City Releases Initial Report on Subway Master Plan Called for by Supervisor Wiener
Report delivered by City transportation agencies shows initial analysis to create comprehensive subway network in San Francisco. Public feedback will be sought before final report delivered at the end of the year
San Francisco — Today the at Land Use and Transportation Committee, City transportation agencies delivered a presentation on their work to create a Subway Master Plan. Supervisor Scott Wiener called for the development of the Subway Master Plan last year, and authored an ordinance requiring the policy be developed. At the hearing, the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) presented the initial findings — which they have called the Subway Vision — that they have been developing over the last year. A final report will be delivered later this year.
To see more about the project and the presentation from today, go to http://connectsf.org/components/subway-vision/
“Our transportation future requires us think big and act boldly, and planning for a future of subways in San Francisco will help us do that,” said Supervisor Wiener. “If we don’t take action, our already gridlocked streets will become even more crowded and unbearable. Too many of our neighborhoods, particularly in the outer areas, suffer from slow transportation service due to our over reliance on surface systems. We can begin the work now to build a better transportation system for everyone who lives in San Francisco.”
At the hearing, the MTA and the SFCTA previewed both technical analysis and the results of public outreach on where the ideal locations for new subways in San Francisco would be based on what San Francisco will look like in 2040. The analysis focused on looking at placing subways into different corridors throughout the City, and how that would affect travel time and service reliability. The benefits of a subway system were found to include travel time savings, reliability improvements, increased ridership, enhanced accessibility, and low-income rider benefit. The analysis showed significant benefit for subways in many areas, including the following locations:
- A line running north/south through the southeast part of the City, where massive new developments like the Shipyard at Candlestick Point will increase population density
- A line running from east/west downtown along Geary between downtown and the Outer Richmond
- A line running east/west from the Sunset to the South of Market area
All of these lines showed potential reductions for residents of around 100 hours or more of travel time per year, especially for those on the outer ends of the lines. Other lines that were reviewed and highlighted included extending the Central Subway north to Fisherman’s Wharf, and running a subway line down 19th Avenue.
The City agencies will now take feedback from the Supervisors, and from the public, and go back to write a final report that will be submitted by the end of the year. This report will be used in conjunction with the larger ConnectSF program, which is a project run by the City that is looking holistically at San Francisco’s transportation future. To learn more about ConnectSF, go to ConnectSF.org.
Supervisor Wiener authored the ordinance last year requiring the City to develop a Subway Master Plan with a goal that San Francisco expand its inadequate subway system. Currently San Francisco has two subways — a short subway under Market Street for Muni and a BART subway that runs down Market Street to the Mission and to Daly City. Most of San Francisco has no subway access at all. A second Muni subway tunnel, the Central Subway, is under construction and will be open in 2019. Last year, Supervisor Wiener wrote an opinion piece on the need for more subways in San Francisco called San Francisco Should Always Have a Subway Under Construction.
