Downtown Berkeley station

Downtown Berkeley
Bay Area Rapid Transit

Station platform
Location 2160 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
Coordinates 37°52′11″N 122°16′06″W / 37.869799°N 122.268197°W / 37.869799; -122.268197Coordinates: 37°52′11″N 122°16′06″W / 37.869799°N 122.268197°W / 37.869799; -122.268197
Owned by BART
Line(s)
  Richmond–​Warm Springs/South Fremont
  Richmond–​Daly City/​Millbrae
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Connections AC Transit: Routes 6, 7, 18, 51B (local); 800, 851 (All Nighter); F, FS* (Transbay)
Bear Transit: C, H, P, R, RFS
* - Route operates weekdays only
Construction
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened January 29, 1973 (44 years ago)
Previous names Berkeley (1972-1990s)
Traffic
Passengers (FY 2016) 13,748 exits/day[1] Increase 0.03%
Rank 7th busiest
Services
Preceding station   Bay Area Rapid Transit   Following station
toward Richmond
Richmond–​Daly City/​Millbrae
toward Millbrae (Daly City on Saturdays)
Richmond–​Warm Springs/South Fremont

Downtown Berkeley is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station located in Berkeley, California, United States, one of three stations in Berkeley along with Ashby and North Berkeley. It is the second-busiest BART station in the East Bay and the sixth overall, with 13,748 exits each weekday, first being 12th St. Oakland City Center, with 14,403 weekday exits.[1]

Location

Located at the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way, Downtown Berkeley station is situated near the center of the City of Berkeley. It is the primary station for those travelling to and from the University of California, Berkeley, which is one block to the east. As a result, it is also used by patrons of events taking place at the University, such as concerts or lectures, and especially football games and other athletic events, including those sponsored by the MyBART service.

Because this station is underground, there is poor cell service unless underneath the center of the station. Cell boosters have not been rolled out in the Berkeley Subway creating a dead zone from Ashby to north Berkeley.

History

Downtown Berkeley opened on January 29, 1973, as part of an extension from MacArthur to Richmond, with service southward to Fremont until the opening of the Transbay Tube and subsequent service to San Francisco later that year.[2] The station was designed by Maher & Martens of San Francisco in collaboration with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Tudor Construction, and Bechtel.[3]

In the mid-1990s, BART changed the name of the station from simply "Berkeley" to "Downtown Berkeley" in an effort to minimize confusion between this station and North Berkeley. The station is still often referred to as Berkeley in train announcements. The station has been the site of many BART Alert protests in response to occurrences on the political scene.

A station and plaza renovation project began construction on August 29, 2016.[4] The project scope includes new lighting, landscaping, drainage, paving, and bus shelters in the overground plaza of the station. The main rotunda entrance will be replaced by a glass entrance structure similar to those found in downtown Oakland.[5] The $11.2 million project is funded primarily by BART, with additional funding from the City of Berkeley, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and Alameda County. Work is expected to conclude in winter 2017. A further project to renovate the underground station interior is in the planning stages.[6]

Station layout

G Street Level Exits/Entrances,
M Mezzanine One-way faregates, ticket machines, station agent
P
Platform
level		 Northbound ←      Richmond–​Daly City/​Millbrae toward Richmond (North Berkeley)
←      Richmond–​Warm Springs/South Fremont toward Richmond (North Berkeley)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Southbound →      Richmond–​Daly City/​Millbrae toward Daly City or Millbrae (Ashby) →
→      Richmond–​Warm Springs/South Fremont toward Warm Springs (Ashby) →

Like most underground BART stations, Downtown Berkeley has two levels: a mezzanine containing the faregates and an island platform with two tracks. Access to the station is provided by five street-level entrances on Shattuck Avenue, with two at Addison Street and Allston Way each and one at the southwest corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street. The escalators at the latter are topped by an icositetragonal rotunda that covers passengers entering and leaving the station from inclement weather.

Amenities

There is also a valet bike parking facility outside the station at street level and is operated by Alameda Bicycle. It used to be placed at the top of an unused stairway from the mezzanine level to the platform below. The stairs were built so that an additional entrance could be opened if needed in the future, and had never been used by passengers.

BART windows with art of the UC botanical Garden

Entrance windows featured artwork of the UCB Botanical Garden.

