Ride Muni’s very first streetcar, built in 1912. Ride an even older streetcar that looks like a cable car, built in 1896. Ride two unique cable cars, from lines that disappeared in 1942 and 1954. Ride Muni’s brand-newest cable car, an incredible piece of the carpenter’s art. Ride a 1928 tram from Melbourne, the 88-year old open-top “boat tram” from England, a 1950s “EuroPCC”. And, for the first time since the pandemic started, a popular tram from Milan will operate. All on Muni’s own tracks.
But wait. There’s more.
Ride the trolley coaches you rode as a kid (if you grew up in the City.) Ride the 1956 Mack motor coach you may have taken to Candlestick, or the 1970 GM bus you took to school, or even the 1938 bus you may have climbed up to Coit Tower on. And younger folks, we’ve got “newer old” buses for you as well, including trolley coaches and diesel coaches from the 1970s to the 1990s.
All these, and even more vintage vehicles from Muni’s unmatched collection, will be carrying passengers one day only: Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The popular annual Muni Heritage event, co-sponsored by us with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) since 2012, is BACK after a 30-month pandemic hiatus. And the rides on the vintage vehicles operating specially for Muni Heritage Day will be FREE. (Regular F-line and cable car service will also operate, of course, at normal Muni fares.)
Streetcar and vintage bus rides will operate from our San Francisco Railway Museum across from the Ferry Building at 77 Steuart Street (Steuart Street F-line stop; Embarcadero BART and Muni Metro station).
In the plaza next to our museum, you’ll find Muni’s motorized cable car, where kids are free to ring the bell and everyone’s invited to take selfies. There’ll be historical displays from several groups, and we’ll have a large memorabilia sale outside our museum.
Because of ongoing operator shortages at Muni related to the pandemic, this year’s event will be a single day, Saturday, June 4, with rides offered from 10 am – 4 pm, rather than the two day event of past years. So come early and get your ride on!
If you’re planning to ride the regular F-line along Market Street that day, do note that service from about 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. will be disrupted by a parade. Apparently, a communication breakdown between SFMTA and the Police Department, which issues parade permits, allowed this conflict (incomprehensible to us) to occur. But it will not affect the vintage vehicle rides along The Embarcadero. And we are working with SFMTA to see if some special surprises can be offered to attendees at the end of the operating day at 4 pm.
As the City recovers, Muni Heritage Day is a great way to celebrate our transit history, the approach of summer, and San Francisco in general.
IF you’re not a regular Muni rider and you want to ride regular cable cars, streetcars, light rail vehicles, or buses while you’re here, check out these fare options. (Remember the special vintage vehicle rides are free.)
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/fares/munimobile
https://www.sfmta.com/fares/1-day-visitor-passport
