College Next to Huge Transit Nexus Uses Bond Funds to Induce more Driving

Advocates for safe and livable streets were dismayed to learn that the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) is moving forward with a five-level, above-ground parking structure that will hold between 641 and 650 cars for its Ocean Avenue campus.

“We support replacing lost parking, but a new 650-space garage steps from BART and Muni will induce more car trips and traffic in the city,” said Streets for All’s Robin Pam.

The new lot will be 200,000 square feet—or enough space for some 150 to 200 apartments, if it were used for more housing instead. Meanwhile, the new Balboa Reservoir housing project, adjacent to the campus, already includes a huge underground parking facility, “with 550 parking spots for residents, and 450 parking spots for the public,” explained Jonathan Winston, vice president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association and a former chair of the Balboa Reservoir Community Advisory Committee when the housing project was getting planned.

Winston was frustrated that the college is building the new parking structure out of funds earmarked for student facilities and campus improvements. “The city should be investing that money in making the transit that already exists more attractive to students, not making it easier to drive to one of the most transit-rich campuses in San Francisco,” he said.

It’s actually one of the most transit-rich campuses in all of North America. For readers unfamiliar with the area, the campus is a six-minute walk from the Balboa Park BART, Muni M Ocean View and Muni J Church train station (see map below). It is also served directly by the Muni K Ingleside and multiple bus lines.

CCSF’s board of trustees, meanwhile, resolved to reduce greenhouses gases two years ago, even as it moves forward with plans to build this garage. As previously covered, the board also opposed the installation of protected bike lanes past the college on Frida Kahlo Way. Fortunately, those were eventually built despite the board’s objections. However, “the parking garage would be designed to accommodate the future installation of photovoltaic panels,” according to CCSF’s planning documents.

Meanwhile, a debate rages between merchants and the city on whether or not to provide transit-only lanes on Ocean Avenue. This would greatly improve the reliability of Muni’s K Ingleside light rail line as well as buses that service the corridor and campus. Merchant groups are pushing the city to abandon the project. Reliability, of course, has a huge impact on people’s decisions to ride transit. “We need more incentives to take transit,” said Winston about the debate.

Ocean Avenue remains a dangerous street on the city’s “high injury network,” with two pedestrians killed in 2025. The hope is proposed transit improvements would also reduce dangerous speeding.

The garage has an estimated price tag of $50 million, to be paid for via 2020’s $845 million Proposition A Bond. CCSF is supposed to use the funds to: “fix/repair City College facilities; make necessary seismic retrofit/earthquake safety improvements; make the College more environmentally sustainable through energy efficient buildings/increased renewable energy use; and acquire, construct, repair facilities, sites/equipment to prepare students for well-paid, local science, technology, and arts related jobs.”

The college anticipates breaking ground on the garage in early 2027 for an 18-to-21-month construction period. There’s a CCSF board meeting Thursday/tonight, June 25, at 5 p.m., where the public can give comments. Winston, however, said it sounds as if the parking garage is a done deal.