W4 Research Blog

Quentin Miller
8 Mar., 2018
Senior Project
W4 Research Blog
Transportation in the Bay Area (Current and Future)
The Bay Area is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in the United States with over 7.2 million people spread across nine counties in over 100 cities. With two cities that each have nearly a million people with relatively high densities, it is clear that reliable and sufficient systems and forms of transportation are required to adequately move the Bay Area’s people. However, in many cases, transportation in the Bay Area is seriously lacking. Freeways and other roads are clogged with traffic for hours on either side of peak rush hour, public transportation is sparse, slow, and not reliable in many areas, and commute times are some of the highest in the nation. These striking facts are only the surface when it comes to discussing transportation in the Bay Area; the issues listed above are compounded by a number of problematic trends. In the Bay Area, especially in its cities like San Francisco, car ownership is on the rise and the average number of cars per household is increasing. Additionally, the the region’s population is growing. These two factors indicate an increasing demand for roadway and infrastructure improvements. However, due to the density of the region and the scarcity of open space, infrastructure projects like road-widening or new freeway construction are almost never feasible. Additionally, in recent years, cities in the Bay Area have actively made it harder to drive/get around by car through removing several freeways. In a sense, the Bay Area is becoming increasingly a car-centered community like Los Angeles, but its composition and geography are increasingly similar to New York City, a highly unfavorable, even contradictory situation. Lastly, few large public transportation investments or projects have been completed recently in the area.
This situation and the issues that stem from it present a variety of problems for commuters and nearly every resident within the Bay Area on a nearly daily basis; there is no way to escape the transportation nightmare that is the Bay Area. While many feel despair when presented with this information, this situation also signals the necessity and importance of investing in large public transportation projects and improvements as the best aids to this situation. Throughout recent history, there have been many suggestions for improving public transportation through large infrastructure projects in the Bay Area, but many have been forgone for less impactful projects that make driving harder (but that have less up front capital needs) and many others have been planned for the next ten years. This means that, currently and for the next few years, mobility in the Bay Area will be especially challenging as the harmful trends continue and as many of the impactful projects have yet to be completed.
Currently, there are a few large-scale public transportation projects that are predicted to have positive impacts on mobility in the region are nearing completion: The Transbay Terminal, BART San Jose Extension, the Central Subway, and SMART.
The Transbay Terminal, currently under construction in San Francisco’s Financial District, will be a transportation hub for a variety of bus and rail services that is slated to partially open in 2018. Currently, there is no single transportation hub in San Francisco and many commuters that use Caltrain, a regional rail service that runs largely between San Francisco and San Jose, must transfer from Caltrain to other means transportation in order to get to the Financial District. Ultimately, the terminal will solve these issues by serving as the new terminus for Caltrain and will also serve as the terminus for the California high-speed rail line which is under construction. However, when the terminal opens this year, it will only serve as a bus terminal (something very beneficial and impactful for many transit users). The Downtown Rail Extension, the tunnel that will enable passengers of regional (Caltrain) and high-speed rail service to arrive at a more convenient location, has yet to be constructed and there are high levels of uncertainty around securing the required amount of funding. Additionally, a pedestrian walkway between the terminal and the subway stations under Market Street, something vital to link transit users, has yet to be constructed. The timelines (and funding for these projects which will make the largest difference in the Bay Area’s mobility issues) are still uncertain, but will likely be completed in the next 15 years.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system (SMART) is already in operation between Downtown San Rafael and Sonoma County Airport (north of Santa Rosa), a large portion of its final route. However, SMART’s current operation fails to provide an effective way for residents of Marin and Sonoma counties that commute into San Francisco for work. For most commuters, it still makes more sense to drive as there is no easy connection between the San Rafael station (the southern terminus) and the Financial District. The vital portion of SMART’s final route which will allow passengers to arrive at the Larkspur ferry port is still under construction and will not be completed until 2019 at the earliest. Once this stage is completed, commuting from these North Bay counties will be far easier as it will decrease vehicular traffic on the constricted and congested US 101 and will provide an effective/competitive mass transportation alternative for commuters.
The extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit to San Jose from a previous terminus in Fremont is underway and is partially operational. However, similarly to the narratives of SMART and the Transbay Terminal, it will still be nearly a decade until the system will allow passengers to access a already prominent transportation hub in downtown San Jose.
The Central Subway project, when completed in 2019, will extend the T Muni Metro through the center of SOMA and underground to a new terminus in Chinatown. This will allow for faster travel times through some of the densest areas of San Francisco and increase capacity of mass transit in the area to alleviate vehicular traffic on surface streets. There are future plans to extend the line to Fisherman's Wharf, an extension that will be even more beneficial to the dense neighborhoods and the busy transportation corridor of Fisherman’s Wharf, North Beach, Chinatown, and SOMA.
These four significant projects are only some of the planned or under construction transit projects in the Bay Area. In order to improve mobility in the Bay Area, even more infrastructure projects must be undertaken and completed to their full extent in ways that encourage commuters and travelers to utilize public transportation.
Other transportation projects that have been proposed, discussed, or planned:
  • Caltrain Electrification
  • High Speed Rail
  • A subway under Geary Blvd
  • A second transbay tube
  • Another vehicular bridge crossing over the bay
  • The Dumbarton Rail Corridor
  • Extend Amtrak to San Francisco
  • Extension of freeways underground in and around San Francisco
  • Expand subway mileage/lines in San Francisco
Bibliography
BART Silicon Valley Program Office, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
“Construction Activity.” VTA's BART Silicon Valley Extension, VTA, 2017, www.vta.org/bart/.
Brinklow, Adam. “Everything You Need to Know about the Transbay Transit Center Right Now.”
Curbed SF, Curbed SF, 21 June 2017, sf.curbed.com/2017/6/21/15822390/transbay-transit-center-san-francisco-sf.
Governing. “Car Ownership in U.S. Cities Data and Map.” Governing, Governing, 2016,

MTC, and ABAG. “Home/Introduction.” Bay Area Census, ABAG, 2010,

SFMTA. “Central Subway Project.” SFMTA, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, 5
Mar. 2018, www.sfmta.com/projects/central-subway-project.
SMART. “Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.” Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, Sonoma-Marin
Area Rail Transit, 2017, www.sonomamarintrain.org/.
TJPA. “Transit Center.” Transbay Program, Transbay Joint Powers Authority, 2016,
tjpa.org/project/transit-center.
United States, Congress, MTC, and Association of Bay Area Governments. “The Bay Area in

2040.” The Bay Area in 2040, 2013. mtc.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2-The_Bay_Area_In_2040.pdf.

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