How public transport systems built a city: San Francisco marks 150 years of its cable cars and 125 years of Ferry Building, hub of its ferry routes
- The US city’s cable car network is celebrating its 150th anniversary and at its heart is the Cable Car Museum, which reveals the system’s innards
- The Ferry Building, hub of its ferry routes, opened 125 years ago, and is now a popular place in which to hang out, full of bakeries, restaurants and shops
It’s not often that a public transport system is a draw in its own right, but the remnants of two in San Francisco are high up on that city’s list of attractions, both of them celebrating anniversaries this year.
The Union Depot and Ferry House – more commonly known simply as the Ferry Building – has been in operation for 125 years as the hub of a network of ferry routes across San Francisco Bay, and has re-emerged from near-obsolescence to become a hub of activity again.
It’s no longer a place to rush through but one to dally in, although setting off around the bay in a boat remains an option.
Meanwhile, the city’s cable car network, built to connect with the ferry services, celebrates 150 years of operation this year.
Its ancient tram-like cars are drawn up San Francisco’s steep hills by a cat’s cradle of underground hawsers – a technology invented in this Californian city.
The interior of the dignified Beaux-Arts-style Ferry Building, with its landmark clock tower, would be unrecognisable to those for whom it was once just a hub on the daily commute, a link to a cable car to somewhere else.
