Three lines, $9.00 a ride, and a queue at Powell & Market that can eat an hour of your day. Here's how the fares and passes actually work, where to board without the wait, and what changes at the turntables.
A cable car ticket is a one-way ride on one line. It carries none of the 120-minute transfer time a regular Muni fare does, and it isn't valid for switching between cable car lines — change from the Powell–Hyde to the California line and you pay again.
| Fare | Price |
|---|---|
| Single ride, one way, no transfers | $9.00 |
| Senior (65+), disabled, or Medicare — before 7 am or after 9 pm only | $4.00 |
| Children 4 and under | Free |
| 1-Day Visitor Passport — unlimited cable cars plus all Muni | $15.00 |
| 3-Day Visitor Passport | $35.00 |
| 7-Day Visitor Passport | $47.00 |
| Monthly "M" Pass (Muni, cable cars included) | $86 |
| Muni Day Pass — does not cover cable cars | $5.70 |
Source: SFMTA cable car single ride and SFMTA Muni fares, checked September 2026.
The Passport is the cable car pass. Two rides cost $18; a 1-Day Visitor Passport costs $15 and covers unlimited cable cars plus every Muni bus, Metro train, and historic streetcar that day. If a round trip on a cable car is in the plan, buy the Passport. Which Muni pass fits your trip →
Youth fares are the exception to Muni's rule. Everyone 18 and under rides regular Muni free, but on cable cars only children 4 and under are free. SFMTA does let San Francisco youth ride free if they hold a Free Muni for Youth Clipper card — which visitors won't have, so budget $9.00 for anyone 5 and older.
A fare change is proposed for January 4, 2027 — not in effect. SFMTA's budget proposal would replace the $9 single ride with a $12 single ride and an $18 "Cable Car Plus" ticket (two youth ride free), then keep only the $18 ticket from the following year. Until SFMTA confirms it, the fare is $9.00. Source: SFMTA proposed fare changes.
Two lines leave the turntable at Powell & Market and share Powell Street up over Nob Hill before splitting toward Fisherman's Wharf. The third runs east–west along California Street and never meets the Wharf at all.
The one on the postcards. From Powell & Market it climbs Powell Street, turns along Washington Street past the Cable Car Museum, then runs the length of Hyde Street over Russian Hill, dropping down to the turntable at Hyde & Beach, a block from Ghirardelli Square.
Same start, same climb up Powell, then down Mason Street and Columbus Avenue through the edge of North Beach to the turntable at Taylor & Bay.
Straight along California Street from the Financial District at Drumm Street, up through Chinatown and over Nob Hill, to Van Ness Avenue. It crosses the Powell lines at California & Powell, which is a stop on both. It usually carries a fraction of the Powell lines' crowd.
Source: SFMTA route pages for the Powell–Hyde, Powell–Mason, and California lines, including stop lists and service hours. SFMTA schedules cars roughly every 10 minutes through the middle of the day and less often early and late.
You can board at either end of a line — the turntables — or at any stop along the route marked by a brown-and-white cable car sign post. The turntables are where the queues form, and three of them have a prepayment rule the mid-route stops don't.
| Terminal | Lines |
|---|---|
| Powell & Market — Union Square, by Powell St BART/Muni station. Prepay required. | Powell–Hyde · Powell–Mason |
| Hyde & Beach — Fisherman's Wharf, near Ghirardelli Square. Prepay required. | Powell–Hyde |
| Taylor & Bay — Fisherman's Wharf. Prepay required. | Powell–Mason |
| California & Drumm — Financial District, near Embarcadero station | California |
| California & Van Ness — the western end | California |
Source: SFMTA cable cars and the SFMTA route stop lists, September 2026.
Powell & Market is the worst place to start. It's the terminal on every itinerary. Walk a few blocks up Powell Street and board at a signed stop instead, or take the California line, which rarely has a line at all. The catch with mid-route stops on the Powell lines in peak season is that cars can leave the turntable already full — if one passes, the next is usually a few minutes behind.
At the three busiest terminals — Powell & Market, Hyde & Beach, and Taylor & Bay — SFMTA requires you to buy your fare before boarding. Its cable car page applies that rule from 8 am to 8 pm daily; its fare page lists the terminal ticket kiosks as open 8 am to 5 pm and says to pay the operator outside those hours. The simple way around the discrepancy is to have your fare sorted before you reach the turntable.
The reliable way to prepay. The $9.00 comes off your Clipper balance, and the same card works on BART, Caltrain, and the ferries.
Covers every cable car ride for 1, 3, or 7 days. Sold in the MuniMobile app and at SFMTA sales locations.
SFMTA still lists it for cable car tickets, but Muni Single Ride passes left the app on September 1, 2026 — check what it offers before relying on it.
Exact change only. Works at mid-route stops, at the California line terminals, and at the busy terminals outside prepay hours.
Source: SFMTA cable cars, SFMTA cable car single ride, and SFMTA fares, September 2026. Buying five or more paper cable car tickets at once can be done online through SFMTA.
Every car has a grip operator and a conductor, and SFMTA points riders to them for questions. SFMTA's own rules and advice for riders:
Hold on, and don't lean out. Standing on the running boards and holding the outside poles is allowed; leaning outward from them is not. The hills and street traffic make for sudden movements.
Wait for a full stop, then look before stepping off. You exit into a live street. When crossing cable car tracks on foot, remember the green "X" signal is the go-ahead for cable cars, not for pedestrians.
No accessible boarding, and no bikes. Cable cars have no wheelchair lift or ramp. Full-size and folding bicycles aren't permitted. Service animals ride inside the car on a lap or out of the aisle, and must be on a lap on the outside sections.
Source: SFMTA cable car tips. Questions for SFMTA: dial 311 in San Francisco, or 415-701-2311 from outside the city.
The museum is inside the working Washington–Mason powerhouse and carbarn at 1201 Mason Street, which is the point: you can see the machinery that pulls the cables under the city's streets, from above and below. There are historic cars and photographs too, and admission is free.
| Cable Car Museum | Details |
|---|---|
| Address | 1201 Mason St |
| Tuesday – Thursday | 10 am – 4 pm |
| Friday – Sunday | 10 am – 5 pm |
| Monday | Closed |
| Also closed | Jan 1 · Thanksgiving · Dec 25 |
| Admission | Free |
Getting there: both Powell lines stop outside, at Washington & Mason. From the California line, get off at Mason Street by the Fairmont and walk three blocks north. The accessible entrance is a ramp on the Washington Street side.
Source: Cable Car Museum visitor information, checked September 2026. Hours set by the museum can change around holidays — check before a special trip.
Ride the Powell–Hyde one way, not both. The best views are on Hyde Street heading north toward the bay. Ride to Hyde & Beach, walk the Wharf, and come back on the F Market & Wharves historic streetcar along the Embarcadero for a $2.85 Muni fare — you'll pass the Ferry Building on the way.
The California line is the local secret that isn't really a secret. Same fare, same 19th-century technology, a steep climb up Nob Hill, and often no queue. It's the best option if you want the ride rather than the Fisherman's Wharf destination.
Go early or late. Cars start at 7 am, and the Powell lines run until 11 pm. Turntable queues tend to build through the day, so the first hour of service and the evening are usually the easier times.
A cable car is a ride, not a commute. They're slow and cost more than three regular Muni fares. For getting around the city, use the rest of Muni — and for the Golden Gate Bridge, which no cable car goes near, see how to get to the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Fares and hours verified against sfmta.com in September 2026. Something outdated? Report an error →