BART Considers Constructing A Second Transbay Tube

For a lot of BART commuters, a second transbay tube couldn't come soon enough. Now, BART is taking serious steps in that direction. Phil Matier reports. (2/21/18)

[@Supreme56Animation]

The new tube should go from Oakland Jack London Square to the Transbay Terminal.

[@sylvial1985]

and tube to Embarcadero? What's the point? You want it to go through Webster & Park in Alameda, then to Civic Center, just so the old tube takes care the 3 fore busiest stations: embarcaddero / montgomery / powell.

[@davidking8472]

Sylvia Lopez it might make sense if the line kept going across into the Richmond district

[@chromebomb]

agree

[@TheTheo58]

I grew up in the Bay Area, I know how crowded Bart was during the rush hours and sporting events. Expanding the system was a good step in the right direction with the growth in the Bay Area, I moved several years ago. However a new transbay tube is years away, Perhaps Bart needs to be looking into purchasing additional trains, running closer together, to help ease the crunch on the commute.

[@charlesschirripa]

electrify caltrain, and bring bart from Fremont to san jose, dearden station. Also, run a train from Fremont, alongside the Dunbarton bridge, to El Camino real. The track and bridge are already in place.

[@johnnieburkhalter5265]

BART uses broud gauge track, which is wider than normal. it wont work with caltrain's tracks.

[@MacMyKitty]

We need a Bart in san mateo county

[@fillup40]

I won't live long enough to see it.

[@chrispybaconbruh]

@NV UT welp you two are wrong 😭

[@jayjohn9680]

If youre riding bart get life insurance!

[@alcd6333]

None of us will. It them 40 years to reach San Jose.

[@gwp1915]

@@alcd6333 Berryessa is very close to San Jose

[@ron4501]

Last time I was in Hong Kong, I was in the MTR (which is their version of BART) rushing to catch a train as the doors shut. I was late for my meeting so I was not happy that I missed the train until I looked up at the board and saw the next train was in 90 seconds! I don't understand why BART trains, even at their peak come every 15 minutes!

[@TohaBgood2]

It's the bespoke 1970's train control system. They are upgrading it now so that they can run at around 2 minute headways, so about the same as what you experienced in Hong Kong. But this won't fix the fact that the entire BART system is designed around a massive Transbay bottleneck. If you have 2 minute headways in the Transbay tunnel, that means that this is the sum of all the capacity in the rest of the lines that go through there (all except one line). This is why we need a second Transbay crossing. The new signaling system will increase headways to 2 minutes in the busiest sections, but we still need to build new track in the bottlenecked Transbay portion to have those headways everywhere else in the system.

[@lotanto6154]

15 minute is a lot on a workday. When you are trying to get home from work, you do not want to miss a train and wait 15 minutes, trust me it sucks! In SF, the BART trains going towards the Daly City direction come really often because that is where all the train lines meet up.

[@floycewhite6991]

Mass transit has only two valid purposes. (1) Money-making transportation from downtown to the airport, every day, from two hours before the first flight to two hours after the last. (2) Unprofitable mid-day weekday essential transportation for the poor, sick, young, and old. The profit from (1) will cover the losses on (2). That is, unless meddlesome know-it-alls try to force mass transit to be all things to all people, which it cannot. Long ago, BART should have been planned to circle SF Bay, going to all three airports (and not to some shuttle point). The SFO terminal building should have been designed with BART running on a lower-level floor, with the station in the very center, lengthwise, and not off to the side with a shuttle trip needed. Airport stations and the tube (and some proximate stations) should have been designed with four tracks, so that a second line could be added to serve different areas.

[@RoboJules]

MTR uses dedicated high frequency metro lines, while BART is a high speed regional express train designed like an S-Bahn with an interlined central trunk with only two tracks and a single platform. To increase frequencies on the branches, either the trunk needs more capacity, or you need to construct a new trunk.

[@Verilee1970]

It's going to be awesome, my great great great grandchildren will really love this.

[@JonnyQ408]

Wouldn’t that be great

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

If they're going to spend $15 Billion, then they should build BART as it was originally envisioned to be: Circling the Bay. Any new line should connect Downtown San Jose with Downtown San Francisco (or SFO or Milbrae). Then get rid of CalTrain or incorporate it into BART, as the regional Bay Area wide BART system. Some people postulate that it would be a waste, because you could ride the HSR from SJ to SF but for the commute times when most people ride BART, HSR would not be feasible or practical.

