>> >> >> >> >> my name is bal. born and raised in san francisco. cable car equipment, technically i'm a transit operator of 135 and work at the cable car (indiscernible) and been here for 22 years now. i grew up around here when i was a little can i. my mom used to hang in china town with her friends and i would get bored and they would shove me out of the door, go play and find

something to do. i ended up wandering down here when i was a kid and found these things. ♪ [ music ] ♪ ♪ >> fascinated by them and i wanted to be a cable car equipment from the time i was a little kid. i started with the emergency at the end of 1988 and drove a bus for a year and a half and i got lucky with my timing and got here at cable car and at that time, it really took about an average five to maybe seven years on a bus before you could build up your seniority to come over here. basically, this is the 1890s verse ever a bus. this is your basic public transportation and at the time at its height, 1893, there were 20 different routes ask this

powerhouse, there -- and this powerhouse, there were 15 of them through out the entire city. >> i work at the cable car division and bunch with muni for 25 years and working with cable cars for 23 years. this is called the bar because these things are horses and work hard so they have to have a place to sleep at night. joking. this is called a barn because everything takes place here and the powerhouse is -- that's downstairs so that's the heart and soul of the system and this is where the cable cars sleep or sleep at night so you can put a title there saying the barn. since 1873 and back in the day it was driven by a team and now it's electric but it has a good function as being called the barn. yeah. >> i am the superintendent of cable car vehicle maintenance.

and we are on the first and a half floor of the cable car barn where you can see the cables are moving at nine and a half miles an hour and that's causing the little extra noise we're hearing now. we have 28 power cars and 12 california cars for a total of 40 revenue cars. then with have two in storage. there's four gear boxes. it's gears of the motor. they weigh close to 20 tons and they had to do a special system to get them out of here because when they put them in here, the barn was opened up. we did the whole barn that year so it's difficult for a first of time project, we changed it one at a time and now they are all brand-new. engineer's room have the four monitors that play the speed and she monitors them and in case of an emergency, she can shutdown all four cars if she needs to. that sound you heard there,

that's a gentleman building, rebuilding a cable. the cable weighs four hundred pounds each and they lost three days before we have to rebuild them. the cable car grips, the bottom point is underground with the cable. it's a giant buy strip and closes around the kab and they pull it back. the cable car weighs 2,500 people without people so it's heavy, emergency pulling it offer the hill. if it comes offer the hill, it could be one wire but if it unravels, it turns into a ball and they cannot let go of it because it opens that wide and it's a billion pushing the grip which is pushing the whole cable car and there's no way to let go so they have to have the code 900 to shutdown in emergencies and the wood brakes last two days and wear out. a lot of maintenance.

♪ [ music ] ♪ ♪ >> rail was considered to be the old thing. rubber tires, cars, buses, that's new. there were definitely faster and cheaper, there's no question about that. here at san francisco, we went through the same thing. the mayor decided we don't need cable cars (indiscernible), blah, blah. we can replace them with buses. they are faster and cheaper and more economical and he was right if you look at the

dollars and cents part. he was right. >> back in 1947 when they voted that, i'm surprised base of the technology and the chronicle paper says cable cars out. that was the headline. that was the demise of the cable cars. >> (indiscernible) came along and said, stop. no. no, no, no. she was the first one to say we're going to fight city hall. she got her friends together and they started from a group called the save the cable car community, 1947 and managed to get it on the ballot. are we going to keep the cable cars or not? head turned nationwide and worldwide and city hall was completely unprepared for the amount of backlash they got. this is just a bunch -- the city came out and said basically, 3-1, if i'm not mistaken, we want our cars and phil and her group managed to save what we have. and literately if it wasn't for them, there would be

