Transportation

San Francisco Considers a Toll for the 'World's Crookedest Street'

With tourists crowding around Lombard Street, the city could also require reservations.
Robert Galbraith/Reuters

The world’s supposedly crookedest roadLombard Street in San Francisco—is also one of its most congested, with some 2 million people flocking there yearly to snap photos and poke around its eight, flower bed-laden switchbacks.

The constant flow of cars and hooting visitors has long annoyed some locals, who claim the crowds are ruining the feel of the neighborhood. The city has responded by banning cars for a period in 2014—which one news site claims made pedestrian traffic worse—and sending out “ambassadors” to handle traffic and safety concerns after a tourist was shot and robbed nearby in 2015.