Every few years since the 1980s, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency raises the fare for a cable car ride to keep the beloved, but costly, tourist attraction on track. Typically, the agency tacks on an extra dollar at a time, but incremental increases, like the trolley itself, are now a thing of the past.
On Tuesday, the SFMTA Board of Directors unanimously approved a new fare structure for hopping on the cable car, and it’s the largest year-over-year increase in San Francisco history. If the San Francisco Board of Supervisors confirms the budget, the cost for a single ride will rise from $9 to $12 starting Jan. 4, 2027. But the SFMTA board saved the biggest escalation for the following year.
In early 2028, a cable car ride would cost $18.
The new fare policy ultimately eliminates the current single ride cable car ticket, as well as the tiered visitor one-, three- and seven-day passes. Starting in 2018, every ride on the cable car would require the new “Cable Car Plus” pass. The one-day pass is valid for unlimited travel on cable cars and all Muni services. To help soften the financial burden for traveling families, the board asked that the Cable Car Plus be good for one adult and up to two youths 18 or younger.
The new fares are included in the balanced budget that SFMTA’s board approved to dodge a $307 million shortfall. SFMTA faces an ongoing financial crisis, as ridership remains around 75% of its pre-pandemic numbers and state and federal pandemic relief funding runs out. Although SFMTA has implemented cost saving actions — including leaving positions vacant and renegotiating some service contracts — the austerity is not enough to leave the trolleys untouched.
The cable cars, with their novelty and appeal to visitors, are more important to San Francisco than operating in the black. In 2019, the Cato Institute found that while it cost $70 million to run the cars, they only collected about $24 million in revenue.
SFMTA expects the new fares will help better recover costs. Historically, higher fares have cut into ridership; in 2005, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom said boosting the fare to $5 was turning away straphangers.
The Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide on approving the new policy in the city’s budget after Mayor Daniel Lurie submits it on May 1.