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

The riff raff are already in SF and have easy access to Marin County already by GGB or Ferry. But my question is: Are there going to be transgender/non-Gender specific bathrooms in the new Salesforce Transit Center? It wouldn't be a liberal utopia without spending $millions on those :)

[@davidnissim9203]

Don't get rid of Caltrain, just give it's ownership to BART and call it BART Peninsula Commute.

[@poodlescone9700]

Not possible to use Caltrain tracks for BART. The BART snowflakes decided to use different gauge tracks and the rails also transport cargo.

[@IGtyi39AL78F56]

Bart can make it's way through Peninsula and connect with the Santa Clara and San Jose line in downtown. But it doesn't have to make every stop like Caltrain does but just certain points. They will never get rid of Caltrain at all its here to stay in business. Go with the original Bart plan to connect Bart to Marin county to make a transfer station in S.F. or bring Smart rail line into the city or try to connect it with the existing future lines with High speed rail and Caltrain and future Bart lines as well and Muni Metro to. Try to see if they can bring Amtrak to the terminal to make a real transit center.

[@tinmahanb]

I Drink Legos it’s true I worked in mill valley there the worst

[@guitarsarelikestupid7200]

How about making BART 24 hours all week, all year. ??

[@karamjeetkaur1474]

no but its crowded during rush hour and the evening rush

[@californiamade5608]

That’s what this second crossing will do.

[@thecanavigator]

not possible without the second tueb

[@matthewgroza]

$200,000,000 for a STUDY??? here's a thought. lay track down the middle of 92 and cross the bay that way.

[@randomcontentgenerator2331]

@Dandan or 80

[@kap1526]

Damn you just saved them a shit load of money lol

[@milkman5894]

@@kap1526 lmao

[@williamhuang8309]

Could they increase service frequency? From 15 minutes (commuter rail frequency) to like 6 minutes (metro frequency)?

[@Mike-jv8bv]

I think they are working on it with upgraded signaling to allow the train automation to be closer

[@Cordog1111]

How long will that take to do with California environment restrictions/costs - 30 years

[@johnlambert9976]

A Bart tunnel that goes through Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Candlestick, and down into the corporate park area of South SF would be ideal. Having the cross bay tunnel go through Alameda would be great for the East Bay.

[@eggballo4490]

Instead of a 2nd Transbay tube tunnel, why not build future BART lines on the lower level of the Bay Bridge and follow the Key System's old right of way into downtown Oakland.

[@iancarisi8342]

not possible with the new bay bridge, intentional

[@Brianrockrailfan]

There should be a BART line to the north bay to !

[@adrian-ld4ji]

nobody lives in north bay lmao bart barely touches san jose and it's one of the biggest US cities...

[@poodlescone9700]

A second BART crossing should be at South San Francisco where 380 is. This would remove the bottleneck in SF and have commuter traffic move in both north and south directions.

[@bobsingh5521]

PoodleScone Straight to the Airport?

[@darrinsiberia]

The more logical tube would leave from the Fremont Area and land in Redwood City.

[@Juggernogger64]

I second this idea, redwood native here.

[@ladder3257]

there’s already at least some form of rail connection to sf from there though. caltrain/bart. meanwhile north bay is screwed with zero rail access whatsoever.

[@titodonis4455]

Alameda doesn’t need it. We need it connecting from Hayward or union city to San Mateo

[@davidnissim9203]

They should build a lower deck of the San Mateo Bridge for trains to run along. It wouldn't take as long to build, and it would cost less. Have the line start in between Hayward and South Hayward stations, then have it run on the San Mateo Bridge, and run to San Mateo. Connect it to the Millbrae station with stops at Burlingame Avenue and Broadway in Burlingame, and make a route that circles the Bay, running from Millbrae to Hayward, using the bridge, through San Mateo and Burlingame, and back to Millbrae. The San Mateo and Burlingame sections should be underground to avoid concrete eyesores limiting visibility of everything else. That tunnel should be about 3 and a half miles long or so, and won't take as long to build as a new Transbay Tube.

[@juicyfruit6311]

San Mateo pulled out of BART. That's why BART fare evaders can't be busted once BART gets into San Mateo. Jurisdiction falls to San Mateo.

[@IGtyi39AL78F56]

What about the Bay Area, Bart loop that's suppose to connect from Millbrae to San Jose when will that ever get done?

[@IGtyi39AL78F56]

@ So true on that and what about other things besides transportation and Bart like health care, wages,education, services, welfare, roads, state services, cost of living, jobs.

