Key System, Oakland, California

Key System Transit Lines operated in Oakland, California, on the “other side of the bay” to San Francisco. The company, opened in 1903, merged a number of small independent companies. They had a large interurban and streetcar system. The name “Key System”, is based on the shape of the ferry slips on the old Key System Mole. On a stylized map first issued in 1903, the system’s routes were drawn to resemble an old-fashioned key.

The same company that took over in Los Angeles also bought out the “Key System” lines. The tram systems were closed by 1948 while the five interurban lines lasted until 1958. These lines ran over the Bay Bridge into a terminal in San Francisco. The cap badges only differed in the system names.