ICYMI: "OK, we need a second BART transbay tube. Where would it go?"

OAKLAND, CA – With the increasingly popular topic of BART someday building a second Transbay Tube, on February 8, BART Director Zakhary Mallett wrote a follow-up to his September 7, 2014 opinion piece on the subject as a guest commentary for the San Francisco Chronicle Insight edition.

Some interests argue that a second transbay tube must go to San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) area because that is where development in the City is most active. This perspective, however, overlooks the reality that San Francisco's long-established downtown has not and will not relocate from being balanced around Market Street. In addition, relief from BART service disruptions and the prospects of 24-hour BART service both depend on duplicate tracking through BART's core area, which a SoMa alignment, by definition, cannot offer. In this follow-up piece, Mallett further-elaborates on these points.

A sample of the follow-up opinion piece follows. For the full story, visit the San Francisco Chronicle.

“There is little disagreement that a second BART transbay tube is essential for serving an ever-growing regional population and travel demand. The devil is in the details: Where does the second tube take off from the East Bay and land in San Francisco? Where does the second set of tracks go from there?

In the interest of being able to run trains around service disruptions, eventually accommodate 24-hour service and sustain BART as a regional service provider, I favor a route that mirrors existing service between downtown Oakland and San Francisco’s Market Street and a western extension via Fulton Street and 19th Avenue…”