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Pier 70: Even More Reason to Take the E-line There
The Port of San Francisco has gotten a lot more developer interest in historic Pier 70 than they expected, according to the Chronicle’s City Insider. Last fall, we outlined the value of historic streetcar service to Pier 70. We noted that Muni has already invested significant money in a partially-completed streetcar loop off the T-line that could allow the future E-line historic streetcar service to terminate near front door of Pier 70, just north of the landmark Bethlehem Steel headquarters building, pictured below, at 20th and Illinois Streets.Market Street Railway strongly believes this loop should be completed expeditiously and used as the southern E-line terminal. The current proposed terminal, which would be shared with the N-line at the Caltrain Depot, can only be used by double-end historic streetcars, of which Muni has relatively few, while the Pier 70 terminal can be used by every historic streetcar in the fleet. Adequate low-level boarding platforms already exist along the stretch of the T-line that would be shared, and the existing high-level T-line platforms can be used to board wheelchairs on E-line streetcars.The E-line streetcars would provide an attractive public transit connection between Pier 70, the fast-developing Mission Bay/UCSF neighborhood, the Giants’ ballpark, South Beach, the Ferry Building, the Barbary Coast/Golden Gateway neighborhood, the Cruise Ship terminal, Fisherman’s Wharf, and, later, Aquatic Park and Fort Mason. It would connect more National Landmark Districts than any other transit line in America. We call on Muni and the Port to work together to bring the E-line to Pier 70, increasing the value of this priceless historic district.
The Best Version of the Market Street Film Profiled on 60 Minutes
Did you see the story that was just on 60 Minutes about the now-famous “Trip Down Market Street” film? Although the film is more than a century old, a version of it with just an instrumental sound track suddenly starting spreading like wildfire
Visualize This: Modern Streetcar Service in Downtown Los Angeles
As part of an effort to bring a streetcar line to Downtown Los Angeles, two LA filmmakers produced this tidy little video. It extols the economic and social benefits of streetcar service, and provides nifty computer-generated visualizations of what modern streetcars might look like operating in downtown LA. As an added bonus, the introduction to the video includes some nice historic footage of LA’s streetcar fleet before it was abandoned in 1963:Here’s the complete video:
Truth about the “Trip Down Market Street” video on You Tube
How does a video suddenly “go viral” after more than a century? Amazingly, we’re hearing from people all over the world, asking about a video (or more accurately, a film) made on Market Street that has gained 1,100,000 views on You Tube at this writing. Here’s the You Tube version — but it’s only a shadow of what we have.
Video: How to Replace a Streetcar Railbed (In 56 Hours)
Over the course of a few days last weekend, Muni replaced a large section of streetcar railbed around the intersection of 18th and Church streets near Dolores Park in San Francisco.
The project is part of the J Church Improvement Project, but the vintage streetcars of the F Line will benefit as well, as they too traverse this stretch of rail while traveling to and from their base camp at the Geneva Yard.
Happily, a few amateur infrastructuralists were on hand document the work, and it’s interesting stuff to see. Apart from the photos above, one neighbor also produced a short video of the project, which you can watch here:
Sunday Streets Returns to the Waterfront this Sunday
A large group of pedestrians and cyclists gathered during Sunday Streets when it expanded into the Mission District last year. Jamison Wieser photo.
Milano Nocturne
Muni tries to pull its Milan “Peter Witt” trams in from F-line service by 9:00pm because of community complaints about their noise. No such restrictions in their hometown. Check out this incredible parade of various Milan trams, from twins of Muni’s Milanos to the latest seven-truck supertram.
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