Комментарии к New Flyer Xcelsior XT40 № 5728

Цитата (focus1965, 15.07.2022):
> I also had the feeling that the frequency on the cable car had been dramatically reduced. In fact, I did not experience any problems, i.e. I was not confronted with full vehicles anywhere. There are still a lot of closed hotels, which makes me suspect that tourism has not yet fully recovered.

The cable car service is cut up to 40% during 'peak hours' meaning daytime, and 50% 'off peak' meaning early morning and evenings. There are times when only one car operates on the California Line (even though the second one is usually laying over) and two cars only operate on the entire Mason Line. In the morning and in the evening departures are every 30 min. at exactly 0:00 and 0:30 from all terminals (except for outer California which is 0:15 and 0:45).

Surprisingly this has cons and pros. Some people stayed away from cable cars because of frequencies 'off peak'. However, there are still not enough tourists in the city to form the famous long waits during daytime. This means that cable cars actually become more or less usable during the day. You could always find space on the California and Mason Lines, and sometimes could even find space a stop or two away from the terminal on the Hyde Line. 'Off peak' however the cars run practically empty. With no hype around the service, tourists no longer rush for early trips in the mornings, or stay late at night. I was the only (!) passenger on the car and I had a completely private fan trip on two occasions - the first AM run on the Hyde Line (!), and the last PM on the Mason Line. This was unheard of before. The scheduled departures at 0:00 and 0:30 are also extremely convenient. Cable cars were not known for schedule adherence ever before.

Less tourists meant that San Francisco was free of crowds, accessible and enjoyable this year. In addition, excess tourist infrastructure also meant that it was the cheapest city on my California itinerary. Also something completely unreal. This was not the case in other Californian cities, where tourism and business are mostly local, and the prices are exuberantly high in this heated economy.

On the shortage of staff, I have already answered elsewhere. It is not only in San Francisco.
I have seen the beautiful new route... with diesel buses, to my regret.
When I was preparing my trip, I noticed that a lot of routes had been withdrawn. Tram E did not run either, although according to the stops it should have. A pity: this was a line I had not yet photographed and perhaps I could have photographed some interesting trams there.

I also had the feeling that the frequency on the cable car had been dramatically reduced. In fact, I did not experience any problems, i.e. I was not confronted with full vehicles anywhere. There are still a lot of closed hotels, which makes me suspect that tourism has not yet fully recovered.

Many public transit routes in SF area still operate on a reduced schedule, or suspended all together following urban demise during COVID, and critical drivers' shortage due to overheated economy. Unfortunately this impacted trolleybus operation the most. The trolleybus Lines 3, 4, 6, 7 and 21 remain suspended or partially cut and dieselized. The major Line 49 remains dieselized as a part of the bus rapid project infrastructure construction, and is subject to return to trolleybuses in September.