[@darrinsiberia]

I agree. This would allow those riding from the East Bay to stops AFTER Civic Center from having to ride on and conjest trains going to Downtown SF. Imagine riding from Hayward to San Mateo. That would also ease car congestion on the San Mateo bridge. Which is already at capacity every morning by 7 am.

[@AltDavidMiscavige]

I love how there is a SF Bay Ferry in the background of the live shot. Clean, comfortable, fast, and reasonably priced. Sure beats taking BART ⚓️

[@elgaith7626]

Fast? BART takes one from the middle of the Mission to Berkeley in under 30 minutes. Think a boat can do that?

[@jamalcole1985]

2:05 big what?

[@thepostfk]

She can't handle that at her age.

[@jamalcole1985]

@@thepostfk haha wtf

[@dtrainsss]

What's wrong with adding two more tunnels next to the existing one?

[@m.burgesszbikowski8049]

Can we lay bets on the number of cracks, now?

[@dantan1249]

Why under the water and not over? Is there a reason for this?

[@josephforbes7911]

That’s very very beneficial if done for Alameda , San Leandro, Hayward residents. Hope to see this during my lifetime 😅

[@paperchasinyabitch935]

What happened to these considerations...??? Please do 🙏

[@ryangiron9623]

build a Transbay tube along the San Mateo Bridge. you need to cut down the ones crossing from Eastbay to SF via the current route. and then have Bart extend from Millbrae to San Mateo/Foster City. also extend the service to San Jose, Stockton, Vallejo, Fairfeild, Antioch. we have a bigger population now than 10 or 20 years ago.

[@zanemarte9877]

Ryan Giron here's what has happened recently if you're not aware. The South Bay extension as we all know is split into 3 segments, the first 5.4 mile segment from the original terminus to Warm Springs opened just last year, the 10 mile segment 2 from Warm Springs to Milpitas and San Jose' Berryesa District is almost ready to open, and plans are being finalized for the final 6 mile segment that will go under Downtown San Jose and head back above ground for its final destination at Santa Clara. The Antioch extension is waiting for its service to begin as it has completed testing. Plans to go from Dublin/Pleasanton to Livermore via I-580 are coming off the ground and awaiting funds to begin accumulating. Service in Solano County is not likely going to happen, Stockton is not even part of the Bay Area, and San Mateo County service is not likely unless BART and the San Mateo county transit agency come to terms.

[@DaReS297]

I don't live in the Bay Area, so I'm not familiar with the details. But as an urban designer, I would rather suggest implementing a Bus Rapid Transit system along San Mateo Bridge. It would take away one lane of traffic in each direction, but if it ends at the closest BART stations at each end of the bridge, it's a cheap solution to transport a huge number of people very efficiently. It's not the ideal solution, but something like that can be implemented within a year, so it's perfect as a short-term solution.

[@davidnissim9203]

A new Transbay Tube would cost too much and wouldn't open in time for the population growth. The San Mateo Bridge should be converted into a double-decker bridge, with roadway on the upper level and tracks on the lower level for BART. A short extension from Millbrae to San Mateo would connect to this new bridge. That is the proper way to do it, if you ask me (New York has subway trains run on bridges for certain water crossings)

[@IGtyi39AL78F56]

All this stuff won't happen in the future of long term expensive in taxes and billions of dollars for it to go into the North Bay and even outside the Bay Area to Stockton, even if it should go to downtown Sacramento, Santa Rosa, all this is in the very long term future if they can think big on that to speed it up in it's time for more jobs and housing to come sooner.

[@darrinsiberia]

Stockton Tracy and Modesto ARE part of the Bay Area now that everyone making under 150k a year have been forced to move there and commute to service an area full of tech tards who still need their asses wiped broken pipes fixed and oil changed.

[@TheCloakedTiger]

They would need to have it as a new colored line... maybe bring back the purple line? :) And would this mean 24 hour service?

[@sidname9538]

Purple line

[@bballerryday]

Should start in Mission Bay near Chase and Oracle, similar to Coliseum, then to SF Transbay connecting to Caltrain & HSR, then to Van Ness, down Geary, then down either 19th or Sunset creating a loop around SF similar to the Yamanote line in Tokyo

[@mk3a]

Finally, something actually good

[@teneleven2818]

A year later and nothing

[@JoeRogansGutBiome]

What ever bart says, so you know you gotta multiply by 3!

[@rebeccalane7691]

I I think it's funny that this comes up during contract time

[@kevinpegram262]

That would be an awesome idea! Transbay Tube 2 should be a direct route for the Warm Springs, Fremont, and Dublin/Pleasanton lines, while Transbay Tube 1 is a direct route for the Richmond, and Antioch lines. It would also help cut down the constant clogging up the commute to SF through West Oakland, by no longer having trains sit and wait their turn for boarding, and disembark passengers at West Oakland. Especially for passengers heading to SFO to catch their flights, it would help a lot, having to deal with TSA by having to be at the airport at least 2 hours before their departure.

