Embarcadero station

Embarcadero station is a combined BART and Muni Metro rapid transit subway station in the Market Street subway in downtown San Francisco. Located under Market Street between Drumm Street and Beale Street near The Embarcadero, it serves the Financial District neighborhood and surrounding areas. The three-level station has a large fare mezzanine level, with separate platform levels for Muni Metro and BART below. Embarcadero station opened in May 1976 – almost two years after service began through the Transbay Tube – as an infill station.

Embarcadero
Muni Metro platform as seen from the mezzanine level of Embarcadero station in 2022
General information
Location	298 Market Street San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°47′35″N 122°23′50″W / 37.79306°N 122.39722°W / 37.79306; -122.39722
Owned by	San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Line(s)	Market Street subway
Platforms	1 island platform (BART) 1 island platform (Muni Metro) 2 side platforms (Muni surface)
Tracks	2 wide gauge (BART) 2 standard gauge (Muni Metro) 2 standard gauge (Muni surface)
Connections	Muni, Golden Gate Transit, PresidiGo, SamTrans California St. Golden Gate Ferry, San Francisco Bay Ferry, Treasure Island Ferry (at Ferry Building)
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	Parking station
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Tallie B. Maule Hertzka & Knowles
Other information
Website	https://www.bart.gov/stations/embr
History
Opened	May 27, 1976 (1976-05-27) (BART)^[1] February 18, 1980 (1980-02-18) (Muni)^[2]
Passengers
2023	14,401 (weekday average)^[3] (BART)
Services Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station Montgomery toward Daly City Blue Line West Oakland toward Dublin/​Pleasanton Green Line West Oakland toward Berryessa/​North San José Montgomery toward Millbrae Red Line West Oakland toward Richmond Montgomery toward San Francisco International Airport or Millbrae Yellow Line West Oakland toward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point Preceding station Muni Following station Montgomery towards Balboa Park J Church Terminus K Ingleside Montgomery towards SF Zoo L Taraval Suspended Montgomery towards San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park) M Ocean View Montgomery towards Ocean Beach N Judah The Embarcadero and Folsom towards 4th and King Montgomery towards West Portal S Shuttle Terminus At Market and Main / Market and Drumm Market and 1st Street / Market and Battery towards 17th Street and Castro F Market & Wharves Don Chee Way and Steuart towards Jones and Beach
Location

Embarcadero and nearby Montgomery Street stations are typically the two busiest in the BART system. A major Bay Area transit hub, Embarcadero is also served by numerous bus routes of several other agencies which stop above the station and on surrounding streets.

Station layout

 

One of the six station entrances

Like the three other shared Muni/BART stations in the Market Street subway, Embarcadero has three underground levels. The uppermost level is a fare mezzanine, with one Muni paid area in the middle flanked by two BART paid areas. The second level has a single island platform (of which only the center portion is used) for Muni Metro, and the third level has an island platform for BART.^[4] The station is narrower than the other three – 50 feet (15 m) rather than 60 feet (18 m) – because of adjacent buildings and the high water table.^[5] It has six street entrances along its length.^[4] The station contains an unused underground entrance to the 388 Market Street building.

History

 

A Muni Metro train at Embarcadero in 1993

Service at the station began on May 27, 1976, three years after the other San Francisco stations.^[1] The station was not part of the original plans for the system. As a result of increasing development in the lower Market Street area, the basic structure of the station was added into the construction of the Market Street subway, anticipating a later opening.^[6] The later opening resulted in the Embarcadero station having a different design than the other three Market Street stations. The station was designed by chief BART architect Tallie Maule and Hertzka & Knowles & Associates in collaboration with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Tudor Construction, and Bechtel.^[7] The station cost $30 million to construct.^[8][9]

Muni Metro service began in February 1980 and Embarcadero was originally intended to be the inbound terminus for all of the Muni Metro lines.^[2][10] In 1998 a new southward extension was opened, extending the N Judah along the Embarcadero to the Caltrain station at 4th and King Streets.^[11] On March 4, 2000, F Market & Wharves streetcar service was extended northward to Fisherman's Wharf, with new stops above Embarcadero station at Main Street (inbound) and Drumm Street (outbound).^[12] Because the station is adjacent to the Transbay Tube, brake dust and other particles from train operations coat the walls of the station. A sandblasting in 2014 revealed the original white terrazzo platform walls under the dark grime.^[13]

