The Transbay Terminal, was a transportation complex in San Francisco. It opened on January 14, 1939 as a train station and was converted into a bus depot in 1959. The structure was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, necessitating replacement. In 1995, Caltrain conducted a study considering whether the obsolete Transbay Terminal should be removed, remodeled, or rebuilt. Ultimately, it was decided that the Transbay Terminal should be rebuilt.
During the re-build it was necessary to re-direct commuters to a new Temporary Terminal for all transit bus services in San Francisco, allowing demolition of the existing terminal and construction of the new Transbay Center. Located just a few minutes walk from the former Terminal, the Temporary Terminal provided service to more than 20,000 people daily. Although temporary in nature, the facility was thoughtfully designed and landscaped to be an attractive and welcoming gateway to San Francisco.
The Temporary Terminal’s white canopies and clusters of palm trees provide an inviting and refreshing environment in the heart of the Transit Center District neighborhood. It also has interwoven beautiful, landscaped areas with necessary components of a modern transit facility bus terminal, such as real-time transit information signs and fare vending machines. The Temporary Terminal was named the “2011 Transportation Project of the Year” by the San Francisco Bay Area Institute of Transportation Engineers.
The new Transbay Salesforce Transit Center broke ground on August 11, 2010. US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom attended the ceremony. Dubbed by many as the “Grand Central Station of the West”, the Transbay Transit Center connects eight Bay Area Counties through 11 transportation systems. The project provided for 100,000 square feet of retail space and a 5.4 acre rooftop park that will include restaurants, a café, a playground and an amphitheater for concerts and live performances.
As a 1,400 foot long rooftop park, it was quite an undertaking to accomplish this project. Not only is it a lovely public space for everyone to enjoy, the featured landscaping consists of plants from around the world. Much like the city of San Francisco itself, the diversity of the area is reflected in the variety of plants and species from different Mediterranean climates, such as a Chilean Garden, South African Garden, Australian Garden, etc. Along the walkway a water feature notifies visitors when a bus has arrived at the station down below.
Lake Merritt