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139-635: The San Francisco Transbay Terminal was a transportation complex in San Francisco, California , United States, roughly in the center of the rectangle bounded north–south by Mission Street and Howard Street , and east–west by Beale Street and 2nd Street in the South of Market area of the city. It opened on January 14, 1939 as a train station and was converted into a bus depot in 1959. The terminal mainly served San Francisco's downtown and Financial District , as transportation from surrounding communities of

278-519: A "wing" logo featuring the same colors. After its inception, the first new AC Transit orders were for GM New Look buses , which the agency advertised as "Transit Liners". AC Transit began New Look operation in late 1960. AC Transit would continue to operate a mixed fleet of buses throughout the 1960s. AC Transit also pioneered the use of articulated buses in the United States; in March 1966 it

417-485: A $ 16.5 million bond issue in 1959 enabling the District to buy out the failing privately owned Key System Transit Lines. In October 1960, AC Transit's service began. The new District built up the bus fleet with 250 new “transit liner” buses, extended service into new neighborhoods, created an intercity express bus network, and increased Bay Bridge bus service. Numerous AC Transit routes were modified in 1972–73 to serve

556-442: A 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower , a large red and white radio and television transmission tower reaching 1,811 ft (552 m) above sea level. The nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, although neither physically passes through the city itself. The San Andreas Fault caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on

695-651: A Transbay Replacement for BART service when BART is not running, connecting Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Oakland, and Richmond with San Francisco's Central Business District along Market Street, as well as the Inner Mission and SoMa neighborhoods. Several "Early Bird" Transbay Lines run only on early weekday mornings to substitute for early morning BART rail service while BART is undergoing construction, connecting commuters in Contra Costa Centre, Dublin, Fremont, Oakland, Pittsburg, and San Leandro with

834-623: A common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google . The early 2020s featured an exodus of tech companies from Downtown San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggles with homelessness and public drug use. Although some observers have raised the possibility that office vacancies and declining tax revenues could cause San Francisco to enter an economic doom loop , other sources have refuted this broad-based characterization of

973-647: A flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners," as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia , raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of wealth was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships , saloons , and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to

1112-458: A fort on Alcatraz Island to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850. Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to Divisadero Street and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of

1251-484: A gourmet marketplace. San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb , Trewartha : Csll), characteristic of California's coast, with moist winters and dry summers. San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the water of San Francisco Bay to the north and east. This moderates temperature swings and produces

1390-495: A higher-capacity bus; once the specification had been written, two prototypes would be built and tested to select a winner for a large group procurement of 100 buses to keep per-unit costs low. Two European-built articulated buses were tested in the summer of 1974: a Volvo B58 , and a MAN SG 192  [ de ] . Riders received the M.A.N. bus favorably, and the specification was released for bid in 1975; AC Transit placed an order for 30 buses in 1976 and deliveries began from

1529-566: A large African American population after World War II . The Western Addition is usually divided into smaller neighborhoods including Hayes Valley , the Fillmore , and Japantown , which was once the largest Japantown in North America but suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The Western Addition survived the 1906 earthquake with its Victorians largely intact, including

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1668-656: A light rail and bus network , in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with the wider region. San Francisco, which is Spanish for "Saint Francis," takes its name from Mission San Francisco de Asís , which in turn was named after Saint Francis of Assisi . The mission received its name in 1776, when it was founded by the Spanish under the leadership of Padre Francisco Palóu . The city has officially been known as San Francisco since 1847, when Washington Allon Bartlett , then serving as

1807-594: A loop in front of the building; all services were eventually rerouted here in 1941. By November 1940, the Interurban Electric Company was seeking permission to abandon East Bay service, prompting Director Clark to consider proposals for the state to assume operation of trains across the bridge. The SP and Sacramento Northern trains ceased service across the Bay in 1941 only two years after the Terminal

1946-599: A magnet for America's counterculture movement . Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s. Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love . In 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement , with

2085-524: A newsstand, and a state police office until the 1990s, when the tenants were either evicted or unable to meet safety regulations. Because the Terminal straddled First and Fremont streets, the large overpass structures and lobby spaces unofficially served to shelter numerous homeless people. Even after demolition commenced, several Transbay Terminal residents refused to move, preferring instead to sleep next to demolition debris. On January 30, 1986, four underground storage fuel tanks were excavated and removed from

2224-440: A port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. Its 1847 population was said to be 459. The California gold rush brought

2363-424: A regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city constructed an auxiliary water supply system and has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction. However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage. USGS has released

2502-465: A remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation. AC Transit Buses operate out of four operating divisions: Emeryville, East Oakland (Seminary), Hayward, and Richmond. The Operations Control Center is in Emeryville. The Richmond operating division closed in 2011, but opened again in early 2017 due to a revived economy. The District is the public successor to

2641-603: A significant portion of the Comstock Lode 's gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years. He founded the Bank of California , the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in

