SF Mayor Lee Drives Muni Streetcar As System Celebrates 100 Years
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Mayor Ed Lee was behind the controls of San Francisco Municipal Railway's streetcar Number 1 on Thursday.
As part of the kickoff for the agency's Centennial Celebration, he gave past and present city dignitaries a ride on the car that was first used in December of 1912.
"I need to thank the Transport Workers Union because they're giving me a driver's pass today," Lee joked.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
For the first time since it was retired in 1951, Lee put the streetcar back into service.
The dignitaries met at Justin Herman Plaza where a crowd of more than 100 people gathered. For Senator Dianne Feinstein, it was a trip down memory lane.
"As a six-year-old I used to ride the F-Street car from where we lived in the Marina on Fillmore around Beach Street in a flat down to 450 Sutter St.," she recalled.
Muni now has 700,000 daily riders.
Director Ed Reiskin thanked the men and women for their 100 years of service in a speech. He said the contributions of operators, mechanics, accountants, analysts and engineers are what make the Muni system what it is.
This was the first of events planned throughout the year to celebrate 100 years of the transportation service.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
