California Street cable car shutdown starts Sept. 22

Bus shuttles will serve the California Cable Car line later this month so that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency can replace the line’s gearbox.

Bus shuttles will run from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29, and will make the same California line stops at the curb of street. The SFMTA said the bus shuttles will not stop in the middle of the intersection as a cable car would.

Inbound bus service traveling to Drumm Street will end service at Davis Street. Outbound service to Van Ness Avenue will also start at Davis Street.

Regular Muni fares will be collected for passengers taking the shuttle buses.

The replacement of the California Cable Car gearbox is part of the Cable Car Gearbox Rehabilitation Project, where gearboxes for each cable car line and a spare gearbox, will get overhauled and restored, transit officials said.

There are four gearboxes, each serving an individual cable car line at the Cable Car Barn. The gearbox moves the cable underneath the cable car line it serves.

While the SFMTA replaces the California line gearbox, all other cable car lines will operate as normal.

Work on the Powell Street line will occur in the spring of 2018 followed by the Mason line in the fall of 2018, according to the SFMTA.

The transit agency said it will either work on the Hyde Cable Car line in the spring or fall of 2019. Work on the Hyde line will require bus shuttles on all the cable car lines.