2780-465: A spacious public park, resulting in plans for Golden Gate Park . San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The Presidio developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast. By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth-largest city in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco

2919-534: A temporary closure of the new center. It occupied the city block bounded by Howard, Main, Folsom, and Beale Streets. The Temporary Transbay Terminal initially ceased operations on August 12, 2018, with the opening of the new Salesforce Transit Center, only to be reopened weeks later, on September 25, 2018, following the discovery of support beam cracks at the Salesforce Transit Center. By December 5, 2018, Clipper card kiosks were reinstalled at

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3058-541: A thorough set of repairs and reviews, the transit center reopened to the public on August 11, 2019, nearly one year after its closure. In 2018, real estate developers submitted proposals to demolish the Temporary Terminal and replace it with affordable housing and a park, but with the permanent transit center still closed for repairs at that time, the future of that proposed project was not known. San Francisco, California San Francisco , officially

3197-545: A total of 21.9 million visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods , its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog , and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , and Alcatraz . The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco ,

3336-484: A wave of " Manhattanization " that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown. The 1980s also saw a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the city, an issue that remains today, despite many attempts to address it. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in

3475-487: Is a 60-foot articulated bus, and 5 battery electric buses from New Flyer. AC Transit is funded with a mix of federal, state, and local government subsidies, as well as passenger fares. In March 2004, voters throughout the San Francisco Bay Area approved Regional Measure 2 , which funds regional transportation capital and operating programs through a US$ 1.00 surcharge on State-owned bridges operated by

3614-494: Is essentially their original form, but most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek , have been partially or completely culverted and built over. Since the 1990s, however, the Public Utilities Commission has been studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks. An Historical Center of San Francisco monument, where the 1899–1906 City Hall was once located,

3753-408: Is gone." Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed. Amadeo Giannini 's Bank of Italy , later to become Bank of America , provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address

3892-583: Is in United Nations Plaza , at 37°46′48″N 122°24′49″W  /  37.7800397°N 122.4135943°W  / 37.7800397; -122.4135943 The earliest center of San Francisco is Portsmouth Square , in the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. Here in the northeast quadrant, the Financial District is centered, with Union Square , the principal shopping and hotel district, and

4031-613: Is not party to the lawsuit, and the court sided with MTC in 2009. In November 2008, voters approved Measure VV, which increased the parcel tax by US$ 48 annually for 10 years beginning 1 July 2009, to help fund AC Transit services. Measure VV also extended the US$ 48 parcel tax approved under Measure BB so a total US$ 96 annual tax is effective through 30 June 2019. AC Transit also offers wireless internet on many buses that serve Transbay lines. These buses can be distinguished by their all-green livery, padded "commuter" seats, and Wi-Fi logos near

4170-732: The BATA . (The Golden Gate Bridge is owned and operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District .) In November 2004, voters approved Measure BB, which increased the parcel tax from US$ 24 to US$ 48 annually for 10 years beginning 1 July 2005, to help fund AC Transit services. In April 2005, a federal class-action lawsuit was filed against the Metropolitan Transportation Commission alleging that it discriminates against AC Transit's primarily minority riders by giving AC Transit disproportionately less money than BART and Caltrain . AC Transit

4309-638: The Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma and the beginning of the U.S. Conquest of California , American forces from the USS Portsmouth under the command of John B. Montgomery captured Yerba Buena on July 9, 1846, with little resistance from the local Californio population, raising the American flag over Yerba Buena plaza (later renamed Portsmouth Square in commemoration of this event). Following

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4448-578: The California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California. San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina , Mission Bay , and Hunters Point , as well as large sections of the Embarcadero , sit on areas of landfill . Treasure Island was constructed from material dredged from the bay as well as material resulting from

4587-633: The City and County of San Francisco , is a commercial, financial , and cultural center within Northern California . With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose . It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula , making it

4726-501: The Marina and South of Market districts and precipitated the demolition of the damaged Embarcadero Freeway and much of the damaged Central Freeway , allowing the city to reclaim The Embarcadero as its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated

4865-649: The Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate , and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi . The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in

5004-501: The Tenderloin nearby. Cable cars carry riders up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill , once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to the waterfront tourist attractions of Fisherman's Wharf , and Pier 39 , where many restaurants feature Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill , a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street ; North Beach ,

5143-1197: The University of San Francisco , San Francisco State University , the San Francisco Conservatory of Music , the de Young Museum , the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the San Francisco Symphony , the San Francisco Ballet , the San Francisco Opera , the SFJAZZ Center , and the California Academy of Sciences . Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors , play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while

5282-658: The VTA Orange Line light rail service at the Milpitas Transit Center . Some routes also connect with commuter rail and regional rail services, including the ACE commuter rail service at the Fremont–Centerville station and Amtrak 's California Zephyr , Capitol Corridor , Coast Starlight , and San Joaquins services. AC Transit routes also connect with several other bus systems in