Entrance to the Berkeley BART station (bottom right) as seen shortly after the station opened in 1973

Relation with other stations and ridership figures

Below is data for average weekday entries and exits between the Ashby BART and other BART stations as of January 2017.[7] The transit time and one-way trip cost is based on BART's fares and schedules booklet, last updated in February 2016, and valid as of January 2017.[8] A few notes for interpretation:

Station Code End of line? Direction from downtown Berkeley Transit time in minutes One-way trip cost (USD) Average number of weekday trips with entry at downtown Berkeley and exit at this station Average number of weekday trips with entry at this station and exit at downtown Berkeley
Richmond RM Yes Northbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 13 1.95 415 448
El Cerrito del Norte EN No Northbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 9 1.95 898 931
El Cerrito Plaza EP No Northbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 6 1.95 689 688
North Berkeley NB No Northbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 3 1.95 216 221
Downtown Berkeley BK No Same station 0 5.75 41 41
Ashby AS No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 2 1.95 377 399
MacArthur MA No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 6 1.95 393 405
19th Street Oakland 19 No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 9 1.95 514 545
12th Street Oakland City Center 12 No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 11 1.95 468 556
Lake Merritt LM No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 14 1.95 219 232
Fruitvale FV No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 16 2.30 290 272
Oakland Coliseum Station CL No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 21 2.60 141 150
San Leandro SL No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 25 3.10 170 167
Bay Fair BF No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 29 3.35 132 132
Hayward HY No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 33 3.60 146 154
South Hayward SH No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 37 3.90 78 86
Union City UC No Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 42 4.40 146 145
Fremont FM Yes Southbound, along Richmond–Fremont line 47 4.75 265 249
West Oakland OW No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 15 2.00 71 79
Embarcadero EM No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 22 4.00 1082 931
Montgomery Street MT No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 24 4.00 867 968
Powell Street PL No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 25 4.00 604 750
Civic Center / UN Plaza CC No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 27 4.00 564 740
16th Street Mission 16 No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 29 4.15 284 318
24th Street Mission 24 Sometimes Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 31 4.15 236 250
Glen Park GP No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 34 4.30 112 129
Balboa Park BP No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 36 4.40 90 112
Daly City DC Sometimes Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 40 4.50 102 107
Colma CM No Southbound, along Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line 44 4.50 37 37
South San Francisco SS No Southbound, along Richmond–Millbrae line 47 4.65 33 36
San Bruno SB No Southbound, along Richmond–Millbrae line 50 4.95 39 39
Millbrae MB Yes Southbound, along Richmond–Millbrae line 56 5.25 143 148
San Francisco International Airport SO Yes Transfer at MacArthur or San Bruno to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 55 9.55 110 191
Rockridge RR No Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 9 (+ non-timed transfer time) 1.95 61 52
Orinda OR No Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 14 (+ non-timed transfer time) 2.50 51 50
Lafayette LF No Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 19 (+ non-timed transfer time) 3.10 78 81
Walnut Creek WC No Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 24 (+ non-timed transfer time) 3.50 148 145
Pleasant Hill / Contra Costa Centre PH Sometimes Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 27 (+ non-timed transfer time at MacArthur) 3.65 170 172
Concord CN No Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 30 (+ non-timed transfer time at MacArthur) 4.05 136 138
North Concord/Martinez NC Sometimes Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 36 (+ non-timed transfer time at MacArthur) 4.25 47 49
Pittsburg / Bay Point WP Yes Transfer at MacArthur from southbound Richmond–Fremont line or Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line to northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line 42 (+ non-timed transfer time at MacArthur) 4.75 128 134
Castro Valley CV No Transfer at Bay Fair from southbound Richmond–Fremont line to Daly City-Dublin/Pleasanton Line 33 (+ non-timed transfer time at Bay Fair) 3.60 42 43
West Dublin / Pleasanton WD No Transfer at Bay Fair from southbound Richmond–Fremont line to Daly City-Dublin/Pleasanton Line 44 (+ non-timed transfer time at Bay Fair) 4.55 55 52
Dublin / Pleasanton ED Yes Transfer at Bay Fair from southbound Richmond–Fremont line to Daly City-Dublin/Pleasanton Line 46 (+ non-timed transfer time at Bay Fair) 4.70 110 107
Oakland International Airport OA Yes Transfer at Coliseum from southbound Richmond–Fremont line to the Oakland International Airport Line 29 (+ non-timed transfer time at Coliseum) 8.75 47 82
Total northbound (toward Richmond) 2218 2288
Total in Berkeley and Oakland along line to San Francisco (Ashby, MacArthur, 19th, 12th, Oakland) 1823 1984
Total transbay 4459 4644
Total along Pittsburg / Bay Point line, northward from (and including) Rockridge 819 821
Total along Fremont line, southward from (and including) Lake Merritt 1587 1587
Total exclusive to Dublin / Pleasanton line, from (and including) Castro Valley 207 202
Grand total (includes all totals above + round trips and Oakland International Airport) 11043 11762

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bay Area Rapid Transit District. "Monthly Ridership Reports". Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "BART CHRONOLOGY" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-13.
  3. ↑ Cerny, Susan (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Gibbs Smith. p. 502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4.
  4. ↑ Pao, Roann (30 August 2016). "Construction begins on Downtown Berkeley BART station plaza". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Bay Area Rapid Transit District. "Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza and Transit Area Improvement Project". Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Bay Area Rapid Transit District. "Downtown Berkeley Station Modernization". Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "Ridership Reports". Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  8. ↑ "BART Fares and Schedules" (PDF). Bay Area Rapid Transit. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
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