Construction starts on the building that will be immediately adjacent to MTC's new digs.
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Man and machine work in tandem to carve out the inside of 375 Beale Street in San Francisco — the new regional headquarters that MTC will soon occupy — to create a natural light-filled atrium.
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Dignitaries' cars follow police motorcycles across the new span shortly after the ribbon cutting.
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Like a flock of birds, the California Highway Patrol cruises along the new span in v-formation.
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Traffic streaks across the new East Span on opening night, creating a fiery glow.
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Dramatic fog cloaks the old and new East Spans.
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Dramatic fog cloaks the new East Span before it opens for traffic.
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Dramatic fog cloaks the new East Span before it opens for traffic.
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Berkeley Mayor and MTC Commissioner Tom Bates climbs aboard a bike on Bike to Work Day.
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MTC Commissioner and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates shows off a shiny City Car Share vehicle during the launch of goBerkeley, an innovative pilot promoting alternative transportation modes.
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Crews install one of 19 jet fans that ensure the Caldecott Fourth Bore and its motorists will be protected in the case of a fire.
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MTC Commissioner and San Francisco Supervisor David Campos salutes bystanders on Bike to Work Day
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A trucker hauling loads of salt rolls up for a routine inspection at the renovated Cordelia Junction scale site.
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The updated and sleek Cordelia Junction truck inspection facility on Interstate 80 in Solano County is showcased a few months after opening.
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MTC Commissioner and Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd snagged a signature Bike to Work Day tote bag at an energizer station.
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Construction on the Presidio Parkway, with the Golden Gate as a backdrop
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Remains of the old Doyle Drive viaduct sit in front of the new Presidio Parkway structure.
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MTC goes back to the future by installing a newly made old-fashioned mechanical flap sign at the San Francisco Ferry Building.
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Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom zips across the Bay Bridge in a vintage vehicle after the ceremonial chain-cutting on Labor Day.
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Construction debris on the old span, framed by the new span and a beautiful sunset
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construction activity
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The young artists who designed the Art Deco medallions that grace the portals of the new Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore pose by their concrete masterpieces at the fabrication facility in Gilroy.
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The Caldecott Fourth Bore passes muster in its fire safety test before it opens to eastbound Highway 24 traffic earlier than anticipated.
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One of the Caldecott Fourth Bore medallions’ young artists takes a joyful leap in the tunnel before it opens to traffic.
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The Caldecott Fourth Bore’s very first motorists leave behind colorful traffic trails.
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MTC Commissioner and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan embraces the sons of late cycling activist Alexander Zuckermann, namesake of the new East Span bike path, at its grand opening.
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The past and the future intersect in Karl Nielsen's sunset shot of the old and new Bay Bridges, on the cusp of the Labor Day Opening of the new East Span.
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A party atmosphere prevails when the Alexander Zuckermann Bike Path opens the day after Labor Day to cyclists and pedestrians eager to experience the eco-friendly side of the East Span.
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In a flaming homage to the original Bay Bridge opening ceremony in 1936, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, alongside MTC Commissioner and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, takes torch to chain to officially open the new East Span on Labor Day.
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The Bay Bridge toll plaza gets a makeover ahead of the opening of the new East Span.
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Environmentally conscious high school students from all over the nine-county Bay Area devote a Saturday to sustainability at the very first Youth for the Environment and Sustainability conference (YES), held at MTC.
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The atrium is cut out of several floors in the new building at 375 Beale
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Environmentally conscious high school students from all over the nine-county Bay Area devote a Saturday to sustainability at the very first Youth for the Environment and Sustainability conference (YES), held at MTC.
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Kurt Schwabe captured the abandoned buildings and mossy boatyard at San Francisco’s Central Waterfront while trekking the entirety of the Bay Trail in June.
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A black-crowned night heron stood proud over the shallow waters off Oakland’s Tidewater Avenue dock, where Bay Trail Trekker Kurt Schwabe spent a sunny June morning.
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The Left Coast Lifter, the massive crane barge responsible for most of the heavy lifting on the new Bay Bridge East Span, departs for New York, signaling the end of an era in the Bay Area and ushering in a new year.
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Ironworker lance-cutting the temporary trusses that were used to install the OBG of the SAS Bridge
Credit
Martin Chandrawinata
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Ironworker lance-cutting the temporary trusses that were used to install the OBG of the SAS Bridge
Credit
Martin Chandrawinata
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A worker adds finishing touches to the East Span against the backdrop of the late summer sky.
Credit
Martin Chandrawinata
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Moonlighting as a photographer, East Span engineer Martin Chandrawinata scaled the catwalk and braved the bowels of the deck to capture crews working day and night to complete the new bridge. Here he photographs a fellow worker from above.
Credit
Martin Chandrawinata
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New East Span lights are tested in advance of the bridge opening.