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

Also, the Blue and Green (sorry, I do not know how in the future those lines will be called [santa clara and Tracy lines?]) Should algo go to Millbrae. That way people can access the airport more easily.

[@bobaustralia3]

Hi as an outside observer and a bit of a fan I think I think they made a mistake in not making the the tunnel under the bay 4 tracks instead of two,

[@floycewhite6991]

Back when it would have been far, far cheaper to do so all at once, and avoid problems and scheduling with switches.

[@TheCloakedTiger]

They need to! :O

[@petiecruz2907]

You missed your opportunity when you made that train to the Oakland Airport, that was your chance, hell you could have contacted the airports with a real train and make a special line that could have had two stops in Alameda, West Oakland (Optional), to SF downtown only and made that train $5.00 more then the other lines smh.

[@williamdurham6893]

Why does thr bart always make people pass out or suufocate or siezure or blackout?

[@chasemartin4450]

Fentanyl

[@gerardorodriguez8822]

At least add another station in the alameda city if the transbay tube is going to get dug their

[@marcparella]

It's 2021...the Bay Area doesn't need it. We're either working from home or we have left for Boise.

[@kimberlygila3604]

High speed rail from San Francisco trans bay terminal to Los Angeles would be nice too to ease car congestion on roads and to help climate change. China and Spain have wonderful high speed rail even Japan has high speed rail

[@adrian-ld4ji]

JAPAN IS THE KING OF HIGH SPEED RAIL! you can literally get from the top to the bottom of the country in half a day

[@GoldenAgeSk8Video]

Kimberly Gila… “even Japan has high speed rail 🚆…” 😳 🧐 😑 uhhh, u make it sound like they’re a third world country… 🙄 🤦‍♂️ lol FAIL..

[@floycewhite6991]

So... how do I get out of downtown LA after the last High Speed Train arrives at midnight? For sure, nobody who can afford to ride it will have downtown as a final destination.

[@sweetmapleleafs]

Anytime you have these news bits that are deemed too good to be true, Phil Matier will be there to tell us it is.

[@beamreach7015]

LMAO. so toll hike or property taxes to fund it? Should we buckle down for $20 to cross the bay bridge?

[@davidnissim9203]

Then people would have more reason to take BART. Profiteering?

[@tommyboy1653]

Bart to marin and to vallejo and fairfield and vacaville california. JUST do it.

[@paulg351]

I saw this coming. It makes no sense to have another tunnel close to the existing tunnel as this would benefit mostly Oakland and Alameda residents. They should build a new tunnel from the Hayward area alongside the San Mateo Bridge connecting to Milbrae and electrify Caltrains. This would benefit to other commuters along the east and south bay region as well as ease congestion.

[@Verilee1970]

On a map, Hayward or Fremont to San Mateo makes sense. However, San Mateo County doesn't play nice and that is also the widest (9 miles) and shallowest (4'-6') parts of the bay.

[@xFactoryUSA]

Covid cut down the ridership to almost NOTHING, and they DEFINITELY do not have the revenue to maintain or add anymore. Ghost town

[@Dominator701]

They should connect it to the SMART Train as well...increase the SMART train traffic.

[@MrEricSir]

SMART is already planning to connect to the Larkspur ferry terminal. That's a good first step!

[@livefree1030]

Whos will they tax to high hell for this project?

[@williamdurham6893]

Theres like four of them isnt there.

[@bryce6744]

Make it happen SF.

[@williamhuang8309]

0:44 *laughs in london* Tokyo, Japan: *am I a joke to you?*

[@user-ti2xi9bd4u]

Damn, I will be 60 years old by then lol.

[@frankroldan7716]

Finally!!

[@diannewilson3829]

I don’t understand why they didn’t build one years ago.

[@SidewaysBurnouts]

gonna send one to fremont and hayward or too mexican over there?

[@floycewhite6991]

Too Filipino. When I lived there, TV had 7 broadcast channels in Chinese, but only one half-hour program in Tagalog.

[@steventran2120]

HAHA HOW YALL DOIN

[@mikeg3439]

I read that "...Constructing A Second Trashbay Tube". It's San Francisco, so... honest mistake IMO.

[@sidname9538]

Maybe it's just me, but why not just build more infrastructure in Freemont, Union City so people would not have to cross to the West bay?

