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History of Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit, widely known by the acronym BART, is the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was envisioned as early as 1946 but the construction of the original system began in the 1960s.
The idea of an electric rail tube under San Francisco Bay was first proposed in the early 1900s by Francis "Borax" Smith – the San Francisco Chronicle ran a front-page editorial in 1900 suggesting an electrified subway. There were also plans for a third-rail powered subway line (Twin Peaks Tunnel) under Market Street in the 1910s. A 1915 study prepared for the cities of Oakland and Berkeley called a rapid transit link between the two cities "imperative," suggesting new street railway lines or an elevated railway between the two cities. Much of BART's current coverage area was once served by the electrified streetcar and interurban train network called the Key System. This early twentieth century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The final passenger run occurred on April 20, 1958 and the entire system was soon dismantled in favor of automobiles and buses and the explosive growth of highway construction.
Proposals for the modern rapid transit system now in service began in 1946 by Bay Area business leaders concerned with increased post-war migration and growing congestion in the region. An Army-Navy task force concluded that an additional trans-bay crossing would soon be needed and recommended a tunnel; however, actual planning for a rapid transit system did not begin until the 1950s. In 1951, California's legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission to study the Bay Area's long-term transportation needs. A New York-based firm, sponsored by the commission, submitted plans for an expansive rapid transit system in 1956. The commission's 1957 final report concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a high-speed rapid rail system linking the cities and suburbs. Nine Bay Area counties were included in the initial planning commission.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District was formed by the state legislature in 1957, comprising the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Because Santa Clara County opted instead to first concentrate on its Expressway System, that county was not included in the original BART District. In 1959 a bill was passed in the state legislature that provided for the entire cost of construction of the tube to be paid for with surplus toll revenues from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. This represented a significant portion of the total cost of the system.
By 1961 a plan for the new system was sent to the boards of supervisors of each of the five counties. These plans called for three branches in the East Bay and four branches in San Francisco, meeting in a subway under Market Street and a tube under the San Francisco Bay. The East Bay branches would connect Concord in the east, Richmond in the northeast and Fremont in the southeast. On the San Francisco side, the system would branch to the south along the Peninsula to Palo Alto, to the southwest along Mission Street to Balboa Park, to Daly City in the west using the existing Twin Peaks Tunnel, and a new Geary Subway leading to the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco to Novato in the northwest.
However, on April 12, 1962, San Mateo County opted out of the district, citing high costs for the plan, existing service provided by Southern Pacific commuter trains (today's Caltrain), and concerns over shoppers leaving their county for stores in San Francisco. Marin County left the district soon thereafter in May, being forced out due to engineering objections from Golden Gate Bridge operators and fear that Marin voters would not approve the bonds, which had to win more than 60% approval.
The withdrawal led to the cancellation of the Peninsula branch and the Geary Subway. The remaining lines in San Francisco were also changed in the 1962 "Composite Report": the Market Street and Mission Street tunnels would be built and operated by BART and would be extended to Daly City, while the San Francisco Municipal Railway would operate the Twin Peaks route with streetcars remaining in the existing tunnel, and being fed into an upper level of the Market Street subway. The plan was approved by the voters of the three remaining participating counties in July 1962.
Berkeley initially approved a combination of underground and elevated lines on their portion of the system, as outlined in the 1961 and 1962 plans. Downtown Berkeley station would be located underground, while both Ashby and North Berkeley were to be constructed on elevated segments. Residents eventually came to oppose this scheme in favor of one where the line would be run in a tunnel for its length. After several hearings, the city voted to tax themselves for the funds necessary to fully underground the line, to the amount of $20 million ($150 million adjusted for inflation). BART estimates that the issue added $18 million ($135 million adjusted for inflation) to construction costs and delayed completion of the system.
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History of Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit, widely known by the acronym BART, is the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was envisioned as early as 1946 but the construction of the original system began in the 1960s.
The idea of an electric rail tube under San Francisco Bay was first proposed in the early 1900s by Francis "Borax" Smith – the San Francisco Chronicle ran a front-page editorial in 1900 suggesting an electrified subway. There were also plans for a third-rail powered subway line (Twin Peaks Tunnel) under Market Street in the 1910s. A 1915 study prepared for the cities of Oakland and Berkeley called a rapid transit link between the two cities "imperative," suggesting new street railway lines or an elevated railway between the two cities. Much of BART's current coverage area was once served by the electrified streetcar and interurban train network called the Key System. This early twentieth century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The final passenger run occurred on April 20, 1958 and the entire system was soon dismantled in favor of automobiles and buses and the explosive growth of highway construction.
Proposals for the modern rapid transit system now in service began in 1946 by Bay Area business leaders concerned with increased post-war migration and growing congestion in the region. An Army-Navy task force concluded that an additional trans-bay crossing would soon be needed and recommended a tunnel; however, actual planning for a rapid transit system did not begin until the 1950s. In 1951, California's legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission to study the Bay Area's long-term transportation needs. A New York-based firm, sponsored by the commission, submitted plans for an expansive rapid transit system in 1956. The commission's 1957 final report concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a high-speed rapid rail system linking the cities and suburbs. Nine Bay Area counties were included in the initial planning commission.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District was formed by the state legislature in 1957, comprising the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Because Santa Clara County opted instead to first concentrate on its Expressway System, that county was not included in the original BART District. In 1959 a bill was passed in the state legislature that provided for the entire cost of construction of the tube to be paid for with surplus toll revenues from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. This represented a significant portion of the total cost of the system.
By 1961 a plan for the new system was sent to the boards of supervisors of each of the five counties. These plans called for three branches in the East Bay and four branches in San Francisco, meeting in a subway under Market Street and a tube under the San Francisco Bay. The East Bay branches would connect Concord in the east, Richmond in the northeast and Fremont in the southeast. On the San Francisco side, the system would branch to the south along the Peninsula to Palo Alto, to the southwest along Mission Street to Balboa Park, to Daly City in the west using the existing Twin Peaks Tunnel, and a new Geary Subway leading to the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco to Novato in the northwest.
However, on April 12, 1962, San Mateo County opted out of the district, citing high costs for the plan, existing service provided by Southern Pacific commuter trains (today's Caltrain), and concerns over shoppers leaving their county for stores in San Francisco. Marin County left the district soon thereafter in May, being forced out due to engineering objections from Golden Gate Bridge operators and fear that Marin voters would not approve the bonds, which had to win more than 60% approval.
The withdrawal led to the cancellation of the Peninsula branch and the Geary Subway. The remaining lines in San Francisco were also changed in the 1962 "Composite Report": the Market Street and Mission Street tunnels would be built and operated by BART and would be extended to Daly City, while the San Francisco Municipal Railway would operate the Twin Peaks route with streetcars remaining in the existing tunnel, and being fed into an upper level of the Market Street subway. The plan was approved by the voters of the three remaining participating counties in July 1962.
Berkeley initially approved a combination of underground and elevated lines on their portion of the system, as outlined in the 1961 and 1962 plans. Downtown Berkeley station would be located underground, while both Ashby and North Berkeley were to be constructed on elevated segments. Residents eventually came to oppose this scheme in favor of one where the line would be run in a tunnel for its length. After several hearings, the city voted to tax themselves for the funds necessary to fully underground the line, to the amount of $20 million ($150 million adjusted for inflation). BART estimates that the issue added $18 million ($135 million adjusted for inflation) to construction costs and delayed completion of the system.