established in 1873, these clanging, open-air vehicles are pulled by a continuous underground cable moving at a constant speed of 9.5 mph. While they serve as a practical form of public transit for locals navigating the city's legendary steep hills, they have become a global symbol of San Francisco tourism. Passengers often "hang off" the running boards of the cars as they travel routes like the Powell-Hyde or California Street lines, providing spectacular views of the Bay and Alcatraz. It is important to distinguish these from "streetcars" or "trolleys," which use overhead wires for power; San Francisco's cable cars rely entirely on mechanical grips on a moving subterranean rope, a feat of 19th-century engineering that remains one of the most photographed and beloved transit systems in the United States.