San Francisco’s top planning organization, SPUR, is getting attention with a call for quick action to build a streetcar extension to Fort Mason in time for America’s Cup races on the Bay in 2013. SPUR’s position is that with 200,000 to 1 million visitors expected every race day, it makes sense to put out the extra effort to accelerate construction of the streetcar extension from Fisherman’s Wharf to Fort Mason Center to have it ready to carry the big crowds along the waterfront.
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This is a nice idea. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to see it given the glacial pace of the approval process.
my sister called me from the alcatraz ferry terminal last year, “i give up. i’ve been on the F-line platform for nearly an hour and every train that’s come by is completely full and they’re not letting anyone on, can you come pick me and the kids up?” (City Carshare to the rescue…)
without a massive increase in service on the F-line during the Cup, i don’t think an extension would do much for spectators’ mobility other than give a false sense of hope.
Actually, that’s just what Market Street Railway is pushing for. We definitely know there’s not enough F-line service out there much of the week now. The constraint has been the number of restored streetcars, but thanks in part to our advocacy, that’s being fixed. Now the challenge is budget constraints, but we will continue our advocacy efforts, particularly for startup of the E-line from Caltrain to the Wharf along The Embarcadero, to alleviate the worst overcrowding, which is between the Wharf and the Ferry Building. We will also push for more F-line service in peak times…especially around the America’s Cup races.
Wasn’t it supposed to be the E line to be extended to fort mason? Maybe SPUR could help get the E going since it would be very important during the cup activities.
Bob, see my comment on our blog post of March 19 about the release of the Fort Mason extension draft environmental impact statement. Here’s what I said: for planning purposes, the DEIS treats the extension as part of the F-line, but the trackage could be operated as an extension of the E-line instead. It all depends on what actual ridership turns out to be. Either way, separating the northern terminals of the E and the F (one at Fort Mason, the other at the current Wharf terminal) will give Muni a good tool to adjust service along the waterfront. This is critical because, with or without America’s Cup (and I personally believe there will be more than one America’s Cup here), there’s going to be even more transit demand along The Embarcadero as attractions like Exploratorium move there.