The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee held a hearing Monday to discuss the possibility of extending the Central Subway from its current Chinatown terminus to North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. "The primary focus" should remain on pushing through two upcoming operations-funding measures for transit, explained District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter, who sits on the committee. "But we also need to give people something bigger and better to keep our city excited about what's next."
"We are excited that Supervisor Sauter is convening this hearing today. In order to continue San Francisco's recovery and support local neighborhoods, San Francisco needs to invest in public transit projects that connect more of the city quickly and seamlessly," said the San Francisco Transit Riders' Dylan Fabris. "A Muni subway line to North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf has been on the table for decades, and we look forward to learning more about its progress and feasibility."
SFMTA officials who presented at the hearing didn't have current figures for an extension. But adjusting for inflation from when the project was studied by SFMTA in 2014, it could cost almost $2 billion to extend it to the Marina District. During Monday's presentation, SFMTA transit planner Sean Kennedy said it will probably cost even more, given that construction costs keep going up. That's despite the fact that there's already an unfinished tunnel section to North Beach that was constructed with the first phase. Kennedy cautioned that any figures barely even qualify as "back of the envelope." Furthermore, the disruptions and delays of the original subway tunnel under Union Square and Chinatown are still on people's minds. "2013 to 2022 was not an easy time," he cautioned.
The Central Subway, which opened in 2022, has made the T Third the second busiest rail line in the city, according to SFMTA data, with 21,400 weekday boardings. The busiest section is between Union Square and 4th and King.
Sauter has always been a champion of bringing better transit to North Beach and the Marina. While the subway is a long-term vision, he's also pushing for better bus service. He made the following short video to promote the Central Subway extension project.
At the hearing, Kennedy also talked about improvements underway for the notoriously slow street-running sections of the T Third. "It takes 45 minutes from 4th and King to Sunnydale," said Kennedy. That, he said, is in large part due to the many crossings and traffic signals that still give left-turning drivers priority over trains full of people. That's something SFMTA is working to fix, he explained. "There were a number of design—I won't use the word flaws—issues with the train."
"As we think about extending the Central Subway northward, we should also consider how to improve T Third service for other parts of the route, like in the city's southeast," said Fabris.
Kennedy pointed out that staff is working on three major projects already: train-control upgrades for Muni, "the Portal" tunnel to bring Caltrain and high-speed rail to the Salesforce Transit Center, and the Seawall Program.
All of which makes it seem daunting to get the subway extended. However, San Francisco has a growing list of mega-projects under its belt, including electrifying Caltrain, the new Transbay Transit Center, and, of course, the first phase of the Central Subway. SFMTA officials said the city needs to find the millions to fully study and plan the alignment to North Beach and the Marina, so they can get a better fix on costs and the potential timeline for construction. "We built BART, we built the subway, we built the T Line, we built the airport. The first thing was vision, not the cost," said a supporter from the audience who addressed the committee. "Focus on the vision." Public speakers were almost universally in favor of the extension.
"If done right, extending and investing in the Central Subway can bring incredible benefits to residents and visitors of all the neighborhoods the T Third serves," said Fabris.