5421-614: The 150 First Street site. Each of these tanks had a capacity of 1,000 gallons (Earth Metrics, 1989). Eight soil samples showed the existence of total petroleum hydrocarbons in levels ranging from 20 to 9,000 parts per million . On February 3, 1986, the excavation was backfilled. The City and County of San Francisco, the Alameda – Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), and the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board ( Caltrain ) proposed to replace

5560-466: The 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate. In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. East of

5699-462: The AM General/M.A.N. joint venture in 1978. For its rigid buses, AC Transit continued purchasing GM New Look buses through the early 1970s, then switched to purchasing Flxible New Look buses starting in 1974. Since the early 1980s, AC Transit began acquiring buses from Flyer , Neoplan , and Gillig . Around this time, AC Transit began ordering new buses in a "stripe" color scheme, featuring

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5838-677: The Ballard/ XCELLSiS ZEbus (a New Flyer F40LF with a Ballard fuel cell) in November 1999. Three hydrogen-powered buses, based on the Van Hool A330, operated in revenue service from 2006 to 2010. AC Transit took delivery of 12 additional third-generation fuel cell buses, based on the Van Hool A300L in 2011. In 2019, AC Transit began operating 11 additional hydrogen fuel cell buses from New Flyer, one of which

5977-535: The Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain," creating the city's Chinatown quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population. The first cable cars carried San Franciscans up Clay Street in 1873. The city's sea of Victorian houses began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for

6116-615: The Bay Area terminated there such as: Golden Gate Transit buses from Marin County , AC Transit buses from the East Bay , and SamTrans buses from San Mateo County . Long-distance buses from beyond the Bay Area such as Greyhound and Amtrak Thruway also served the terminal. Several bus lines of the San Francisco Municipal Railway connected with the terminal. It closed on August 7, 2010, to make way for

6255-690: The Bay Area, such as Contra Costa Centre , Dublin , Milpitas , Palo Alto , Pinole , Pittsburg , San Francisco , Stanford , and Union City . AC Transit provides service to many colleges and universities, including Berkeley City College , California State University, East Bay , Chabot College , College of Alameda , Contra Costa College , Holy Names University , Laney College , Merritt College , Mills College at Northeastern University , Northwestern Polytechnic University , Ohlone College , Stanford University , and University of California, Berkeley . Most AC Transit routes connect with rapid transit services, such as BART , with one route connecting to

6394-947: The Bay Area, such as the Dumbarton Express , Emery Go-Round , FAST , Golden Gate Transit , MUNI , SamTrans , SolTrans , Union City Transit , VTA, and WestCAT bus systems. AC Transit also connects with the San Francisco Bay Ferry system at several ferry slips , including the Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry Slip, the Alameda Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Slip, the Oakland Ferry Slip, and the Richmond Ferry Slip. While most AC Transit service consists of local lines that operate within

6533-568: The Bay Bridge in 1955 due to falling revenues, after failing to discontinue service in an unsuccessful 1953 petition. The Oakland City Planning Commission reported that since 1945, all the petitions from the Key System had invariably asked for cuts to service and increased fares, which also contributed to declining ridership. The last train crossed the bridge on April 20, 1958  ( 1958-04-20 ) , less than twenty years after service

6672-483: The Bay Bridge, which meant Sacramento Northern likely also operated at a loss. Trains carried 37.334 million passengers across the Bay Bridge at peak ridership in 1945, driven in part by gasoline rationing, but ridership declined precipitously, managing to move only 6.113 million passengers in 1957. The Key System successfully petitioned the Public Utilities Commission to discontinue service across

6811-705: The Birdman of Alcatraz. San Francisco later celebrated its regained grandeur with a World's fair , the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939–40, creating Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to house it. During World War II , the city-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica was used as an internment camp to detain Japanese Americans . Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became

6950-716: The Dumbarton Bridge. On June 30, 2003, a new "rapid bus" line operating on San Pablo Avenue was introduced. Designated as Line 72R (or San Pablo Rapid ), the service connected Oakland with Richmond and operated at faster speeds than regular local service due to wide stop spacing and signal priority treatments. Beginning December 10, 2005, AC Transit began participating in the regional All Nighter network, providing 24-hour bus service throughout its service area to supplement BART service, which does not operate during owl hours. AC Transit had provided 24-hour service on many of its trunk lines prior to this date, except in

7089-729: The East Bay District, the District also provides Transbay lines. Most of these run across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge during rush hours only, connecting commuters with San Francisco's Salesforce Transit Center . Three routes run across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge on a daily basis, connecting passengers in Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland with the Salesforce Transit Center. A late night-only bus operates overnight as

