San Francisco Streetcars 'Too Popular'

The F-Market is a streetcar line in San Francisco that features restored historic streetcars. When it was built in 1995, many saw it as a novelty, but today it is so popular and crowded that it has become an inefficient means of transportation.

1 minute read

August 7, 2008, 10:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"Twenty-five years ago, San Francisco put a fleet of quaint vintage streetcars on the train tracks along Market Street. Today those cars are still running on the F-line, which rolls down Market, past the Ferry Building, and up the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. They are beautifully restored, eye-catching tourist attractions, and a lot of fun.

Unless you are actually trying to get somewhere.

"In the afternoon when I am trying to go home, they get so packed they don't even stop," said Tamela Lamboglia, who has been working at Pier 39 for more than 24 years. "I've started to walk all the way to the Ferry Building."

The streetcars, sometimes called "museums in motion," have committed the cardinal sin of public transportation: They have become too popular."

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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