The new Transbay Transit Center will be built on the site of the former Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco and will serve 11 transportation systems: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Greyhound, Muni, SamTrans, WestCAT Lynx, Amtrak, Paratransit and future High Speed Rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim.

The new bus and rail facility will serve as San Francisco’s next landmark and will feature a 5.4-acre public park on the roof of the Transit Center.

The first phase of the project will create a new five-story Transit Center with one above-grade bus level, ground-floor, concourse, and two below-grade rail levels serving Caltrain and future California High Speed Rail. Phase I will also create new bus ramps that will connect the Transit Center to a new off-site bus storage facility and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Highlights of the design include:

• One million square foot regional transportation hub serving eleven transit operators
• “City Park,” a 5.4-acre rooftop park on top of the Transit Center which will include an open air amphitheater, gardens, a trail for running/walking, open grass areas for picnics, lily ponds and more
• The Great Hall, a ground-level floor with an open air main entrance off Mission Street known as Mission Square, which will include an information center, ticket kiosks, automated ticketing and the main escalators
• A dramatic Light Column in the Great Hall, which will allow natural daylight into the Transit Center
• Sustainable design features including a living “green” roof, thermal mass and night ventilation to allow passive cooling to the building, natural daylight, LEED energy efficiency and other green building techniques
• Public art space inside the Transit Center
• Ground floor retail on Natoma and Minna streets as well as Mission Square

A Transit Tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and developed by Hines will be built adjacent to the Transit Center, providing additional financing for the project. The Transit Tower will transform the San Francisco skyline and is planned to be the tallest building on the West Coast.

The former Transbay Terminal was constructed in 1939 to facilitate rail travel across the Bay Bridge. Following World War II, the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was converted to automobile traffic and the Transbay Terminal became a bus only facility. The bus terminal no longer met current or future transportation needs of the region or State.