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7228-540: The East Bay. Most routes serve and/or terminate at BART stations. The hubs include: Much of AC transit's ridership is skewed heavily towards a few heavily trafficked local (as opposed to trans-bay) routes. As of 2013, the top five routes account for a third of all riders, and the top twelve routes account for more than half. Voters created the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) in 1956 and subsequently approved

7367-749: The Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority) on June 5, 1977. The lines in central Contra Costa County ( County Connection ) were transferred to the new Central Contra Costa Transit Authority in June 1982. Tri-Delta Transit switched to a different operator in 1984. In 2003, the District introduced a San Mateo-Hayward Bridge route. Designated as Line M, the service connected the BART stations of Castro Valley and Hayward with Foster City and San Mateo 's Hillsdale Caltrain station. A second San Mateo-Hayward Bridge route, Line MA,

7506-415: The House Nancy Pelosi , and the Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom attended the ceremony. The new transit center opened to the public on August 12, 2018. The Transbay Terminal served as the San Francisco terminus for the electric commuter trains of the Interurban Electric ( Southern Pacific ), the Key System and the Sacramento Northern ( Western Pacific ) railroads, which ran on the south side of

7645-417: The Key System, AC Transit . All lines were operating from the rebuilt terminal by July 12, 1959, and Greyhound service was added on February 1, 1960. In 1971 Amtrak started running buses into the Transbay Terminal from the Southern Pacific 's 16th Street Station . Bus service thrived until late 1974, when BART 's Transbay Tube opened. Many people preferred BART over AC Transit. The tube didn't run through

7784-409: The Mission is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco. West of the Mission, the area historically known as Eureka Valley , now popularly called the Castro , was once a working-class Scandinavian and Irish area. It has become North America's first gay village , and is now the center of gay life in the city. Located near

7923-470: The Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset can refer to the more western portions of their respective district and the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset can refer to the more eastern portions. Many piers remained derelict for years until the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway reopened the downtown waterfront, allowing for redevelopment. The centerpiece of the port, the Ferry Building , while still receiving commuter ferry traffic, has been restored and redeveloped as

8062-420: The Presidio garrison, commanded by Mariano Vallejo , relocated to the Presidio of Sonoma , which was regarded as needing a greater military presence due the proximity of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross . Only a small detachment remained at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mission Dolores sold most of its property in 1836, retaining only the church and related structures. In 1833, Juana Briones de Miranda

8201-401: The Salesforce Transit Center. Lastly, one Transbay Bus service is provided during rush hours only across the Dumbarton Bridge between the Fremont BART station and the Stanford Oval at Stanford University, connecting commuters in Fremont with Palo Alto and Stanford. AC Transit's primary hubs include BART stations, major shopping centers, and points of interest, which are spread throughout

8340-517: The San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain . Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco. The California Gold Rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion. San Francisco, as

8479-405: The San Francisco economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified . Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district. By 2000,

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8618-400: The Spanish ship San Carlos , commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala , became the first ship to anchor in the bay. Soon after, on March 28, 1776, Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco . On October 9, Mission San Francisco de Asís , also known as Mission Dolores, was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu . In 1794, the Presidio established the Castillo de San Joaquín , a fortification on

8757-440: The Transbay Terminal early on August 7, 2010  ( 2010-08-07 ) , just after ownership of the building was transferred from Caltrans to TJPA . Demolition by wrecking ball commenced in December 2010, and demolition was declared complete on September 7, 2011  ( 2011-09-07 ) . It was announced in March 2011 that a sculpture to be assembled from Transbay Terminal debris by Tim Hawkinson would be erected on

8896-432: The United States , with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million. Prior to European settlement , the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu , who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone . On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established

9035-448: The Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities , high-tech , healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors. As of 2020 ,

9174-405: The area. Further development is taking place just to the south in Mission Bay area, a former railroad yard, which now has a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco and Chase Center , which opened in 2019 as the new home of the Golden State Warriors . West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue , lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with

9313-429: The beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people, and the decline of their language and culture. The Spanish Empire claimed San Francisco as part of Las Californias , a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The Spanish first arrived in what is now San Francisco on November 2, 1769, when the Portolá expedition led by Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Crespí arrived at San Francisco Bay . Having noted

9452-401: The board of directors. In 1969, AC Transit received a grant and converted bus #666 to steam power, which ran in revenue service between 1971 and 1972. The propulsion system was designed by William Brobeck and used a triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine; power was improved compared to the original six-cylinder Detroit Diesel 6V71 engine and emissions were reduced, but fuel consumption

9591-427: The bridge and construction of the new San Francisco terminal) for the Bay Bridge had cost the state an estimated US$ 15,000,000 (equivalent to $ 328,600,000 in 2023), and the state had invested an additional US$ 3,666,129 (equivalent to $ 80,300,000 in 2023) in rolling stock, which was leased to the railroad companies. The terminal cost was estimated at US$ 2,300,000 (equivalent to $ 50,400,000 in 2023), and it

