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San Francisco Transbay Terminal

Coordinates: 37°47′22″N 122°23′47″W / 37.78944°N 122.39639°W / 37.78944; -122.39639
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37°47′22″N 122°23′47″W / 37.78944°N 122.39639°W / 37.78944; -122.39639

A 2008 view of the facade of the Timothy L. Pflueger-designed "Transbay Transit Terminal" which was completed in 1939

San Francisco Transbay Transit Terminal, or simply Transbay Terminal, was a transportation complex in San Francisco, California, USA, located roughly in the center of the rectangle bounded north–south by Mission Street and Howard Street, and east–west by Beale Street and 2nd Street. It served long-distance buses and transbay buses from San Francisco north to Marin County, east to the East Bay, and south to San Mateo County.

The Terminal permanently closed on August 7, 2010 to make way for the construction of the replacement facility, the Transbay Transit Center, and associate towers. All long-distance and transbay bus operations are transferred to the Temporary Transbay Terminal, located at the nearby block bounded by Main, Folsom, Beale, and Howard Streets.

The new Transbay Transit Center broke ground on August 11, 2010[1]. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom were in attendance of the ceremony. The new transit center is scheduled to be completed in August 2017.

Bridge Railway

The bus deck, formerly the track level of the train station, in 2010

The Transbay Terminal was built as the San Francisco terminus for the electric commuter trains of the Southern Pacific, the Key System and the Sacramento Northern railroads which ran on the south side of the lower deck of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. The SP and Sacramento Northern trains ceased service across the Bay in 1941 only two years after the Terminal was completed.[why?] The Key trains ran until April 1958 after which the tracks were removed from the terminal and replaced with pavement for use primarily by the buses of the publicly-owned successor of the Key System, AC Transit.

Agencies that Serve the Temporary Transbay Terminal

Several agencies currently serve the Temporary Transbay Terminal, including:

  • AC Transit (stops inside the terminal; Route 800 stops on Beale between Howard and Folsom Sts.)
    • Commute-only routes: Routes B, C, CB, E, FS, G, H, J, L, LA, LC, NX, NX1, NX2, NX3, NX4, NXC, OX, P, S, SB, V, W, and Z
    • Daily Transbay routes: Routes F, NL, and O
    • All-Nighter route: Route 800
  • Golden Gate Transit (stops on Main between Howard and Folsom Sts.; most commute service bus routes still stop near old Transbay Terminal location)
    • Routes 10, 70, 80, 101, 101X
  • Greyhound Bus Lines (stops inside terminal)
    • Used as a terminal station for many routes from around the United States
  • SamTrans (stops on Main St.)
    • Commute-only route: Route 391
    • Daily routes: Routes 292 and KX
    • All-Nighter route: Route 397
  • Muni (stops on Howard, Beale, and Main Sts.)
    • Local routes: Routes 5, 38, 71, and 108
    • Limited stop routes: Routes 38L*, 71L*, 81X*, and 82X*
    • All-Nighter routes: Routes 38 and 108
  • WestCAT (stops inside terminal)
    • Commute-only route: Lynx
  • Other services:
    • Caltrain Bay Bridge Bike Shuttle (stops on Main St.)
    • Kaiser Hospital Shuttle

Note: * - operates on select days and times only

Environmental

On January 30, 1986, four underground storage fuel tanks were excavated and removed from the 150 First Street site. Each of these tanks had a capacity of 1,000 gallons (Earth Metrics, 1989). Eight soil samples showed the existence of total petroleum hydrocarbons in levels ranging from 20 to 9,000 parts per million. On February 3, 1986, the excavation was backfilled.

Transbay Terminal Replacement Project

The new terminal

The City and County of San Francisco, the Alameda – Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (Caltrain) have proposed a plan to replace the currently underutilized and outdated building with an entirely new and more functional building at roughly the same location. In addition to maintaining the current bus services, this proposed terminal would also include a tunnel that would extend the Caltrain commuter rail line from its current terminus at Fourth and King Streets to the new Transbay Terminal. If and when this project is completed, Caltrain riders would no longer need to transfer to Muni in order to reach the downtown financial district. Additionally, the heavy rail portion of the terminal would be designed to accommodate the planned High Speed Rail from Los Angeles via the Caltrain line.