Since before 1992, the station was serenaded by Ronald Brewington, known as the "Jazz Man".^[14] He would play saxophone for commuters, and entertain them with conversation and charm.^[14] He claimed his name was Garrick Sherrod; however, that was an identity he had stolen.^[14] The Jazz Man was actually a fugitive from Albuquerque facing capital murder charges stemming from the 1987 death of his wife Diedre.^[14] He was arrested at a BART station in 2012, and extradited to New Mexico.^[14] In 2013, he pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.^{[citation needed]}

Following the 2015 addition of a canopy over an escalator at 19th Street Oakland station, which reduced escalator downtime by one-third, BART decided to add canopies to all downtown Oakland and San Francisco entrances.^[15] Construction of the Market Street entrances was to begin in 2020, with completion in 2027.^[16] The entrances on the southern side of the station were closed from April 13, 2020, to May 15, 2021, due to low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[17] Concourse-level preparation for canopy construction at Embarcadero station began on November 15, 2021.^[18] The entrance at Davis Street closed for canopy construction on June 13, 2022, with completion originally expected in January 2023.^[19] The Beale Street entrance closed on September 5, 2023, followed by the Federal Reserve Bank entrance on October 18.^[20][21]

Thirteen BART stations, including Embarcadero, did not originally have faregates for passengers using the elevator. In 2020, BART started a project to add faregates to elevators at these stations. The new faregate on the platform at Embarcadero was installed in December 2021.^[22] This allows passengers using the elevator to enter and exit fare control through the faregate, rather than having to use a "difficult and cumbersome" process of tagging in or out at the concourse faregates.^[23] Bathrooms at underground BART stations were closed after the September 11 attacks due to security concerns. The bathroom at Embarcadero station reopened on June 30, 2023, after a renovation, with an attendant on duty during all operating hours.^[24]

Artwork

 

The bottom part of Wall Canyon

Although original plans to include public art at every BART station did not come to fruition, several artworks were included in Embarcadero station.^[25]: 1 The platform walls and street entrances feature circle-based reliefs by William Mitchell.^{[25]: 3, 6} Wall Canyon, a 37-foot (11 m)-high colored ceramic relief by Stephen De Staebler, is partially hidden behind a staircase at the southwest end of the station.^{[26][25]: 2} It was installed on January 1, 1977.^[26] A duotone granite portrait of Tallie Maule – the chief architect of the original BART system – is on the mezzanine level.^{[27][25]: 6}

A 50-foot (15 m)-tall, 7,000-pound (3,200 kg) rope sculpture called Legs was installed at the northwest end of the station in 1976 or 1978. Created by Barbara Shawcroft, the orange-and-white Nomex sculpture moved with the breeze from passing Muni and BART trains.^[28] Legs soon accumulated the same dark grime as the station walls, hiding the original color. BART was required by the artist's contract to clean the sculpture but several attempts were unsuccessful.^[28] In 2013, BART included removal of Legs in its 2014 budget, which prompted a debate about whether it should be cleaned regardless of cost (which Shawcroft supported), or removed from the unsuitable environment of the station.^[29] The sculpture was removed in June 2014 and returned to Shawcroft – a professor emerita at UC Davis School of Design – who planned to repurpose it into other pieces.^[28]

Connections

 

The intersection of Market Street and Drumm Street. Embarcadero station entrances can be seen in the center and top left. An F Market & Wharves streetcar is running east on Market Street (left, just above center) and a California Street line cable car waits in the pinch tracks (lower right).

Embarcadero station is located in the busy Financial District; numerous routes by several transit providers stop at or near the station. Most radial Muni bus routes terminate at several nearby locations:^[30]

• Ferry Plaza: 2, 6, 7X, 9, 14, 21, 31, K Owl, M Owl
• Transbay Transit Center, with intermediate stops on Market Street near Embarcadero: 5, 5R, 7, 38, 38R
• Richmond express terminal at Davis Street and Pine Street: 1AX, 1BX, 31AX, 31BX, 38AX, 38BX

Other Muni routes that stop or terminate near the station include routes 1, 9R, 14R, 14X, 30X, 41, 81X, 82X, 714, J Bus, K Bus, K Owl, L Bus, L Owl, M Bus, N Owl, and N Bus. The California Street line of the San Francisco cable car system terminates adjacent to the Drumm Street station entrance. Muni's F Market and Wharves heritage streetcar line stops on the surface at Market and Main (westbound) and Market and Drumm (eastbound).^[30]