9730-426: The capture, U.S. forces appointed both José de Jesús Noé and Washington Allon Bartlett to serve as co- alcaldes (mayors), while the conquest continued on in the rest of California. On January 30, 1847, Mayor Bartlett ordained that the city should officially change its name from "Yerba Buena" to "San Francisco", as the former name was only locally recognized and the latter name was in use on international maps. There

9869-400: The city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks. More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people died, though modern estimates put the number in

10008-521: The city as a whole, asserting that the issues of concern are restricted primarily to the urban core of San Francisco. As of March 2024, Union Square was in "sorry shape" and had lost its traditional position as the Bay Area's regional shopping hub to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose. The Ferry Station Post Office Building , Armour & Co. Building , Atherton House , and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in

10147-414: The city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce , Uber , Airbnb , X , Levi's , Gap , Dropbox , and Lyft . In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors – the fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami , Orlando , and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for

10286-635: The city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county . After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II , it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . In 1945, the United Nations Charter

10425-548: The city's Little Italy and the former center of the Beat Generation ; and Telegraph Hill , which features Coit Tower . Abutting Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest Chinatown in North America. The South of Market , which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment following the construction of Oracle Park and an infusion of startup companies . New skyscrapers, live-work lofts, and condominiums dot

10564-479: The city's alcalde , renamed it from Yerba Buena (Spanish for "Good Herb"), which had been the name of the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, as well as the name of Yerba Buena Cove , which the pueblo was on the shore of. Earlier in San Francisco's history, the uninhabited area on the northeastern side of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena , after the herb that was growing abundantly there. The name Yerba Buena continues to be used in locations in

10703-417: The city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001 and again in 2023, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and

10842-576: The city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and urban renewal projects. The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening

10981-571: The city, according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco . San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States , at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands — Alcatraz , Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island , and small portions of Alameda Island , Red Rock Island , and Angel Island —are part of

11120-865: The city, such as on Yerba Buena Island and in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens . While people residing outside the San Francisco Bay Area use nicknames including "Frisco" and "San Fran", local residents in the Bay Area sometimes refer to San Francisco as "the City" or "SF". The choice of nickname a person uses is a common way for locals to distinguish long-time residents from tourists and recent arrivals. "San Fran" and "Frisco" are sometimes considered controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents. The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation of

11259-432: The city. Also included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands , 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a "seven-by-seven-mile square," a common local colloquialism referring to the city's shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km ). There are more than 50 hills within the city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after

11398-478: The construction of the replacement facility, the Salesforce Transit Center , and associated towers. All long-distance and transbay bus operations were transferred to a Temporary Transbay Terminal at the nearby block bounded by Main, Folsom, Beale, and Howard Streets. The new Salesforce Transit Center broke ground on August 11, 2010. US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood , US Speaker of

11537-474: The corner of Mission and Fremont Streets after completion of the new Transbay Transit Center. However, the sculpture project was cancelled on June 7, 2017 due to cost and engineering concerns. The Temporary Transbay Terminal was the San Francisco terminus for Transbay and regional buses for most of the 2010s. It was in operation from August 2010 through August 2018, when the new Salesforce Transit Center opened, and again from September 2018 to August 2019 during

11676-515: The country at the time. His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the Panic of 1873 , triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support ) helped make

11815-683: The development of West Portal , and nearby affluent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood . Further west, stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Golden Gate Park lies the vast Sunset District , a large middle-class area with a predominantly Asian population. The northwestern quadrant of the city contains the Richmond , a mostly middle-class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Together, these areas are known as The Avenues . These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions:

11954-509: The emergence of The Castro as an urban gay village , the election of Harvey Milk to the Board of Supervisors , and his assassination , along with that of Mayor George Moscone , in 1978. Bank of America , now based in Charlotte , North Carolina , was founded in San Francisco; the bank completed 555 California Street in 1969. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, igniting

12093-522: The end of rail traffic to the terminal. The last F-line trip departed from the Transbay Terminal at 12:55 a.m. on the night of March 3, and the track was abandoned in August 2000, the final use being a "farewell" trip by 1916-built work car C1 on August 18, with work on removal of the track on Fremont Street beginning soon afterwards. The Transbay Terminal hosted a cocktail lounge, a diner,

12232-715: The excavation of the Yerba Buena Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes. The resulting soil liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . A few natural lakes and creeks ( Lake Merced , Mountain Lake , Pine Lake , Lobos Creek , El Polin Spring ) are within parks and remain protected in what

12371-520: The fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like William Taylor to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor was able to garner enough generous donations from successful gold miners with which he used to build a church. One of the most influential figures of this era was William Chapman Ralston . A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over

12510-497: The famous " Painted Ladies ," standing alongside Alamo Square . To the south, near the geographic center of the city is Haight-Ashbury , famously associated with 1960s hippie culture. The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques and a few controversial chain stores, although it still retains some bohemian character. North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights , an affluent neighborhood that features

