If you’re planning on riding the cable cars, and you should, the best way to ride is with a Muni passport. It is also the best way to get around on all our public transportation.
Public transportation (a bus or street car) cost $2.50, and is good for 90 minutes of unlimited transfers. A cable car is $7, and is only good until you get off. So a round trip is $14.
Plus, you need exact change on all public transportation. And if you don’t have proof of payment, it’s an expensive ticket.
Save yourself hassle by getting a 1, 3, or 7 day MUNI passport. They cost $14, $22, $28 dollars respectively (the 7 day pass shown is from 2009). Just scratch off the month and consecutive days you want to use it, hop on any bus, streetcar, or cable car anywhere in San Francisco, and ride as long or as short as you like. You can pick them up at many shops (such as Walgreen’s) and MUNI stations.
We San Franciscan’s complain about MUNI, but it actually is a good system, especially 
the streetcars (the F, J, KT, L, M, and N lines), which are speedy.
By the way, don’t drive in San Francisco. Really. You may be a great driver where you live, but San Francisco will have you chewing the steering wheel. Driving and parking in San Francisco is a challenge, even for professionals such as yours truly. We have hills, streets that mysterious become one-way when you least expect it, and confusing maps. Plus parking is a nightmare, and expensive. You’re on vacation! Relax and let someone else do the driving.
thanks for the info. this really cleared the mystery about passport. the picture was helpful.
The Muni passport works for all day in different rites for cable cars actual price for 1 day pass ????
Hi Vicky, this is an old post that I need to take down. Here is the new information:
San Francisco is a small city and has good public transportation. Consider getting a MUNI Visitor passport, available by paper at kiosks near cable car turnaround, and, oddly, at market in the Richmond district. I guess because it is near Golden Gate Park. Sort of. Here is where a phone version of paper pays off better than paper. The process is not intuitive, so let me walk you through it. MUNI Moble is the app you need to download. Click on the three lines in the corner, and “Buy Tickets” in the menu. Then you have to choose a rider, and it gives you various options such as age or having a disability. Hit “Done” and all the ticket options appear. The MINI Day Pass does not include cable cars, and, surprisingly, makes a point of saying so. You want to scroll down to the Muni-+Cable Car Pass, sometimes called the MUNI Vistor passport. That’s what you want to buy. If you’re on a computer, on the Fares page, scroll to the bottom and for Visitor passports. They are available for 1, 3, or & days. It is a deal, especially the phone version, and gets you unlimited rides on all public transportation, including the cable cars. It also Since a cable car is 8 bucks for a single ride, the 1-day Vistors pass pays for itself on a round trip.