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As the East Span heads toward completion, construction crews carefully dismantle the temporary catwalks.
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San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee dons a helmet and takes a Bay Area Bike Share vehicle for its inaugural spin.
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During the Bay Bridge closure leading up to the East Span's grand opening, crews began demolishing 1,000 feet of the old span, making way for the new Oakland Touchdown connection.
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MTC and ABAG board members pledge allegiance to the flag at the outset of the Plan Bay Area adoption meeting.
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MTC and ABAG adopt Plan Bay Area, the long-range regional transportation and land-use strategy, in the late-night hours on July 18, concluding months of development and a seven-hour meeting that packed a room at the Oakland Marriot.
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A cyclist sweetens the commute on Bike to Work Day.
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MTC Commissioner and San Francisco Supervisor Scott Weiner leads the pack over the steep San Francisco hills on Bike to Work Day.
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A bouquet de bicycle on Bike to Work Day.
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A dramatically lighted section of the new East Span
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The new East Span undergoes a last-minute lighting test to ensure that it would shine during its big moment.
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The new East Span undergoes a last-minute lighting test to ensure that it would shine during its big moment.
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The new, bearded troll grasps an ironworker's mallet and torch in lieu of his famed predecessor's wrench.
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Cables form a canopy above the East Span, pictured here during its final hours sans traffic.
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Commuters clamor for a casual carpool at the San Francisco pick-up site as the BART strike shuts down service system-wide.
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MTC is represented by Commissioners Amy Worth (third from left) and Scott Weiner (third from right) as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee cuts the Bay Area Bike Share ribbon, unleashing the mint-colored fleet in five cities.
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The cables of the new Bay Bridge East Span frame an America’s Cup sailboat as it races to the finish line.
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Late at night, crews install guideways above Interstate 880 for the Oakland Airport Connector, an aerial extension of BART between BART's Oakland Coliseum station and the airport. The project is slated for completion in fall 2014.
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The famous Port of Oakland cranes against an amber sunset from the balcony of MTC's headquarters.
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The East Span-to-be is illuminated by LED fixtures and the San Francisco sunset.
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A view down the temporary catwalks from the SAS tower.
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Kurt Schwabe, itching to begin his month-long hike around the Bay, poses with MTC Commissioner Ann Halsted and his box of Bay Trail maps — a crucial tool along with his MTC-supplied Clipper card.
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The Bay Bridge got a changing of the guards when the famous steel troll – rescued from its post on the old East Span – made way for its successor.
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Construction marches along on the Transbay Transit Center, a transportation hub destined to be the Bay Area’s counterpart to New York City's Grand Central station. Nine separate transit systems will serve the state-of-the-art building.
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A deceptively diminutive construction worker gives a sense of scale of the massive Transbay Transit Center.
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With this compilation we look back on the major events of 2013 through the lens of photography, presenting a colorful representation of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s busy and fruitful year. MTC was financier and coordinator for two major construction projects that came to fruition in 2013 after years of planning and labor. Topping off a decade-long journey that involved a gathering of parts from multiple continents, the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic on Labor Day. The sleek white self-anchored suspension span is the largest of its kind in the world and provides unobstructed views of the illuminated San Francisco skyline and the signature hills of the East Bay. Photographers climbed the catwalks, drove on the decks and circled the bridge from above to capture the Bay Area’s newest icon from many vantage points. In November, the Fourth Bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, connecting Alameda and Contra Costa counties, welcomed its first vehicles, easing up the congestion that had plagued this gateway for years. While the tunnel doesn’t have the dramatic architectural features of the East Span, its kid-designed medallions and fiery streaks of traffic at dusk made for some striking photographs as well. Cyclists had just as much to celebrate as motorists in 2013, with the debut of the East Span’s bicycle/pedestrian path and the kick-off of the very first regional bike-sharing network in August. The MTC-financed and sponsored Bay Area Bike Share spread its mint-colored fleet across five cities and is already gearing up for expansion in 2014. This summer also saw the adoption of Plan Bay Area, MTC and ABAG’s long-range sustainability strategy that fosters a healthy and livable environment for all Bay Area residents — which are projected to number 9 million by 2040. In the midst of all the excitement, one man set out to explore as much of the Bay Area as he could by foot, chronicling its ecological diversity with his camera and a daily blog. Kurt Schwabe trekked the entirety of the Bay Trail (or at least the 300-plus miles that currently circle the Bay) in June, arriving at the trailheads via the region’s stellar public transit networks and using the MTC-sponsored Clipper® fare card as his passport. A selection of his stunning snapshots are included in our photographic year-end round-up. This collection trains a spotlight on the natural beauty, advanced infrastructure and forward thinking that give the nine-county Bay Area its special regional identity.