12649-610: The first land grant in Yerba Buena: to William Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth. Richardson had arrived in San Francisco aboard a whaling ship in 1822. In 1825, he married Maria Antonia Martinez, eldest daughter of the Californio Ygnacio Martínez . Yerba Buena began to attract American and European settlers; an 1842 census listed 21 residents (11%) born in the United States or Europe, as well as one Filipino merchant. Following

12788-518: The first of its new Gillig buses. In August of the same year, AC Transit placed the first of its new New Flyer Xcelsior articulated buses into service. Later that year, in November 2013, new Gillig buses with a suburban seating configuration and Transbay branding were introduced into service. All AC Transit buses are wheelchair accessible and have front-mounted bicycle racks. The MCI buses also feature luggage bay bicycle racks. AC Transit buses purchased after 2007 have air conditioning , as approved by

12927-518: The gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the Barbary Coast district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, bootlegging , and gambling. The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and

13066-457: The hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill , Potrero Hill , and Russian Hill . Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Twin Peaks , a pair of hills forming one of the city's highest points, forms an overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson , is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with

13205-513: The homes built by wealthy San Franciscans in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Directly north of Pacific Heights facing the waterfront is the Marina , a neighborhood popular with young professionals that was largely built on reclaimed land from the Bay. In the southeast quadrant of the city is the Mission District —populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavia. In

13344-574: The key to bus rapid transit service between Berkeley and San Leandro along Shattuck , Telegraph , International Blvd , and East 14th Street. At the same time, AC Transit rolled out a revised "ribbon" livery featuring new colors (green and black), and a new logo. The logo was simplified in 2014. After criticism over the use of federal funds to purchase foreign-made Van Hool buses and the tailoring of specification requirements to exclude domestic manufacturers, AC Transit ordered locally-built Gillig buses in 2012. In March 2013, AC Transit began operating

13483-538: The larger Port of Oakland . The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned to tourism as the most important segment of its economy. The suburbs experienced rapid growth, and San Francisco underwent significant demographic change, as large segments of the white population left the city, supplanted by an increasing wave of immigration from Asia and Latin America. From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population. Over this period, San Francisco became

13622-464: The late 1990s due to budget limitations. On December 13, 2013, AC Transit adopted a new fare policy that brought changes to the transit system July 2014, including a new day pass that is in line with other transit agencies including VTA and SamTrans . The policy is also designed to speed boarding and help keep buses on schedule, provide greater convenience and value for customers, and encourage more customers to switch to Clipper A rapid bus line

13761-690: The line does have scheduled timepoints en route, most buses typically travel along the route as fast (or as slow) as traffic allows. On June 24, 2007, the success of line 72R made it a model for another rapid bus line that was introduced. Line 1R (or International Rapid ) operated on weekdays between Berkeley Way and Oxford Street in Berkeley and Bay Fair BART station in San Leandro, mainly along Telegraph Avenue , International Boulevard , and East 14th Street. Weekend and holiday service operated between Downtown Oakland and San Leandro only. Line 1R

13900-598: The lower deck of the Bay Bridge . Bus services such as Greyhound and local Muni streetcar lines had stops at the main entrance. The Terminal was designed by Timothy L. Pflueger in the Art Moderne style. Bids were taken for construction of the terminal in June 1937, excavation began on July 29, 1937, and the first steel was erected on January 12, 1938. Structural concrete was complete by May 1938. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Electric Railway Terminal Building

14039-518: The metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($ 874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($ 131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris , London , and Singapore . It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with a GDP of $ 729 billion in 2022 . The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and

14178-475: The missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of the process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. Prior to secularization, the only settlements in San Francisco had been the military settlement at the Presidio and the religious settlement at Mission Dolores. In 1835,

14317-870: The new BART system. AC Transit began operating express service connecting BART terminals with outer suburban points under contract to BART on December 2, 1974. With BART operating, suburban municipalities began contracting with AC Transit to operate local bus service. Service began in Fremont on November 12, 1974; in Newark on December 16, 1974; in Concord on September 8, 1975; in Pleasant Hill on December 8, 1975; in Moraga and Orinda on September 13, 1976; and in Antioch and Pittsburg (as Tri Delta Transit under contract to

14456-484: The period of Mexican rule , although it was not until 1833 that the missions would be secularized. Agricultural land became largely privatized as ranchos , as was occurring in other parts of California. Coastal trade increased, including a half-dozen barques from various Atlantic ports which regularly sailed in California waters. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 ,

14595-521: The primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations . The explosion of jobs drew many people, especially African Americans from the South , to the area. After the end of the war, many military personnel returning from service abroad and civilians who had originally come to work decided to stay. The United Nations Charter creating the United Nations

