Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride. . , Many bus routes currently ending at this terminal began as nineteenth-century streetcar lines transporting city folks over sand dunes to the Western shore. , , Prior to 1884, San Francisco's transit service to Ocean Beach was via omnibus , an enlarged version of a stagecoach seating about eighteen passengers and hauled by two- or four-horse teams. But such limited transportation could not accomodate the masses who flocked to the beach, the Seal Rock House resort, and the Cliff House in the late 1800s. , , In December 1883, the Market Street Cable Railway Company met the public's needs by extending its service of steam-powered trams to Ocean Beach. The instantly popular Park and Ocean Railroad line carried thousands of beachgoers from Haight and Stanyan streets to the Ocean Beach Terminal, which was then located at La Playa and Balboa streets (the terminal was moved to this location in 1995). , , In 1912, the San Francisco Municipal Railway Company, or Muni, came into existence and in 1913 expanded its "B Line" service from Geary and 33rd Avenue to the beach. By 1925, Muni had bought out their competitors' transit franchises and consolidated all public transportation within the city; it continues to provide local service today. , , The turn-of-the-century expansion of public transportation to this site couldn't have been more timely. The debut of carnival stands at the beach spawned the amusement mecca later known as Playland and created a demand for mass transporation to the city's shore. , , "When we were kids, we were out here all the time and it was always great to go down to the beach... we'd run down to the beach, me and my brother. It could be the hottest day of the year and we'd still build a fire..." , Robert Smit