Fare on S.F. cable cars may go to $5

Tourists are balking at a proposal to jack up the price on San Francisco’s historic cable cars to $5 a ride.

Facing a $57 million budget deficit, the board that oversees public transportation in the city has voted to raise the fare for a cable car ride from $3 to $5. The proposal still must be approved by Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to go in effect.

The price for a cable car ride was last raised in 2003, when city officials increased the fare by $1.

“Cable cars are one of the charms of San Francisco,” Kofi Adzaku, a visitor from Arkansas, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “At $5, it won’t be charming anymore.”

Not all locals are sympathetic to the complaints.

“If you want to get to Fisherman’s Wharf, you can always take the bus,” said William Wiley of San Francisco. “But the cable car is an experience, and $5 is a fair price for tourists to pay.”