Taken with Transportation

San Francisco's incredibly popular cable car service turns 150 years old on August 2, 2023. 

In this episode of Taken with Transportation, host Melissa Culross speaks with San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Market Street Railway president Rick Laubscher, SFMTA cable car maintenance supervisor Dennis Dea, cable car operators Val Lupiz and Derrick Johnson, riders and business owners about the history and mechanics of the cars, as well as the impact they have on their city.

In this episode host Melissa Culross speaks with longtime (and recently retired) SFMTA Director of Accessible Services Annette Williams and Nicole Bohn, Director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability, about transportation accessibility and the role activism and advocacy have played in making transportation more accessible. July is Disability Pride Month, and this episode celebrates that by highlighting a bit of the work that has been done to break down barriers disabled people have faced over the decades.

An important part of the SFMTA’s commitment to safety is maintaining a clean fleet of Muni vehicles. In this episode, we meet three members of our transit car cleaning staff: Manager Myra Phillips, Assistant Supervisor Anthony Jackson, Jr. and Cleaner Ronald Brown. They’ll take us through the cleaning process and explain how the team keeps our buses, streetcars, light rail vehicles and cable cars spick and span. It’s a dirty job, but our very dedicated car cleaners do it well and with pride.

The hard-working 22-Fillmore is one of San Francisco Muni’s longest running bus lines. We hop on board to learn about the history of the 22, as well as its modern-day impact on the city it serves. 

San Francisco Transit Riders Board member and retired SFMTA Manager of Service Planning Peter Strauss walks us through the early days of the line. We also talk with Muni operators Earl Scott and Julio Ruano, who drive on the 22-line, and we check in with some businesses along the route.

The first episode of Taken with Transportation…”Welcome Aboard!”… is coming soon and will take you for a ride across San Francisco on the 22-Fillmore public transit line.