A number of Golden Gate Transit bus routes stop near Embarcadero on Fremont Street (2, 4, 38, 44, 54, 56, 58, 72, 72X, 74, 76) and/or Pine Street (2, 4, 8, 18, 24, 24X). Other transit agencies that stop nearby include SamTrans (292, 397, 398, 713, FCX) and PresidiGo (Downtown Shuttle).^[30]

Embarcadero station is the nearest Muni Metro and BART station to the Ferry Building, the primary San Francisco terminal for Golden Gate Ferry, San Francisco Bay Ferry and Treasure Island Ferry. The Transbay Transit Center, located about 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) to the south, is the primary San Francisco terminal for AC Transit transbay routes, WestCAT, Greyhound Lines, Amtrak Thruway buses, some Golden Gate Transit routes, and Muni route 25.^[30] The second phase of the Transbay Transit Center – the Downtown Rail Extension – will include an 800-foot (240 m)-long pedestrian tunnel under Beale Street connecting Embarcadero station with the underground rail concourse.^[31]

References

1. (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
2. Callwell, Robert (September 1999). "Transit in San Francisco: A Selected Chronology, 1850–1995" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Railway. p. 57.
3. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 2023.
4. "Station Map: Embarcadero Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. August 8, 2019.
5. Healy, Michael C. (2016). BART: The Dramatic History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. Heyday. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-59714-370-7.
6. "A History of BART: The Project is Rescued". Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Retrieved November 30, 2013.
7. Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. p. 502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4. OCLC 85623396.
8. Kusserow, H. W. (May 28, 1976). "It's freeloading time on BART". San Francisco Examiner. p. 3. Retrieved September 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
9. Jewell, Don (June 1976). "Bay Area Rapid Transit". Pacific News. No. 176. p. 26.
10. Hatfield, Larry D. (February 18, 1980). "All clear as Muni Metro opens". San Francisco Examiner. p. 6. Retrieved September 4, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
11. "Muni metro extends". Railway Gazette International. October 1, 1998. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
12. Morris, J. D. (March 2, 2000). "New Way to the Wharf / Merchants hope F-Market line will draw locals to tourist attractions". San Francisco Chronicle.
13. Allen-Price, Olivia (July 22, 2014). "Embarcadero BART Station Gets Dramatic Cleaning". KQED.
14. Huet, Ellen (November 2, 2012). "S.F. BART saxophonist is fugitive killer, cops say". San Francisco Chronicle.
15. "Ribbon-cutting held for San Francisco BART Station Market St. Canopies" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 13, 2018.
16. "BART to build canopies over San Francisco Market Street entrances" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 23, 2020.
17. "BART opens all entrances/exits that were previously closed due to pandemic" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 12, 2021.
18. "Concourse and platform work at Embarcadero Station starts 11/15 to prepare for canopy installation" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 8, 2021.
19. "Entrance Closure Alert: Embarcadero Station entrance at Davis and Market closed 06/13/22 for work on new canopy" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 7, 2022.
20. "Entrance Closure Alert: Market and Beale streets entrance at Embarcadero Station to close 9/5 for canopy work" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. August 31, 2023.
21. "Entrance Closure Alert: Embarcadero Station entrance in front of Federal Reserve to close for canopy work 10/18" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. October 4, 2023.
22. . San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. July 2023. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023.
23. "New Embarcadero platform fare gate speeds up transfer to Muni, improves accessibility, reduces fare evasion" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 9, 2022.
24. "BART reopens restrooms at Embarcadero and Downtown Berkeley stations" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 30, 2023.
25. Weinstein, Dave. "How BART got ART". CA-Modern. Eichler Network.
26. Kieselhorst, Felicia. "BART Art: "Wall Canyon"". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
27. Kieselhorst, Felicia. "BARTable Art: "Tallie Maule Portrait"". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
28. Cabanatuan, Michael (June 10, 2014). "Huge rope sculpture to be removed from Embarcadero BART". San Francisco Chronicle.
29. Frock, Christian L. (May 27, 2013). "On Permanence: Barbara Shawcroft's 'Legs' and the Challenges of Public Art". KQED.
30. "Transit Stops: Embarcadero Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. August 8, 2019.
31. "BART/Muni Underground Pedestrian Connector". Transbay Joint Power Authority.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Embarcadero station.

• BART: Embarcadero station
• SFMTA: Embarcadero inbound, outbound
• SF Bay Transit (unofficial): MUNI Metro Embarcadero Station, Embarcadero BART station