49 Or So Ideas for Saving San Francisco

Brainstorming ways to reverse the doom loop through growth, tourism, and integrated development

Ideas 7-10: Moving Attractions

Map layers: “Moving Attractions”, “Skyway Stops”

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#7 San Francisco Skyways: Scenic gondola lifts for tourism & transit

#8 Continuous Cable Car: Extending the California St Cable Car

#9 Enchanting Elevation: Telegraph Hill Funicular

#10 Lovable Lift: Telegraph Hill Panoramic Elevator

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#7 San Francisco Skyways: Scenic gondola lifts for tourism & transit

Hong Kong

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Gondola lifts are much cheaper to build than other forms of transit, and can become major tourist attractions in themselves—especially with scenery like San Francisco’s. The four lines proposed here are intended to (a) serve major existing tourist attractions, (b) drive the development of new attractions, and (c) drive transit-oriented housing development.

For simplicity, the map uses mostly straight lines for the skyways. The Golden Gate Skyway is straight except for a turn at Van Ness, and the Bay Bridge Skyway is straight except for a turn at Yerba Buena Island. Naturally the routes could be improved by adding bends here or there. And yet it’s interesting to see how optimal the lines are even without doing so. 

Following the design of Mexico City’s Cablebus, standard cars could seat eight passengers, four in front and four in back. 

Higher-priced “touring cars” could seat four forward-facing passengers and have a large screen in the front, in lieu of the other four seats. The screen could play an augmented-reality overlay pointing out landmarks, showing historical labels and street names, and coordinating with an audio tour. Passengers could select their language for the audio and screen display. 

Golden Gate Skyway

  • Route: After a bend at SF Central Station, this route follows a straight line to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center. It treats riders to sweeping views of City Hall, the Opera House, the Cathedral of St. Mary, the Japantown Pagoda & Peace Plaza, Pac Heights, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate.
  • Ridership: Staff, students, and visitors of proposed Institute of Technology at the Presidio; conference-goers; bridge sightseers, Presidio sightseers, Fillmore visitors, Japantown visitors, local residents, and anyone completing the “49-K Tug” touring course (Idea # 40).
  • Negotiate with JICA and the Japantown Merchants’ Association to design and sponsor construction of the Japantown station, which sits atop the Japantown cultural and shopping complex.

Ocean Beach Skyway

  • Route: A roughly straight line from Civic Center BART through Alamo Square and GGP to the Great Highway. If it would make the engineering much easier/cheaper, this gondola could follow a straight course following the line defined by Grove St, ending at the proposed boardwalk just west of the Beach Chalet soccer fields (all the stations would still end up in decent spots for their relevant attractions).
  • Ridership: 49-K Tug completers, local residents, and visitors from downtown hotels and entire Bay Area to Ocean Beach, Beach Boardwalk (proposed), Seal Green (proposed), Getty Villa-style museum (proposed), Land’s End, and Golden Gate Park (including over two dozen attractions clustered near Skyway stops).

Six Hills Skyway

  • Route: Long route from the Ferry Building up Market St then up and over six hills to “Creatures’ Corner” (Ideas 15-17). The “Six Hills” are Mint Hill, Corona Heights, Tank Hill (rename it “Belgrave Bump”), Clarendon Heights (rename it “Radio Ridge”), Mt. Sutro (southern slopes), and Larsen Peak. The route also affords good views of other peaks including Buena Vista Hill, Mt. Olympus, Twin Peaks, Diamond Heights, Edgehill Mountain, and Mt. Davidson.
  • Ridership: 49-K Tug completers, residents of local neighborhoods (including proposed high-rise clusters near stops), and visitors from downtown hotels and entire Bay Area to the proposed New Sutro Tower, the SF Zoo, as well as the proposed animal parks and their adjacent resorts.

Bay Bridge Skyway

  • Route: Direct, airborne access from the proposed Mission Bay HSR Station to the Treasure Island theme parks and Midway Mall. The tallest support towers would be those atop Pier 30 and the Bay Bridge center anchorage. Locate the northern terminus at the center of Treasure Island, near the main entrance to all three theme parks. Locate the southern terminus at 20th & Kansas to bring visitors to the proposed Victorian Village Architectural Park (Idea 27) and provide convenient transit to Potrero Hill residents.
  • Ridership: 49-K Tug completers, Potrero Hill residents, Giants fans, and visitors traveling from Mission Bay Station to the proposed Treasure Island theme parks or the proposed Victorian Village Architectural Park.

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#8 Continuous Cable Car: Extending the California St Cable Car

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Pacific Heights Cable Car

Extend the California Street Cable Car westward along its original route, then up into Pac Heights and down to the Palace of Fine Arts (where locate a new Museum of San Francisco). This breathtaking route sweeps up and down several distinct hills (including Nob Hill on the existing track) and takes visitors to major sightseeing and dining destinations not currently reached by this line, including Japantown, the Fillmore St corridor, Pac Heights, the Presidio, and the Palace of Fine Arts. The current 1.4-mile route (California St. from Drumm to Van Ness) is too short for commuting and lacks destinations for visitors. The extended route would support several business districts, take in countless Victorians, and add that cable car magic currently missing west of Van Ness.

Union Street Cable Car

If the Pac Heights extension of the California Street Cable Car is successful and there is demand for another line, consider adding one through North Beach and Union St, with through service on the pre-existing Pac Heights Cable Car line to Embarcadero and the Palace of Fine Arts. This line would support several business districts and replace the 45 Bus. Outbound cars would require a dedicated segment on Kearney from California to Columbus.

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#9 Enchanting Elevation: Telegraph Hill Funicular

Funicular Railway of Fribourg, Germany

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The map proposes a short, steep, and scenic funicular railway climbing the northeast side of Telegraph Hill from a spot near the cruise ship terminal. The railway would have two counterbalanced cars on either end of a roughly 500-ft cable that move synchronously in opposite directions, using the potential energy of the descending car to lift the ascending car. Visitors would board at Lombard west of Montgomery and alight at the observation platform. Part of the “49-K Tug” (Idea #40), this ride would become an additional must-do for visitors, who could approach from Pier 39, the cruise ship terminal, or the Embarcadero streetcar.

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#10 Lovable Lift: Telegraph Hill Panoramic Elevator

Bad Schandau Elevator in Bad Schandau, Germany

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The map proposes adding to the city’s charming list of Victorian conveyances with a classic tower-and-walkway elevator surmounting the southeast side of Telegraph Hill. Examples to emulate include the Elevador de Santa Justa in Lisbon; the Ascensor Polanco in Valparaíso, Chile, or the Bad Schandau Elevator in Bad Schandau, Germany. This new old attraction would delight visitors approaching the city via ferry, cruise ship, or bridge, and would draw visitors from nearby attractions like the Exploratorium and F Streetcar, not to mention Coit Tower (visitors could combine this in a round trip with the funicular). To maximize use by Telegraph Hill residents, convert one of the empty/underused warehouses at Green & Sansome to a food market (à la bostonpublicmarket.org).

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