Thaths wrote:
On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 11:33 AM Heather Madrone<heat...@madrone.com>
wrote:
Thaths wrote:
True, but I would not classify it as Mass or Rapid. Can you imagine a
cable car system being able to deal with the NJ-NY traffic?
Cable cars might replace some of the local surface transport in much the
same way that they operate in San Francisco. Cable car systems make more
sense in hilly terrain, but they used to be much more common than they
are now. GM and one of the tire companies (I forget which) bought up the
cable car systems in many U.S. cities so they could shut them down and
force people to buy automobiles.
Cable cars can be spaced really closely. At peak times, a cable car
leaves Market Street in SF every 15 seconds.
Heather, I used to live in San Francisco. In my many years of living there
I took the cable car twice. Both occasions were weekends. Once purely to
experience the cable car ride and once as a means of getting around.
Unless you live on the California Street line, cable cars are not that
useful for locals getting around. If you're on one of the Powell lines,
the 30 Stockton bus is typically much more useful.
My mom lives about a block from the end of the Powell-Mason line in
North Beach. We take it when we want to go shopping around Union Square.
I have walked past the Market St. cable car terminus hundreds of times and
I cannot recall an instance where there wasn't a long line of people
waiting 10+ minutes for the next cable car.
I've often waited longer than that for the next bus or BART train.
Muni, IMO, does a much better job of providing cheap mass transit than the
cable cars which are mostly a historical relic that brings in the tourists.
Muni is unusual in running so many different kinds of transport --
buses, light rail, the Metro subway system, streetcars, trolleybuses,
cable cars. Cable car fares are included on all the Muni passes. Cable
cars are a tiny part of the system. Mostly historical, of course, but
it's hard to imagine what other form of public transit could manage Hyde
or Taylor Street.
When it comes to San Francisco's odd forms of historical transport, I'm
fonder of the trolleybuses and the electric streetcar lines than I am of
the cable cars. The trolleybuses look like giant insects, with their
antenna (the trolley poles) maintaining contact with the twin electrical
lines that feed them.
I suppose the ferries are another form of transport that is kept around
mostly to amuse tourists. They used to be a serious form of
transportation, but the bridges do the serious lifting these days.
Oh hey, trolleybuses are common in Europe and making a comeback in other
places. I for one welcome our insectoid mass(transit)ters.
FWIW, Muni has never seemed to serve San Francisco as well as AC Transit
serves the East Bay, and it's nowhere near being the well-oiled machine
that the NYC Metro is.
--hmm