14734-686: The privately owned Key System . In 2023, the system had a ridership of 37,702,700, or about 160,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. The AC Transit District is the third-largest public bus system in California, serving a number of cities and unincorporated areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. These include Alameda , Albany , Ashland , Berkeley , Castro Valley , Cherryland , East Richmond Heights , El Cerrito , El Sobrante , Emeryville , Fairview , Fremont , Hayward , Kensington , Newark , North Richmond , Oakland , Piedmont , Richmond , San Leandro , San Lorenzo , and San Pablo . Some AC Transit bus routes also serve other areas in

14873-605: The quality of housing after the earthquake. The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights , where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes. In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in the Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy

15012-547: The route. The Telegraph Avenue alignment of the 1R between the Uptown Transit Center and U.C. Berkeley is currently being served by local route 6. At its inception, AC Transit purchased the mixed White, Mack, and GM "old-look" bus fleet from its predecessor, the Key System. The ex-Key System buses were repainted in "clownface" livery, featuring a predominantly white (upper half) and orange (lower front) color scheme with teal side stripes, and AC Transit adopted

15151-558: The same orange, teal, and white colors as the previous "clownface" livery. In the late 1990s, AC Transit added buses from NABI . AC Transit supplemented these buses with a fleet of 45-foot over-the-road coaches purchased from Motor Coach Industries beginning in the early 2000s. In 2003, AC Transit began purchasing low-floor buses from Van Hool . The Van Hool buses were assembled in Belgium and featured low floors and three doors (four doors on articulated models), which AC Transit touted as

15290-401: The second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county , behind four of New York City's boroughs . Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in

15429-542: The several thousands. More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was left homeless. Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay . Jack London is remembered for having famously eulogized the earthquake: "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco

15568-543: The southern side of the Golden Gate , which later came to be known as Fort Point. In 1804, the province of Alta California was created, which included San Francisco. At its peak in 1810–1820, the average population at the Mission Dolores settlement was about 1,100 people. In 1821, the Californias were ceded to Mexico by Spain. The extensive California mission system gradually lost its influence during

15707-576: The strategic benefits of the area due to its large natural harbor, the Spanish dispatched Pedro Fages in 1770 to find a more direct route to the San Francisco Peninsula from Monterey , which would become part of the El Camino Real route. By 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza had arrived to the area to select the sites for a mission and presidio . The first European maritime presence in San Francisco Bay occurred on August 5, 1775, when

15846-500: The temporary terminal due to the continued closure of the Transit Center. In April 2019, repairs were finished and it was determined that the cause of the cracking was partly caused when crews welding the beams together skipped a crucial step in the process required by the building code that led to tiny, micro-cracks forming. Multiple inspections failed to notice the skipped step, and those micro-cracks grew into larger ones. After

15985-612: The terminal, resulting in its decline. Homeless people noticed the dropping commuters and took the chance to inhabit it. After formation of the Muni Metro , streetcars were replaced with light rail vehicles and rerouted through the upper level of the Market Street subway . Rail service to the station was briefly revived by the F Market line, at first during historic streetcar festivals , but for full service by 1995. The line's extension to Fisherman's Wharf in March 2000 saw

16124-493: The territory of San Francisco dates to 3000 BCE. The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay . The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste , meaning, "place at the bay." The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the implementation of their Mission system, marked

16263-493: The third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $ 1.32 trillion in 2022 . In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $ 252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $ 312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in the United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023 . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco,

16402-556: The trial ended in September 1972, and the diesel engine was subsequently reinstalled in the bus. AC Transit is the lead agency of Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA), a consortium of five Bay Area transit agencies (AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit , SFMTA , SamTrans , and VTA ) demonstrating fuel cell buses. The District began the HyRoad program in 1999 and tested several fuel cell buses with new hydrogen fuelling infrastructure, including

16541-429: The underused original Transbay Terminal with an entirely new and more functional building at roughly the same location. The final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was published in 2004, and construction began in August 2010 on Phase 1, the new Transbay Transit Center (TTC) building. A new outdoor temporary terminal was opened nearby to serve commuters during construction of the new transit center. The last bus departed

16680-402: The underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and

16819-415: Was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill , and a thriving arts scene. The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 . At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across

16958-571: Was added in 2006 and discontinued in 2007. (The M replaced the SamTrans 90E, which had been canceled in 1999.) In 2004, the District began service on Line U across the Dumbarton Bridge , connecting Stanford University with ACE and BART trains in Fremont. As part of a consortium of transit agencies (including AC Transit, BART, SamTrans, Union City Transit , and VTA ), the District already operated Dumbarton Express bus service across

17097-552: Was also concern that a new town being planned by General Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait was to be called "Francisca", after the first name of his wife. After the name change to "San Francisco", the name of Vallejo's town was changed to Benicia , after his wife's middle name. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States . Despite its attractive location as

