Civic Center/UN Plaza station

Civic Center
Civic Center
BART train at Civic Center/UN Plaza station in 2018
Location	1150 Market Street San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°46′47″N 122°24′49″W / 37.779861°N 122.413498°W / 37.779861; -122.413498Coordinates: 37°46′47″N 122°24′49″W / 37.779861°N 122.413498°W / 37.779861; -122.413498
Line(s)	Market Street Subway
Platforms	2 island platforms (one for BART, one for Muni)
Tracks	2 wide gauge (BART) 2 standard gauge (Muni Metro) 2 standard gauge (Muni surface)
Connections	AC Transit Golden Gate Transit Kaiser Shuttle Yellow Line
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	November 5, 1973 (BART) February 18, 1980 (Muni)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (FY 2016)	23,564 exits/day[2]
Services
Preceding station   Bay Area Rapid Transit   Following station 16th Street Mission toward Millbrae (Daly City on Saturdays) Richmond–​Daly City/​Millbrae Powell Street toward Richmond 16th Street Mission toward Daly City Dublin/​Pleasanton–​Daly City Powell Street toward Dublin/​Pleasanton 16th Street Mission toward SFO (Millbrae on weeknights & weekends) Antioch–​SFO/​Millbrae Powell Street toward Antioch via Pittsburg/Bay Point 16th Street Mission toward Daly City Warm Springs/South Fremont–​Daly City Powell Street toward Warm Springs/​South Fremont Muni Metro Van Ness toward Balboa Park J Church Powell toward Embarcadero Van Ness toward Wawona and 46th Avenue L Taraval Van Ness toward San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park) M Ocean View Van Ness toward West Portal S Shuttle Van Ness toward Balboa Park K Ingleside Powell One-way operation Van Ness One-way operation T Third Street Powell toward Sunnydale Van Ness toward Judah and La Playa N Judah Powell toward 4th and King / Caltrain Muni heritage railway Market and 9th Street / Market and Larkin toward 17th Street and Castro F Market & Wharves Market and 6th Street / Market and Taylor toward Jones and Beach

Civic Center/UN Plaza is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni Metro station in the Civic Center of San Francisco. The westernmost of the dual BART/Muni stops on the Market Street Subway, Civic Center/UN Plaza acts as a major hub for passenger movement throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. With 18,432 exits each weekday, it is the fourth-busiest station in the BART system.

History

Service at this station began on November 5, 1973.^[3]

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

Canopy construction in May 2018

Like the three other shared BART/Muni stations in the Market Street Subway, Civic Center station has three levels: a fare mezzanine on the first level, an island platform for Muni Metro on the second level, and an island platform for BART on the third level. As with the other three stations, Civic Center was built with six entrances – three on each side of Market Street – leading to the fare concourse. A passageway to two additional entrances west of 8th Street and Hyde Street was opened later.^[6] One of those entrances, on the north side of Market Street, was temporarily closed in December 2016 after a sewer pipe collapsed under the escalators.^[7]

In August 2017, BART announced that both entrances would likely be permanently closed, as the passageway space is needed for a new electrical substation to increase Transbay Tube train frequency. The six original entrances (all of which are significantly closer to the faregates) will remain open.^[8] The concourse has two BART fare payment areas and two Muni fare payment areas.^[6]

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.^[9] 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 an expected construction time of seven months. The remaining station entrances will have similar canopies added beginning in 2019.^[9]

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.^[10]

See also

• List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations

References

External links

Media related to Civic Center/UN Plaza station at Wikimedia Commons

• BART - Civic Center/UN Plaza