⏩ Cable cars: Rides in August free in exchange for feedback.

Rides free in August as the city requests feedback on service

A handful of San Francisco’s iconic cable cars trundled back to the city’s streets Monday, marking the beginning of the end of a 15month, pandemicinduced hiatus for the beloved vehicles.

City officials hailed the return of the cable cars as the latest symbol of the city’s gradual recovery from the COVID19 pandemic.

Mayor London Breed said she was excited for the cars to return to operation.

“Our cable cars are part of what makes San Francisco a worldclass destination, and their return is just the latest sign that our city is bouncing back,” added Breed.

Jeffrey Tumlin, SFMTA Director of Trans

“Our cable cars are part of what makes San Francisco a worldclass destination, and their return is just the latest sign that our city is bouncing back.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed

portation, said the cable cars returning to San Francisco’s streets are a “symbol of resilience.”

But the fragility of the city’s recovery was evident: In the midst of the celebration over the return of the cable cars, Breed announced that San Franciscans would again be required to wear face coverings in public settings as health officials try to stem the spread of the highly contagious delta coronavirus variant.

Not all of the cable cars will be resuming their usual routes all at once.

Starting Monday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency started providing free rides during the month of August in exchange for the public’s feedback on their experiences, officials said. Masks will be required.

Dozens of San Franciscans and tourists waited in line for a cable car ride Monday. They cheered when Tumlin thanked transportation workers for making their return a possibility.

Lori Tsukamoto never left her Pasadena home since the start of the pandemic, until this week — when she flew north to visit San Francisco with her husband and two kids.

Just before their return flight home, Tsukamoto found out the cable cars would resume operation, so her family had to come out, she said.

“We’re leaving today so we just wanted to come out and get our chance to ride the cable car,” Tsukamoto said. “Like the mayor said, it’s iconic. You can’t come to San Francisco without riding it.”

SFMTA temporarily suspended cable car service last March because of the pandemic. It was the longest shutdown since the 1980s, the agency said.

The historic cars are scheduled for a full return in September. The PowellHyde, PowellMason and the California lines will run from 7 a.m. until about 10 p.m. Service to Chinatown from the cable car barn after 10 p.m. will also continue.

Photos by Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Riders take pictures as they look down California Street toward the bay while aboard a Powell Street cable car.

A Giantsthemed cable car makes its way up Powell Street as cars resume service for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Photos by Jessica Christian / The Chronicle A cable car leaves the barn at Mason and Powell streets to pick up riders. Not all of the cable cars will be resuming their usual routes immediately.

Muni operators catch a ride to work on the first cable car in service since the start of the pandemic. Rides will be free in August in return for feedback on the experience.