User:TJPA/The Transbay Transit Center

The Transbay Transit Center
The Transbay Transit Center Program will replace the outdated and inadequate Transbay Terminal with a new, state of the art Transit Center in the heart of San Francisco immediately south of the financial district; build new bus ramps connecting the Transit Center to both the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and to new bus storage facilities; and extend Caltrain commuter rail line via a new tunnel from its current terminus at Fourth and King Streets to the Transit Center. The Transit Center will also be the Northern California terminus for California High-Speed Rail. It will be the first high-speed rail terminal in the United States. At a total cost of $4.2 billion, the Project is a national model for transit-oriented development.

The future Transbay Transit Center will serve 11 transportation agencies under a single roof, providing superb connectivity—an essential component of a successful regional transportation system. With 1 million square feet of space, this regional transportation hub will also serve as a cultural center and a showcase for public art. Atop the Gold LEED Certified building will be a 5.4 acre rooftop park that will include an amphitheatre, gardens, a trail for running/walking, open grass areas for picnics, lily ponds and more. Designed by the architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, the new facility, with four above grade and two below grade levels, will boast a sustainable design, including a “green” roof, thermal mass and night natural ventilation to allow passive building temperature controls as well as geothermal heating and cooling where active temperature controls are required, natural daylight, LEED energy efficiency and other green building techniques. The project will provide retail space along Natoma, Minna and Beale Streets and create a new open pedestrian entry plaza called Mission Square at Mission and Fremont Streets.

The History of the Transbay Terminal
Built in 1939, the original Transbay Terminal anchored the Key System Railway that brought commuters into San Francisco from the East Bay. As time passed, the Transbay Terminal became exclusively a bus station. By the early 1980’s, the Terminal was obsolete. After the building suffered damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, it became increasingly clear that the Terminal was structurally unsound and needed to be replaced. The demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway and its associated elevated structures after the earthquake left a fragmented land use pattern in the vicinity of the Transbay Terminal, but simultaneously freed up a considerable acreage of public land historically used for parking, providing a golden opportunity to transform the Transbay Terminal area into a cutting edge transit-oriented neighborhood.

In 2001, the City and County of San Francisco, Caltrain, and AC Transit formed the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) to build the $4.2 billion Transbay Transit Center, bus ramps, and rail extension. In conjunction with the TJPA, the City adopted a Transbay Redevelopment Plan to redevelop the surrounding neighborhood and provide funding for construction of the transportation improvements. The new Transit Center is set to be completed in 2017. A tunnel extending the rail line from the current terminus at 4th and Townsend Streets to the new Transit Center is set to be completed in 2019.

The Design and Development Competition
In 2007, the TJPA held an international competition to select an architect to design the Transit Center and the Transbay Transit Tower at Mission and Fremont Streets adjacent to the Transit Center. The competition also included a developer to team with the architect to develop the Transit Tower. Following a spirited competition among three world renowned architects and their developer partners, a jury composed of experts in transit, planning, architecture, and structural design selected the design submitted by the New Haven, Connecticut architectural firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects as the superior proposal for the Transit Center and Tower along with their developer partner, Hines, for the development of the Transit Tower.

The Transit Tower
The Transit Tower will stand at least 1,000 feet and will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Planned to house 50,000 square feet of retail space, the Tower will be a catalyst for expansion of local business into the South of Market area. The City and County of San Francisco is currently conducting environmental review of the Transit Tower.

The Public Art Program
The new Transbay Transit Center will include a public art program that incorporates artwork directly into the architecture of the new facility. The art program will create a distinctive experience that is uniquely of and from San Francisco and will link the Transit Center to the City’s rich cultural heritage.

The Transbay Transit Center will house works by five local artists: Timothy Hawkinson, Julie Chang, Jenny Holzer, Ned Kahn, and Jamie Carpenter. Timothy Hawkinson has conceived a 41-foot tall guardian figure at the intersection of Mission and Fremont Streets in Mission Plaza that will spirit passengers on their journey to and from the Transit Center. This large-scale sculpture will be fabricated from recycled reinforced concrete beams and pillars, jersey barriers, and a street light pole, all reclaimed from the old Transbay Terminal building. The works created by the other artists will be woven into the fabric of the building. The terrazzo floor in the Grand Hall of the Center, a work by Julie Chang, will greet visitors as they enter. The floor forms a rich tapestry that reflects the history and landscape of San Francisco.

An LED light display by Jenny Holzer will run along the face of the bus level enclosure. The constantly changing text of the display will pay homage to the Bay Area’s literary greats and link the project to the larger life of the City.

As visitors progress to the sustainable rooftop park, Ned Kahn’s playful water installation will trace the flow of the buses one level below. As buses move along the bus deck after picking up or dropping off passengers, sensors in the ceiling will activate a series of water jets in the park that mimic the movement of buses in real time.

In the larger footprint of the new Transbay Transit Center, Jamie Carpenter’s artwork, “Parallel Light Fields” will illuminate the newly designed Shaw Alley extension of a city pedestrian walkway as it passes through the ground level of the Transit Center. Illuminated light fins and floor pavers will enhance the experience of passengers moving into and through the building at Shaw Alley. ...