no cable cars. people saw something back then that we see today that you can't get rid of a beautiful and it wasn't a historical monument at the time and now it is, and it was part of san francisco. yeah, we had freight back then. we don't have that anymore. this is the number one tourist attraction in san francisco. it's historic and the only national moving monument in the world. >> the city of san francisco did keep the cable car so it's a fascinating feel of having something that is so historic going up and down these hills of san francisco. and obviously, everyone knows san francisco is famous for their hills. [laughter] and who would know and who would guess that they were trying to get rid of it, which i guess was a crazy idea at the time because they felt automobiles were taking the place of the cable cars and getting rid of the cable car was the best thing for the city and county of san

francisco, but thank god it didn't. >> how soon has the city changed? the diverse of cable cars -- when i first came to cable car, sandy barn was the first cable car. we have three or four being a grip person. fwriping cable cars is the most toughest and challenging job in the entire city. >> i want to thank our women who operate our cable cars because they are a crucial space of the city to the world. we have wonderful women -- come on forward, yes. [cheers and applause] these ladies, these ladies, this is what it's about. continuing to empower women. >> my name is willa johnson is and i've been at cable car for 13 years. i came to san francisco when i was five years

old. and that is the first time i rode a cable car and i went to see a christmas tree and we rode the cable car with the christmas worker and that was the first time i rode the cable car and didn't ride again until i worked here. i was in the medical field for a while and i wanted a change. some people don't do that but i started with the mta of september of 1999 and came over to cable car in 2008. it was a general sign up and that's when you can go to different divisions and i signed up as a conductor and came over here and been here since. there were a few ladies that were over at woods that wanted to come over here and we had decided we wanted to leave woods and come to a different division and cable car was it. i do know

there has been only four women that work the cable car in the 150 years and i am the second person to represent the cable car and i also know that during the 19, i think 60s and women were not even allowed to ride on the side of a cable car so it's exciting to know you can go from not riding on the side board of a cable car to actually grip and driving the cable car and it opened the door for a lot of people to have the opportunity to do what they inspire to do. >> i have some people say i wouldn't make it as a conductor at woods and i came and made it as i conductor and the best thing i did was to come to this division. it's a good division. and i like ripping cable cars. i

do. >> i think she just tapped into the general feeling that san francisco tend to have of, this is ours, it's special, it's unique. economically and you know, a rationale sense, does it make sense? not really. but from here, if you think from here, no, we don't need this but if you think from here, yeah. and it turns out she was right. so.... and i'm grateful to her. very grateful. [laughter] >> three, two, one. [multiple voices] [cheers and applause] >> did i -- i did that on purpose so i wouldn't. ♪ [ music ] ♪

>> (indiscernible) i just know it. excuse me boys, but does anybody have sun block to block this skin from the sun? >> yes. that's right, i need to get my (indiscernible) >> many of us last

summer (indiscernible) reapplying sun screen is like getting the second dose of mpox vaccine. >> wait, two doses- (indiscernible) >> isn't it too late to get my second dose? >> girl, it is like sun screen, never too late to put more sun screen on. >> that's right, i need to get my second dose of mpox vaccine before the summer starts. >> let's (indiscernible) 21201 to find the closest location to get the vaccine or go to sf.gov/mpox. >> thank you for the information (indiscernible) >> excuse me boys, do you mind checking please? >> sure. >> that doesn't look like a sun burn, you might want to getd it

checked out. >> what do you mean clecked out? >> checked out. i was told if i got my second m pox vaccine i would have less severe symptoms. (indiscernible) >> maybe i schedule the second dose just to be safe from mpox. >> most vackeens offer you a level of protections, just like sun block. sometimes you need to reapply for more protection. the m pox vaccine is based on two shots several weeks apart to provide the strongest level of protection. visit sf.gov/mpox to get yours. >> thank you boys for that reminder! make sure your are fully vaccinated for m pox this summer. text summer vibes to 21201, to get

>> ancestors for freedoms and all others who dared to define, defend and develop our interest as a people, we pour. for our elders who helped us give us wisdom and strength for our fathers, mothers who rest in the valley of the departed, we pour. for the youth, who represent the future and tomorrow we pour. for remembrance of many women, men, and the human rights struggle, we pour. for the