San Francisco Transit Coverage

Transit Coverage within the city of San Francisco (radii are a 10-minute walk, ~ 1/2 mile from each station) charting the coverage of the Market Street Subway, the South Beach Extension, and the Central Subway.

Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf

It's official - the extension of the Central Subway to Fisherman's Wharf garnered $150,000 of local funding for a feasibility study and design development. While the current scope of work does not include stations north of Chinatown, this study will look at station opportunities in North Beach, Fisherman's Wharf, and points Northwest of the current terminus, as championed by local advocacy group SF NexTstop.

Among the improvements NexTstop identifies for this extension:

• NE Residents can access jobs (especially in growth areas like Mid-Market, Central Corridor, Mission Bay and the new Transbay Core) and services (like Mission Bay medical centers) without fighting their way through the City’s crowded core. 
• Expanded convention business opportunities by connecting Moscone Center to the Wharf’s 3,400 hotel rooms and 90,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
• The Wharf’s 7,400 workers have reliable connections to BART, Caltrain and Priority Development Area neighborhoods planned for residential expansion.

Inclusive San Francisco Transit

Rail transit in San Francisco is a moiré of interlocking systems in various states of elevation, electrification and accessibility, unified only by a common system of fare collection. Rather than allow each of the balkanized providers to promote their systems separately, it would be a public boon to provide unified system maps which clearly indicate points of transfer between systems and the geographical areas served by each (Caltrain and BART on the east side, Muni Metro on the west).

Muni Metro with BART and Caltrain lines and stops indicated (with Central Subway shown complete).

And a crazy hopeful animation into the Mutative future of Muni Metro.

Mutative Muni Metro Futures (G-Geary Northern Subway, O-Divisadero Central Loop, T-Third extensions to Fisherman's Wharf and Marina, S-Van Ness-Excelsior and R-Van Ness-Hunters Point)

O-Divisadero: Loop Line Phasing

Phase 1 of the Loop line would bring Muni Metro service to the area North of Market between Transbay/Embarcadero Station on the edge of the San Francisco Bay and States/Castro Station at the base of Twin Peaks. I propose eight stations north of Market, plus two transfer stations to existing rail infrastructure at either end of the line. Alignment along Broadway allows use of the existing tunnel under Russian Hill to save costs; only the Van Ness - Alamo Square part of the alignment would require tunnel boring.

Phase 1 _ Broadway-Divisadero Subway
(view O-Divisadero in a larger map _ read methodology for proximal population statistics)

South of Market, the city is already served by several spans of Muni surface Light Rail (the J-Church and T-Third) as well as the Central Subway; additional service to Noe Valley, the Mission, SoMa and Rincon Hill would complete the Loop with 8 stations south of the slot (which would then share track with the G-Geary along Beale, through the Harrison street undercrossing and Transbay Station).

Phase 2 _ Mission-SoMa Subway
(view OLx-Loop Line in a larger map _ read methodology for proximal population statistics)

O-Divisadero: Central Loop Line

To complement the otherwise spoke-hub derived network of the Muni Metro system in San Francisco, a Loop line might be employed with transfers spaced evenly along the line to various trunks. This loop serves many of the primary tourist locations in the city (Columbus Ave / North Beach, Japantown Peace Plaza, Alamo Square / the Painted Ladies and the Haight) as well as a variety of quite populous residential areas (the central Van Ness corridor, Western Addition, Noe Valley, Mission, SoMa); the mix of users could assure high ridership year-around.

The northern component of the system serves the Financial Disctrict, Jackson Square, Nob- and Russian Hills, Japantown and Western Addition, Alamo Square, NoPa, the Haight and Corona Heights. The southern half runs through the Castro, Noe Valley, Mission Dolores and Liberty Hill, the Mission, Western and Central SoMa, South Beach, Rincon Hill and the Transbay District.

With the Central Subway providing Northwest-Southeast cross service, the Market Street Subway providing Northeast-Southwest connectivity and the G-Geary heading directly west from the Transbay Terminal, a robust skip stop transfer network could be achieved with a circular subway.

O-Divisadero Loop in the context of San Francisco's otherwise hub-and-spoke Metro System. (view mutative Muni Metro evolution)

G-Geary: Phasing of Northern San Francisco Subways

The Northern terminus of the T-Third line at Chinatown is a temporary condition: with the decision to terminate the Central Subway tunnel at Washington Square, not in Chinatown where the last operating station will be located, it is a logical deduction that Muni intends to continue Metro service to the Northern waterfront at some point in the future. Similarly, the transfer of Westbound proposed G-Geary passengers from Light Rail to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) at Webster Station is a stop-gap measure, a condition to change once support for mass transit on Western Geary Boulevard strengthens.

Muni after construction of G-Geary Phase 1 and T-Third Phase 2. The (temporary) northern terminus of  the T-Third at Chinatown is made functional with transfer to the G; westbound traffic at Webster transfers to BRT below the aerial platform.

Ultimately, the T-Third will head north to Fisherman's Wharf at the very least; an alternative alignment proceeds through a number of stops along the Northern Waterfront and Russian Hill with a Western terminal at the Marina Green, thereby serving a much larger cross-section of the northern population.

Muni with G-Geary Phase 2 extension to Sutro Heights; T-Third Phase 3 to Fishermans Wharf and (speculative) Phase 4 to the Marina; F-Market extension through the Fort Mason tunnel and beyond to Chrissy Fields / Golden Gate. (view mutative Muni Metro evolution)

The G-Geary would ultimately continue through two more right-of-way-separated stations before becoming a streetcar on Geary Boulevard and continuing through the Inner and Outer Richmond districts to a terminus at Sutro Heights.

G-Geary: Clay-Geary Street Alignment

The 19th and 20th century hearts of San Francisco lie north of Market street; Jackson Square / the Barbary Coast districts were the historic center during the gold rush era and period of early growth, followed by Polk Street and the Tenderloin after the earthquake, and the Financial District and Union Square / Downtown in the modern era. Once it passes beneath the Market Street Subway, this proposal for a G-Geary train serves all of these areas as well as Cathedral Hill, Japantown and the Western Addition before running along the surface of Geary Boulevard in the Richmond District.

Sectional diagram of the Clay-Leavenworth-Geary Street Subway portion of the proposed G-Geary. South of Market the subway continues under Beale; West of Webster the alignment continues above grade, eventually becoming a Geary streetcar.

• The first stop is located under Clay Street at Sansome, on the north flank of the Financial District. This location counter-balances the strong transit presence on the southern side of this district (flanked by the Market Street Subway), and also provides right-of-way-separated access to Jackson Square and southern Columbus Avenue. The huge daily influx of workers to this district, home to all of San Francisco's Fortune 500 companies, makes it a natural fit for transit.
• Also under Clay, between Powell and Mason Streets lies the next station stop at Nob Hill, transfer point for the T-Third under Stockton Street at Chinatown. 
• By far the most populous part of San Francisco is the Tenderloin. If the rest of the city were equally populated, the City and County would boast over 1.6 million denizens overall. A metro station under Leavenworth between Sutter and Post would serve this district directly, with upwards of 17,500 people located within easy walking distance of the stop.
• After transitioning to a Geary Street alignment, the subway stops at Franklin,  serving the western edge of the Tenderloin and lower Polk along with the population on Cathedral Hill.
• Trains heading west transition to an aerial alignment at Laguna Street,  then stop between Fillmore and Webster Streets for their last Phase 1 station stop. Serving Japantown,  Fillmore and the Western Addition,  this station also allows for easy vertical connection for busses on the Geary bus rapid transit route.