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Civic Center/UN Plaza station

Coordinates: 37°46′47″N 122°24′49″W / 37.779861°N 122.413498°W / 37.779861; -122.413498
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Civic Center
Bay Area Rapid Transit
A BART train pulling into the station in 2022
General information
Location1150 Market Street
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°46′47″N 122°24′49″W / 37.779861°N 122.413498°W / 37.779861; -122.413498
Owned bySan Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Line(s)Market Street subway
BART M-Line
Platforms1 island platform (BART)
1 island platform (Muni Metro)
Side platforms (Muni surface)
Tracks2 wide gauge (BART)
2 standard gauge (Muni Metro)
2 standard gauge (Muni surface)
ConnectionsBus transport Muni, AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
ArchitectReid & Tarics Associates[1]
Other information
Station codeBART: CIVC
History
OpenedNovember 5, 1973 (1973-11-05) (BART)
February 18, 1980 (1980-02-18) (Muni)[2]
Passengers
20249,373 (weekday average)[3] (BART)
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station
16th Street Mission
toward Daly City
 Blue Line Powell
toward Dublin/​Pleasanton
Green Line Powell
toward Berryessa/​North San José
16th Street Mission
toward Millbrae
 Red Line Powell
toward Richmond
16th Street Mission
toward San Francisco International Airport or Millbrae
 Yellow Line Powell
toward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point
Preceding station Muni Following station
Van Ness
towards Balboa Park
 J Church Powell
towards Embarcadero
K Ingleside
Van Ness
towards SF Zoo
 L Taraval
Van Ness
towards San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park)
 M Ocean View
Van Ness
towards Ocean Beach
 N Judah Powell
towards 4th and King
Van Ness
towards West Portal
 S Shuttle Powell
towards Embarcadero
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

Civic Center/UN Plaza station (often Civic Center station) is a combined BART and Muni Metro rapid transit station in the Market Street subway in downtown San Francisco. Located under Market Street between 7th Street and 8th Street, it is named for the Civic Center neighborhood and the adjacent United Nations Plaza. The three-level station has a large fare mezzanine level, with separate platform levels for Muni Metro and BART below.

The station is served by the BART Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue lines, and the Muni Metro J Church, K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View, N Judah, and S Shuttle lines.

Station layout

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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.[4] The station has six street entrances along its length, including one entrance in UN Plaza. The surface elevator is near the center of the station; the platform elevator is at the northeast end.[4]

History

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The closed-off entrance in 2017

The BART Board approved the name "Civic Center" in December 1965.[5] BART service at the station began on November 5, 1973, followed by Muni Metro service on February 18, 1980.[6][2] 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.[7][8] Additional fare gates to allow direct connections between Muni and BART (without having to go up to the fare mezzanine) were also proposed.[8] Construction of a bike station on the mezzanine level began in December 2014; it opened in August 2015.[9][10]

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.[11] The entrance remained closed until it was permanently removed in October 2017.[12] 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.[13]

New fare gates in August 2024

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.[14] 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.[14] The southern entrance at Market and 8th was closed on May 9, 2022, for canopy installation, and reopened on April 28, 2023.[15][16] The 7th Street north entrance closed for canopy construction on April 29, 2024.[17] All canopies are planned to be complete by 2027.[15]

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.[18] In February 2020, BART began a project to add two additional staircases to the BART platform. Construction was expected to take 12 months.[19] The entrances on the southern side of the station were closed from April 13, 2020, to June 12, 2021, due to low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]

Thirteen BART stations, including Civic Center, 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 at Civic Center was installed in January 2023.[21] BART reopened a secondary station agent booth – which had been closed for over a decade – near the Civic Center entrance in February 2023.[22] Replacement of the original BART fare gates with new units took place from July 18 to August 29, 2024.[23][24]

Connections

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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:[25]

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.[25]

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.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4. OCLC 85623396.
  2. ^ a b 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. June 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Station Map: Civic Center/UN Plaza Station". Metropolitan Transportation Commission. October 29, 2018.
  5. ^ "Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay". Oakland Tribune. December 10, 1965. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (April 29, 2013). "BART station names growing unwieldy". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  8. ^ a b "CIVIC CENTER/U.N. PLAZA" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
  9. ^ "Construction begins on Civic Center Bike Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 5, 2014.
  10. ^ "Civic Center Bike Station opens in downtown San Francisco" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. August 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "Civic Center Grove Street entrance closed for repairs" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. December 6, 2016.
  12. ^ "Permanent entrance closures planned at Civic Center for traction power project" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. October 23, 2017.
  13. ^ "Civic Center entrance Hotel Whitcomb/8th & Market closed permanently 11/1/2018" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. October 15, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "SF BART and Muni Escalator/Entrance Project". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Entrance Closure Alert: Civic Center Station entrance at 8th and Market closed 5/9/22 for work on new canopy" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. May 3, 2022.
  16. ^ "BART completes construction of 3 new canopies over downtown San Francisco station entrances" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. May 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Entrance closure alert: Civic Center Station Market and 7th Street entrance temporarily closed 4/29 for canopy work" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. April 23, 2024.
  18. ^ Turner, Emily (May 21, 2018). "BART Proposes Closing Walkway Favored By Drug Users At Civic Center Station". CBS SF BayArea.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ "BART opens all entrances/exits that were previously closed due to pandemic" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 12, 2021.
  21. ^ "New Fare Gates & Station Hardening". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. July 2023. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023.
  22. ^ "BART reopens long-closed Station Agent booth at Civic Center/UN Plaza Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 24, 2023.
  23. ^ "Fare Gate replacement work to begin July 18 at Civic Center Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. July 16, 2024.
  24. ^ "New Fare Gates & Station Hardening". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 2024. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Transit Stops: Civic Center/UN Plaza Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transit Commission. August 16, 2019.
  26. ^ Better Market Street Project EIR (PDF). Vol. 1. San Francisco Planning Department. February 27, 2019. pp. 2–53.
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