[@SFKelvin]

This is about regional measure 3 crowding out future funding as it becomes a kickback free for all after the MTC lost half a billion in a swap deal from measure 2.

[@paulnewsom7629]

It Will Never Happen ,, The Bay Area Lost Its Can Do Attiude Along time Ago its ,,Nimby Land Now ,Also Overun 3rd World State ,,The Last Chance was in The 70s

[@imrickjamesbitch415]

They need to connect bart to vallejo and build it in a circle so it goes across 37and back down thru marin and follow 101, back across the Golden Gate Bridge connect with the sf line go to San Jose and back around to the east bay and go in a big circle and connect the whole bay they should not have stopped at millbrae it should go all the way to SJ then back around up to vallejo then like I said cross over to navato and back down 101, again that way it circles the whole bay area

[@floycewhite6991]

Makes no economic sense without a major expansion of industry and housing in Napa Valley, and the addition of a new major airport.

[@steventran2120]

Damn, I really had faith in her,

[@jayjohn9680]

An extra tube to tansport all those dead bodies. Smart move bart directors!

[@AltDavidMiscavige]

Let’s raise taxes even higher to pay for it as well 🙄

[@IGtyi39AL78F56]

Looks like it won't never happen of a 2nd transbay tube and specially on the money.

[@alcd6333]

Two-and-a half years later, nothing has happened. Typical bureaucracy: all talk, no action.

[@Brianrockrailfan]

BART should have 2 level trains !

[@JorgeRamirez-gt1lw]

Why is BART building another tube? Half the people who ride it don't pay their fares😊

[@junezilla2235]

It's 2020 and no tube yet but unfortunately a lot of coronavirus has taken over the Bay Area

[@saibau]

The new tube should have a built in train wash. the trains are filthy

[@ladder3257]

And north bay is still screwed. great.

[@kylefournier537]

HOLD UP; This system needs to FRIST, FINISH The Route too San Jose, this 5 year look ahead idea of planning is a Poor idea.

[@reeses5212]

san fransisco has a yearly budget of 12.5 BILLION dollars . 220 million dollars is chump change.

[@brianp5205]

Bring on the environmental studies and ensuing environmental lawsuits. Thanks Democrats.

[@rons479]

Now that many workers (and corporations) have realized that they can work from home, a second BART tunnel is history as passenger levels will remain depressed with less commuters.

[@michaelsmiley15]

The problem is that bart was not Designed to cary 400,000 plus passengers per day A new tube is a good idea in theory but not very Practical I would coast minimum 25 million $ There is no money for that kind of project

[@TheTheo58]

Interesting point, while I left the Bay Area over a decade ago Bart trains, station platforms, were very crowded (crush loads) during the peak travel times. Early on when the system opened in 72 the promise "everyone would have a seat" not reality. I wonder if Bart was under designed (made too small) only having two sets of tracks in each station expect for the transfer stations. or too short in length only up to ten car trains? Seems the growth of the Bay Area was not anticipated back in the early 60's and 70's more people began to use Bart. Might have been different with larger stations, (built back then) multiple sections of tracks two one direction, other two opposite etc. Long length trains.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Bart: 20 years and 20 billion dollars...hire a Chinese firm and get it done in a year

[@vxla]

except that doesn't work. nice try tho

[@854Z]

How about fixing the homeless problem first.

[@723lion]

It will be done, if it ever be, will cost $50 trillion dollars and 200 years just to complete the debate and analysis.

[@monkeydude83]

all talk no action in the bay area

[@averyjames4623]

What for? Everyone is leaving California😂

[@JorgeRamirez-gt1lw]

They are going to ruin Alameda😊

[@sidname9538]

But if your going to spend 15 billion, Just get E.Musk involved and fast track that commute to 10 minutes

[@enroute6105]

Bart is now empty. And falling apart never the less SF is too small for two lines

[@brothertspoon5899]

It’s much less than before but not empty. Also SF need 4 lines minimum. It’s is the most crowded city limits in America behind NYC only.

[@sylvial1985]

Elon Musk, bring your boring company here and start digging!n

[@KMTruth]

BART could ask the federal government for the money but rather build a wall with that money.

[@jayjohn9680]

Expect construction failures as the powers that be take tax payer money, use substandard materials... then pocket the rest. Tracks had to be replaced before.

[@roberto6756]

$200 million dollars in consulting fees to determine if it is viable is ridiculous. More bloated transportation spending. Businesses are bailing out of San Francisco.

[@andrejmarkovich7008]

There is no way..