Civic Center/UN Plaza station

Civic Center/UN Plaza station (often Civic Center station) is a combined BART and Muni Metro rapid transit station in the Market Street Subway. Located under Market Street between 7th Street and 8th Street, it serves the Civic Center neighborhood and surrounding areas. The three-level station has a large fare mezzanine level, with separate platform levels for Muni Metro and BART below.

Civic Center
BART train at Civic Center/UN Plaza station in 2018
Location	1150 Market Street, San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37.779861°N 122.413498°W / 37.779861; -122.413498
Line(s)	Market Street Subway
Platforms	1 island platform (BART) 1 island platform (Muni Metro) Side platforms (Muni surface)
Tracks	2 wide gauge (BART) 2 standard gauge (Muni Metro) 2 standard gauge (Muni surface)
Connections	Muni, AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	November 5, 1973 (BART) February 18, 1980 (Muni)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2020)	25,028 (weekday average)[2] (BART)
Services Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station 16th Street Mission toward Millbrae Richmond–​Millbrae Powell Street toward Richmond 16th Street Mission toward Daly City Dublin/​Pleasanton–​Daly City Powell Street toward Dublin/​Pleasanton 16th Street Mission toward San Francisco International Airport Antioch–​SFO/​Millbrae Powell Street toward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point 16th Street Mission toward Daly City Berryessa/​North San José–​Daly City Powell Street toward Berryessa/​North San José Preceding station Muni Following station Van Ness towards West Portal S Shuttle Powell towards Embarcadero Van Ness towards San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park) M Ocean View Powell One-way operation Van Ness One-way operation T Third Street Powell towards Sunnydale Van Ness towards Ocean Beach N Judah Powell towards 4th and King At surface stops Market and 9th Street / Market and Larkin towards 17th Street and Castro F Market & Wharves Market and 6th Street / Market and Taylor towards Jones and Beach
Location

History

BART service at the station began on November 5, 1973, followed by Muni Metro service on February 18, 1980.[3][1]

In 2005, the station name was changed to Civic Center/UN Plaza during celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the United Nations and World Environment Day.[4][5] Additional fares gates to allow direction connections between Muni and BART (without having to go up to the fare mezzanine) were also proposed.[5]

Station layout and changes

The closed-off entrance in 2017

Like the three other shared Muni/BART stations in the Market Street Subway, Civic Center has three underground levels. The first level is a fare mezzanine, with two Muni paid areas and two BART paid areas. The second level has a single island platform for Muni Metro, and the third level has an island platform for BART.[6] The station has six street entrances along its length.[6]

A passageway formerly led to two additional entrances west of 8th Street and Hyde Street. One - on the north side of Market Street at Grove Street - was temporarily closed in December 2016 after a sewer pipe collapsed under the escalators.[7] The entrance remained closed until it was permanently removed in October 2017.[8] The remaining entrance west of 8th Street was permanently closed on November 1, 2018, as the passageway space was needed for a new electrical substation to add redundancy and capacity to support increased Transbay Tube train frequency. The six original entrances (all of which are significantly closer to the faregates) remained open.[9]

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.[10] The canopies will protect the escalator from weather damage, improve lighting, allow the escalator to be fully closed off when the station is not open, and provide a location for real-time train arrival information displays. The Civic Center station entrance at Market and 7th was chosen for early implementation; it was closed on December 11, 2017, with the new canopy opened on October 9, 2018.[10] Construction of the remaining Market Street entrances will begin in 2020, with completion in 2027.[11]

In May 2018, BART proposed to close off a corridor that connects the 7th Street and 8th Street sides of the station because it was frequently used for drug use.[12] In February 2020, BART began a 12-month project to add two additional staircases to the BART platform.[13]

Connections

A route 21 trolleybus at Market and Hyde in 2018

Two Muni heritage streetcar stops are located above the station: Market and 7th Street, and Market and 8th Street (inbound) / Market and Hyde (outbound). Both are served by the F Market and Wharves line. The station is also served by a number of Muni bus and trolleybus routes:[14]

• Local: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 19, 21
• Rapid: 5R, 9R
• Express: 83X
• Owl service: J Bus, KT Bus, K Owl, L Bus, L Owl, M Bus, N Owl, and N Bus

Several Golden Gate Transit routes (24C, 30, 54C, 70, 92, 101, 101X) stop on 7th Street adjacent to the station. Additional Muni (14, 14R, 14X, 714) and SamTrans (FCXX, 292, 397, 398) bus routes run on Mission Street, one block away. AC Transit serves Civic Center station with the 800 All Nighter route during hours that BART is not operating.[14]

Under the planned Better Market Street project, stops on the F Market and Wharves line and bus routes would be consolidated to reduce travel times. The F stops at 7th and 8th streets would be replaced by a single midblock stop.[15]

References

1. Callwell, Robert (September 1999). "Transit in San Francisco: A Selected Chronology, 1850–1995" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Railway. p. 57.
2. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 2020.
3. "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
4. Cabanatuan, Michael (April 29, 2013). "BART station names growing unwieldy". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
5. "CIVIC CENTER/U.N. PLAZA" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
6. "Station Map: Civic Center/UN Plaza Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. October 29, 2018.
7. "Civic Center Grove Street entrance closed for repairs" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. December 6, 2016.
8. "Permanent entrance closures planned at Civic Center for traction power project" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. October 23, 2017.
9. "Civic Center entrance Hotel Whitcomb/8th & Market closed permanently 11/1/2018" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. October 15, 2018.
10. "SF BART and Muni Escalator/Entrance Project". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018.
11. "BART to build canopies over San Francisco Market Street entrances" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 23, 2020.
12. Turner, Emily (May 21, 2018). "BART Proposes Closing Walkway Favored By Drug Users At Civic Center Station". CBS SF BayArea.
13. "New Stairs to be Added to Civic Center Station Starting the Week of 2/17" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 13, 2010.
14. "Transit Stops: Civic Center/UN Plaza Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transit Commission. August 16, 2019.
15. Better Market Street Project EIR (PDF). 1. San Francisco Planning Department. February 27, 2019. p. 2-53.

External links

• BART: Civic Center / UN Plaza Station
• SFMTA: Civic Center Station inbound, outbound
• SF Bay Transit (unofficial): MUNI Metro Civic Center Station, Civic Center/UN Plaza BART Station