Climb ‘halfway to the stars’ and back in 25 minutes. Clamber up and down the steepest cable car hill in the world. Pass Crooked Lombard twice, swing through Chinatown, and roll smoothly through Russian Hill. Start and finish outside the Buena Vista Cafe, a block from Ghirardelli Square and interesting shops and restaurants in Fisherman’s Wharf on Jefferson Street. Meet people from all around the world while you’re doing it.
Thanks to Muni, with support from our nonprofit, the very popular Hyde Ride returns for summer 2026.
We at Market Street Railway are delighted to partner again with SFMTA/Muni to give transit lovers the chance to ride vintage streetcars, cable cars, and buses, while learning how public transit spurred the growth of San Francisco from a village to the world-class City we enjoy today.
May 15, 1932 was perhaps the peak of San Francisco’s streetcar era. True, a few unimportant lines had been abandoned in the previous few years, but on this day, San Francisco celebrated a brand-new streetcar line: Market Street Railway’s 31-Balboa. It would be the last new line with substantial new trackage until the F-line opened along the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf 68 years later.
The “Hyde Ride”- which we’ve started describing as “the perfect cable car cocktail” – will feature the two most historic cable cars in coming days. On Friday, July 5, Sacramento-Clay Cable Car “Big 19” will do the honors. It’s 8 feet longer than the single-end Powell cars that serve Hyde every day, and older than any of them as well. originally built to run on Market and Haight streets in 1883.
This summer, Market Street Railway is joining with SFMTA/Muni to provide extra vintage rail service in The City, five days a week. It’s part of a wide-ranging effort by City agencies, business groups, and nonprofits like ours to remind San Franciscans of unique aspects of The City and attract more visitors from both near and far.
The greatest Giant – many say the best professional baseball player ever – Willie Mays turned 93 on May 6. Mays received perhaps the ultimate San Francisco tribute eight years ago when the City dedicated a cable car to him. (No prizes for guessing the number of the cable car.)
San Francisco has awarded just about its highest civic honor to a beloved honorary son, the late Tony Bennett. As morning fog chilled the air on Valentine’s Day, Mayor London Breed was joined high on a hill – Nob Hill – by Bennett’s wife Susan Benedetto, SFMTA/Muni leaders and workers, VIPs, and friends of the cable cars – to dedicate California Street Cable Car 53 to the singer who drew untold millions of visitors to the City and its cable cars with his rendition of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.
As planned, the special six-month 150th anniversary fare on the California Street cable car line has expired, and the fare has gone back to $8 one-way, the same as the Powell Street cable cars.
