BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit, known by the acronym BART, is the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was envisioned as early as 1946 but the construction of the original system began in the 1960s.
Origins and planning
The idea of an underwater electric rail tube was first proposed in the early 1900s by Francis "Borax" Smith. There were also plans for a third-rail powered subway line (Twin Peaks Tunnel) under Market Street in the 1910s. Much of BART's current coverage area was once served by the electrified streetcar and interurban train network called the Key System. This early twentieth century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The final passenger …show more content…
An Army-Navy task force concluded that an additional trans-bay crossing would soon be needed and recommended a tunnel; however, actual planning for a rapid transit system did not begin until the 1950s. In 1951, California's legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission to study the Bay Area's long-term transportation needs. The commission's 1957 final report concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a high-speed rapid rail system linking the cities and suburbs. Nine Bay Area counties were included in the initial planning …show more content…
System wide projects would include the construction of three underground rail stations in Oakland's populated downtown area, four stations through San Francisco’s downtown beneath Market Street, as well as four other underground stations in other parts of San Francisco, three subterranean stations in Berkeley (which paid more to bury them, in contrast to the stations in neighboring Oakland and El Cerrito), the 3.5 mile Berkeley Hills Tunnel; and the centerpiece 3.6 mile Transbay Tube connecting Oakland and San Francisco beneath the San Francisco Bay. Constructed in 57 sections, The Tube is the world's longest and deepest immersed tunnel at a cost of $180 million and was completed in August 1969. The final ceremonial spike for the original system was placed in
Bay Area Rapid Transit, known by the acronym BART, is the main rail transportation system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was envisioned as early as 1946 but the construction of the original system began in the 1960s.
Origins and planning
The idea of an underwater electric rail tube was first proposed in the early 1900s by Francis "Borax" Smith. There were also plans for a third-rail powered subway line (Twin Peaks Tunnel) under Market Street in the 1910s. Much of BART's current coverage area was once served by the electrified streetcar and interurban train network called the Key System. This early twentieth century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The final passenger …show more content…
An Army-Navy task force concluded that an additional trans-bay crossing would soon be needed and recommended a tunnel; however, actual planning for a rapid transit system did not begin until the 1950s. In 1951, California's legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission to study the Bay Area's long-term transportation needs. The commission's 1957 final report concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a high-speed rapid rail system linking the cities and suburbs. Nine Bay Area counties were included in the initial planning …show more content…
System wide projects would include the construction of three underground rail stations in Oakland's populated downtown area, four stations through San Francisco’s downtown beneath Market Street, as well as four other underground stations in other parts of San Francisco, three subterranean stations in Berkeley (which paid more to bury them, in contrast to the stations in neighboring Oakland and El Cerrito), the 3.5 mile Berkeley Hills Tunnel; and the centerpiece 3.6 mile Transbay Tube connecting Oakland and San Francisco beneath the San Francisco Bay. Constructed in 57 sections, The Tube is the world's longest and deepest immersed tunnel at a cost of $180 million and was completed in August 1969. The final ceremonial spike for the original system was placed in