Plan would triple cost of riding S.F.'s historic streetcars

A passenger boards an F Line Castro streetcar on Market Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. Muni F Line of historic streetcars are popular with both tourists who tour the city and locals who use them for commute. But there is a suggestion that fares might go up to a premium rate of $6 like the Cable Cars, instead of the standard Muni $2 fare that is paid today. less A passenger boards an F Line Castro streetcar on Market Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. Muni F Line of historic streetcars are popular with both tourists who tour the city and ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Plan would triple cost of riding S.F.'s historic streetcars 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Aside from the cable cars, and that oh-so-rare bus that shows up on time with plenty of empty seats, riding the F-Market line's historic streetcars seems to be everybody's favorite Muni experience. That may explain the strong reaction to a Municipal Transportation Agency proposal to triple the cost of riding the restored streetcars to $6.

Commuters, visitors, merchants and tourism officials have hopped on board the streetcar of opposition being piloted by the Market Street Railway, a volunteer group that helps Muni preserve the historic F-Market line cars. Last week, Supervisors David Chiu and Scott Wiener joined the effort.

"We think this is a terrible idea," said Rick Laubscher, president of the Market Street Railway. "Opposition to this goes so deep."

Bumping the cost of riding the streetcars, which travel between Castro and Market streets and Fisherman's Wharf, is just one of several revenue-raising proposals the MTA is considering in its budget for the next two years as it tries to come up with enough money to boost service overall by 10 percent.

But none of the other suggestions, such as charging extra to ride express buses or adding $2 to the price of the Fast Pass that gets you on BART as well as Muni, has drawn nearly the attention that the F-Market line proposal has produced.

The rationale behind the $6 fare proposal is that the historic streetcars are, well, historic, and mostly ridden by tourists, like the cable cars. Taking a bouncy, rumbling ride on the F-Market line is not your average trip on a bus or light-rail train, the argument goes.

Cable cars

So the MTA has suggested treating them like the cable cars and charging $6 fares for adults taking single rides. Fast Pass users and visitors with Muni passports could still ride the old streetcars at no added cost. A second proposal, which has gotten less attention, suggests a $1 premium be added to the standard Muni fare for rides on the F-Market line.

The $6 proposal, according to MTA documents, would raise an estimated $4.9 million annually in the next two budget years, which run from July through June. The $1 premium would cost $250,000 to implement in the first year and then raise $1.3 million a year.

In a series of town hall meetings discussing the budget, MTA officials acknowledged that charging more to ride the F-Market line has been extremely unpopular. They say it's not a done deal and even bristle at it being labeled a proposal.

"These are just ideas put on the table as something to consider," said Paul Rose, an MTA spokesman. "We wanted to put the idea before the public."

The public, almost universally, does not approve.

Tourists pay more?

When a reporter climbed aboard car 1062, painted in the colors of Louisville, Ky., streetcars of yore, and asked one person for comments on the $6 fare, he was quickly surrounded by people eager to offer their opinions.

"You're kidding," said Justin Lai, 21, who lives in Richmond, attends college on the Peninsula and spends most of his free time in San Francisco. "I guess they figure the tourists will be willing to pay more."

That's unfair, he said, because while many tourists take the F-Market line between downtown and Fisherman's Wharf, people living in the Castro or Upper Market ride downtown to go shopping, and many commuters take it to work.

Wiener and Chiu, whose districts include the F-Market line route, agreed in a letter they sent to the MTA Board of Directors.

"Raising the fare for the F line above the regular Muni fare - and particularly raising it to $6 - disregards the critical role the F plays in San Francisco's transit system for everyday Muni riders," they wrote.

Treating the F-Market line "as a novelty tourist line," the supervisors said, ignores that it is the only surface transit line between the Castro and downtown and serves a long stretch of upper Market between the Church and Van Ness stations. It also serves locals traveling along the Embarcadero.

S.F. too expensive

Tourism officials, as well as merchants at Fisherman's Wharf, also object, saying the $6 fare could create a perception that San Francisco is too expensive and unwelcoming to visitors, and that the high costs would encourage tourists to take taxis and ride services or drive around the city.

"It is easy to see how this would create an incentive for travelers from distant locations to choose taxi service over what would become a more costly transit option," Jon Ballesteros, San Francisco Travel's vice president for public policy, wrote in a letter to MTA directors. "The unforeseen consequences would be additional cars, more congestion, increased air emissions and frustration for visitors and residents alike."

The F-Market line proposals, and the rest of the MTA budget, will be the main topic at a special Board of Directors meeting Friday. The budget needs to be adopted by April 30 and submitted to the mayor and Board of Supervisors the following day. They can accept or reject, but not tinker with, the MTA's spending plan.