How to Do San Francisco Without a Car

San Francisco inspires love through experiences like burritos at midnight, viewpoints climbed, and the loneliness of late-night diners, without requiring a car. The city covers about seven miles by seven miles, but steep hills make it feel much harder to navigate. Getting around starts with a Clipper card on a phone, enabling one-tap access across Muni buses, Metro, historic streetcars, cable cars, BART, and ferries. Muni uses flat fares with transfers for a couple of hours, while BART charges by distance and requires tapping out to avoid being billed for the farthest station. Cable cars should be ridden once, while F-line streetcars along Market and the Embarcadero are faster and take riders to the water. Bay Wheels bikes are available for low single rides or a monthly membership, with bike routes designed to avoid dangerous streets.

"For the flat parts of town, Bay Wheels are everywhere. A single ride starts around three dollars; if you commit, a monthly membership runs about thirteen. The trick is that most of the bike network was deliberately routed to avoid the streets that would kill you, so you can cross half the city without your thighs filing a formal complaint."

Read at The Bold Italic