The Bay Area Core Capacity Transit Study (CCTS) was a collaborative effort to find and prioritize investments that will improve travel on public transportation to and from the San Francisco Core.
What was the study about?
The study was a joint effort of five transit operators: BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain, and the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, in coordination with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).
Every day, transit operators move hundreds of thousands of people into and out of San Francisco’s Core, which includes portions of the Financial District, South of Market (SoMa), Mid-Market and Mission Bay neighborhoods. Facing increasingly crowded conditions as the region and transit ridership continues to grow, our transit system is challenged to deliver quality service to riders both now and in the future.
The five transit operators are all committed to identifying investments and improvements to increase transit capacity to the San Francisco Core. All of these operators are independently considering various improvements and investments to their respective systems (see the full list of prerequisite projects), and this study is the first to date to bring the major transit operators together to address this regional issue in a comprehensive, coordinated manner.
The study’s findings and recommendations will support sustainable economic growth and improve the quality of life for the region’s residents, visitors and workforce.
Study Area and Networks of Focus
The CCTS Study Area included two primary transit corridors: the Transbay Corridor and the San Francisco Metro Corridor.
The Transbay Corridor focused on investments to transport commuters on BART, AC Transit and WETA from the East Bay, and it explored potential new connections across the Bay. The San Francisco Metro Corridor focused on Muni’s light rail and bus network, Caltrain’s peninsula service to San Francisco, and BART service through the southern neighborhoods of San Francisco.
Planning Horizons
The study looks at short-, medium-, and long-term investments that could help steadily upgrade the overall transportation system and keep pace with anticipated population growth for the next quarter century. As an important step toward funding and implementation, the projects developed and prioritized through the Core Capacity Transit Study have been incorporated into the full list of priorities for the nine-county region in Plan Bay Area 2040, the region’s long-term transportation and land-use plan.
- February 2017 Workshop Materials: Presentation, Evaluation Criteria, San Francisco Metro Short and Medium Term Packages, Transbay Short and Medium Term Packages, and Long Term Options
- Plan Bay Area Public Workshops: Problem and Solutions Poster Board
- Technical Advisory Committee, May 2016 Meeting: Project Update Presentation
- Technical Advisory Committee, October 2015 Meeting: Project Update Presentation
- Technical Advisory Committee, May 2015 Meeting: Project Update Presentation
Over the course of the study, the Core Capacity team has shared presentations and documents:
Summary Materials:
- Briefing Book: A detailed description of the key trends and challenges facing the system
- Project Synopsis: A concise summary of trends and challenges
- Fact Sheet: An overview of the study’s purpose, sponsors, and schedule
- List of Prerequisite Projects
Transbay:
- Transbay Problem Statement: A synthesis of the trends and challenges that the study aims to address in the transbay corridor
- Transbay Capacity and Demand Summary: A detailed review of ridership trends and a description of methodologies used to forecast future demand in the corridor and categorize planned capacity-increasing projects (“prerequisites”)
- Initial Engineering Study Memo and Appendix: Initial review of potential transbay crossing landing locations and review of potential tunneling techniques and technologies
San Francisco Metro:
- San Francisco Metro Problem Statement: A synthesis of the trends and challenges that the study aims to address in the SF Metro corridor
- San Francisco Metro Capacity and Demand Summary: A detailed review of ridership trends and a description of methodologies used to forecast future demand in the five San Francisco Metro sub-corridors and categorize planned capacity-increasing projects (“prerequisites”)
Market Assessments:
- Oakland Market Assessment: An analysis of real estate market conditions, trends, and development capacity in central Oakland
- San Francisco Market Assessment: An analysis of real estate market conditions, trends, and development capacity in the San Francisco Core.
The CCTS was established through commitments by seven Bay Area agencies and is also supported by a U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant. The seven partner agencies are:
- Lead agency: Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
- Transit operators: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Alameda-Contra Costa Transit (AC Transit), the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), and Caltrain
- Funding and planning partner: San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA)
Questions or Ideas? Contact the Study Team: Matt Maloney: mmaloney@bayareametro.gov, (415) 778-5220