17236-588: Was at the height of the Great Depression that San Francisco undertook two great civil engineering projects, simultaneously constructing the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge , completing them in 1936 and 1937, respectively. It was in this period that the island of Alcatraz , a former military stockade, began its service as a federal maximum security prison, housing notorious inmates such as Al Capone , and Robert Franklin Stroud ,

17375-528: Was built so trains could turn around and go back across the bridge. Even after rail service ended, the loop continued to be used by AC Transit , Amtrak Thruway and Greyhound buses until the station closed. Surprisingly, a track was never made to connect to the Southern Pacific 's Third and Townsend Depot so trains could go further south. There were six tracks. Beginning on January 15, 1939, half of all Market Street Railway trains were rerouted to

17514-464: Was centered on a plaza that is now Portsmouth Square . A land survey of Yerba Buena was made by the Swiss immigrant Jean Jacques Vioget as prelude to the city plan. Francisco de Haro , a non- Californio Mexican native, became the first alcalde of Yerba Buena. The second alcalde José Joaquín Estudillo was a Californio from a prominent Monterey family. In 1835, while in office, he approved

17653-402: Was completed. Interurban stated they were forced to discontinue service, citing falling passenger counts, revenues, and a failed proposed consolidation with the Key System. After Interurban was granted permission to discontinue service, Sacramento Northern also applied to discontinue service in 1941. Sacramento Northern carried only a minuscule fraction (less than 1%) of the total rail traffic over

17792-540: Was discontinued on June 26, 2016. On August 9, 2020, the 1R was largely replaced by Tempo , AC Transit's new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route. Tempo operates between the Uptown Transit Center and the San Leandro BART station via International Boulevard and East 14th Street. It features 46 brand new platform stations (curbside and center-median) with dedicated bus lanes along the majority of

17931-598: Was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s involved widespread destruction and redevelopment of west-side neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways , of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition . The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to

18070-421: Was expected to serve upwards of 60,000 passengers per day. Governor Frank Merriam piloted the first (ceremonial) electric train across the bridge on September 23, 1938, although regular service did not commence until January 1939, after the terminal was complete. Trains were controlled with a custom electric switchboard, which was considerably simpler than the typical mechanical lever system then in use. A loop

18209-516: Was formally dedicated on January 14, 1939  ( 1939-01-14Tdmy ) . State Director of Public Works Frank W. Clark turned the facilities over to the State of California, as represented by Lieutenant Governor Ellis E. Patterson , who turned over management of the facility to the three electric railroad companies. State officials and guests rode electric trains to the opening ceremony. Construction of rail facilities (including laying tracks on

18348-437: Was granted a small rancho at El Polín Spring , near the Presidio, founding the first non-indigenous civilian household in San Francisco. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded. Yerba Buena Cove (named after a native herb ) was already a favored anchorage spot and the new settlement and trading post was founded by its shores. Yerba Buena was located in what is now the city's Chinatown and Financial District and

18487-466: Was higher than the conventional diesel bus. The steam system is a closed loop. Exhaust steam is condensed and returned to the steam generator, which is an externally-fired boiler that uses 1,400 feet (430 m) of coiled steel tubing. Prior to entering service, the steam bus was exhibited in Washington DC and to the public. Bus #666 completed 3,403 miles (5,477 km) in revenue service when

18626-694: Was hired by San Francisco Mayor James Rolph as chief engineer for the city in September 1912 to supervise the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel , the Twin Peaks Tunnel , the San Francisco Municipal Railway , the Auxiliary Water Supply System , and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J , K , L , M , and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927. It

18765-486: Was inaugurated in 1939, despite the vital role the trains played. There have been several attempts to restore rail service across the bridge (though not necessarily into the Transbay Terminal), but none have been successful. During the next year, the Transbay Terminal was rebuilt into a bus depot. The tracks were removed and replaced with pavement for use primarily by the buses of the publicly owned successor of

18904-584: Was introduced on San Pablo Avenue on June 30, 2003. Designated as Line 72R (or San Pablo Rapid ), it operates from 6 am to 7 pm at 12-minute intervals on weekdays, and 7 am to 7 pm at 15-minute intervals on weekends and holidays. Bus stops are spaced 2/3-mile apart on average, running between Jack London Square (via 20th Street and Broadway) in Oakland and Contra Costa College in San Pablo, and buses receive signal priority at several intersections. Although

19043-446: Was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration , liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution , the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in

19182-410: Was the O'Shaughnessy Dam , Hetch Hetchy Reservoir , and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco. An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today. In ensuing years, the city solidified its standing as a financial capital; in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash , not a single San Francisco-based bank failed. Indeed, it

19321-569: Was the first transit agency to use the Super Golden Eagle long-distance coach (originally designed and built for Continental Trailways ; AC Transit designated it XMC-77 and called it the "Freeway Train"), primarily on Transbay service. By 1970, AC Transit was one of six agencies to participate in a "super bus project" coordinated by the National Transportation Center (Pittsburgh) to write a specification for

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