BART has also expressed interest in being part of this plan by having their proposed "Second Transbay Tube" connect to the new terminal.

As of 2005, this project has published its final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and is in the process of designing and securing the required funds. The new Transbay Terminal building, Phase I of the project began construction in August 2010. Phase II of the project, the rail extension, is planned to begin in 2012 and open to rail service in 2019.

The new Transbay Terminal is named Transbay Transit Center.

New skyscrapers

Main article: San Francisco Transbay development

Along with the new terminal, thirteen towers have been proposed on sites around the new terminal, ranging from 300 feet (91 m) to 1,200 feet (366 m) tall.[2] If built out to fund the construction of the new terminal, San Francisco will have a new tallest building and its skyline will be altered. 2,600 new homes (35 percent of which will be affordable), 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of new office and commercial space and 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of retail are planned as well . City officials have decided to consider rezoning the area around the new terminal, and will analyze the potential to raise existing height limits (550 ft. (170 m) max) upward, with the possibility of three towers exceeding 1,000 ft. (300 m) in height. On December 21, 2006, Renzo Piano proposed a five tower complex of one 600 foot (180 m) tower, two 900 foot (275 m) towers and two 1,200 foot (370 m) towers.[3] Other towers are under construction nearby on Rincon Hill and at Millennium Tower (301 Mission Street).

Serious issues exist with regard to conforming with emergency post earthquake transportation planning guidelines and placing massive amounts of building materials and glass directly above a major transit hub and its road and rail connections. In a March 21, 2008 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the author, David Perlman speaks of "the danger to lifelines – the roads, rail tracks and bridges that must carry ambulances, fire trucks and fleeing cars after the quake; the airports that are bound to be unusable". The article quotes "Keith Knudsen of the national nonprofit Earthquake Engineering Research Institute" on the special civil engineering needs of the area: " the downtown area south of Market, where well-engineered high-rises are rapidly filling the neighborhoods, would be particularly dangerous in a major quake because the low-lying filled land there is subject to liquefaction. Those new buildings might well remain standing in the coming Hayward quake, he said, "but if the streets there settle by a couple of feet, those buildings will be isolated."[4]

Construction Status

Temporary Transbay Terminal

As of August 2010, the first phase of the temporary Transbay Terminal is complete and the terminal has opened, on the corner of Main, Folsom, Beale, and Howard Streets, and as of December 2010 the second phase of the temporary terminal is completed. With its completion, the Transbay Terminal has been closed and the demolition of the old building has begun. The east bus loop has been completely demolished along with the roof and upper walls of the main terminal, and the bridges over First and Fremont streets. The eastern, main and western parts of the terminal are currently in the process of being demolished. The western bus loop leading to the Bay Bridge is set to be demolished in February 2011. Demolition is scheduled to be completed by April 2011, after which the construction on the new transit centre will begin. [5]

The competition winner

As of September 20, 2007, the design proposed by César Pelli was chosen. This decision ends the eight month competition between various design firms around the world. The Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Hines design includes an elevated park, some sixty feet above the street, to hide the inner workings of the terminal. A single tower will also rise into the sky, changing the skyline of San Francisco.

See also

Bibliography

  • Earth Metrics Inc, ‘'Environmental Site Assessment, Assessors Block 3747, San Francisco'‘, File 7825W0.001, 25 April 1989

References

  1. ^ "San Francisco breaks ground on $4.2B Transbay Transit Center". Metro Magazine. 08-12-2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Sfgate.com 8-6-07 article
  3. ^ Sfgate.com – 12/22/2006 article
  4. ^ Perlman, David (August 20, 2010). "Next big quake could be worse than 1906". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  5. ^ Transbay Transit Center - Demolition Overview

External links

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