Embarcadero station

Station layout

Like the three other shared Muni/BART stations in the Market Street subway, Embarcadero has three underground levels. The uppermost level is a fare mezzanine, with one Muni paid area in the middle flanked by two BART paid areas. The second level has a single island platform (of which only the center portion is used) for Muni Metro, and the third level has an island platform for BART. The station is narrower than the other three – 50 feet rather than 60 feet – because of adjacent buildings and the high water table. It has six street entrances along its length. The station contains an unused underground entrance to the 388 Market Street building.

History

The BART Board approved the name "Embarcadero" in December 1965. At that time, it was only planned to be used for Muni Metro. BART service at the station began on May 27, 1976, three years after the other San Francisco stations. As a result of increasing development in the lower Market Street area, the basic structure of the station was added into the construction of the Market Street subway, anticipating a later opening. This resulted in the Embarcadero station having a different design than the other three Market Street stations. The station was designed by chief BART architect Tallie Maule and Hertzka & Knowles & Associates in collaboration with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Tudor Construction, and Bechtel. The station cost $30 million to construct.

Muni Metro service began in February 1980 and Embarcadero was originally intended to be the inbound terminus for all of the Muni Metro lines. In 1998 a new southward extension was opened, extending the N Judah along the Embarcadero to the Caltrain station at 4th and King Streets. On March 4, 2000, F Market & Wharves streetcar service was extended northward to Fisherman's Wharf, with new stops above Embarcadero station at Main Street (inbound) and Drumm Street (outbound). Because the station is adjacent to the Transbay Tube, brake dust and other particles from train operations coat the walls of the station. A sandblasting in 2014 revealed the original white terrazzo platform walls under the dark grime.

Since before 1992, the station was serenaded by Ronald Brewington, known as the "Jazz Man". He would play saxophone for commuters, and entertain them with conversation and charm. He claimed his name was Garrick Sherrod; however, that was an identity he had stolen. The Jazz Man was actually a fugitive from Albuquerque facing capital murder charges stemming from the 1987 death of his wife Diedre. He was arrested at a BART station in 2012, and extradited to New Mexico. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Following the 2015 addition of a canopy over an escalator at 19th Street Oakland station, which reduced escalator downtime by one-third, BART decided to add canopies to all downtown Oakland and San Francisco entrances. Construction of the Market Street entrances was to begin in 2020, with completion in 2027. The entrances on the southern side of the station were closed from April 13, 2020, to May 15, 2021, due to low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concourse-level preparation for canopy construction at Embarcadero station began on November 15, 2021. The entrance at Davis Street was closed for canopy construction from June 13, 2022 until October 2023, followed by the Beale Street entrance from September 5, 2023, to March 2024. The Federal Reserve Bank entrance was closed for construction on October 18, 2023; the Pine Street entrance closed on March 14, 2024. A canopy at the Drumm Street entrance opened in January 2025. The canopies at Embarcadero station include artwork entitled "We Touch Here" by Norie Sato.

Thirteen BART stations, including Embarcadero, did not originally have faregates for passengers using the elevator. In 2020, BART started a project to add faregates to elevators at these stations. The new faregate on the platform at Embarcadero was installed in December 2021. This allows passengers using the elevator to enter and exit fare control through the faregate, rather than having to use a "difficult and cumbersome" process of tagging in or out at the concourse faregates. Bathrooms at underground BART stations were closed after the September 11 attacks due to security concerns. The bathroom at Embarcadero station reopened on June 30, 2023, after a renovation, with an attendant on duty during all operating hours.

Artwork

Although original plans to include public art at every BART station did not come to fruition, several artworks were included in Embarcadero station. The platform walls and street entrances feature circle-based reliefs by William Mitchell. Wall Canyon, a 37 feet-high colored ceramic relief by Stephen De Staebler, is partially hidden behind a staircase at the southwest end of the station. It was installed on January 1, 1977. A duotone granite portrait of Tallie Maule – the chief architect of the original BART system – is on the mezzanine level.

A 50 feet-tall, 7000 lb rope sculpture called Legs was installed at the northwest end of the station in 1976 or 1978. Created by Barbara Shawcroft, the orange-and-white Nomex sculpture moved with the breeze from passing Muni and BART trains. Legs soon accumulated the same dark grime as the station walls, hiding the original color. BART was required by the artist's contract to clean the sculpture but several attempts were unsuccessful. In 2013, BART included removal of Legs in its 2014 budget, which prompted a debate about whether it should be cleaned regardless of cost (which Shawcroft supported), or removed from the unsuitable environment of the station. The sculpture was removed in June 2014 and returned to Shawcroft – a professor emerita at UC Davis School of Design – who planned to repurpose it into other pieces.

Connections

Embarcadero station is located in the busy Financial District; numerous routes by several transit providers stop at or near the station. Most radial Muni bus routes terminate at several nearby locations: :*Ferry Plaza: , , , , , , :*Salesforce Transit Center, with intermediate stops on Market Street near Embarcadero: , , , , :*Richmond express terminal at Davis Street and Pine Street: , , , , , Other Muni routes that stop or terminate near the station include routes , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . The California Street line of the San Francisco cable car system terminates adjacent to the Drumm Street station entrance. Muni's F Market and Wharves heritage streetcar line stops on the surface at Market and Main (westbound) and Market and Drumm (eastbound).

A number of Golden Gate Transit bus routes stop near Embarcadero on Fremont Street (2, 4, 38, 44, 54, 56, 58, 72, 72X, 74, 76) and/or Pine Street (2, 4, 8, 18, 24, 24X). Other transit agencies that stop nearby include SamTrans (292, 397, 398, 713, FCX) and PresidiGo (Downtown Shuttle).

Embarcadero station is the nearest Muni Metro and BART station to the Ferry Building, the primary San Francisco terminal for Golden Gate Ferry, San Francisco Bay Ferry and Treasure Island Ferry. The Salesforce Transit Center, located about 1/4 mile to the south, is the primary San Francisco terminal for AC Transit transbay routes, WestCAT, Greyhound lines, Amtrak Thruway buses (at 401 Mission), some Golden Gate Transit routes, and Muni route . The second phase of the Salesforce Transit Center – the Downtown Rail Extension (now known as The Portal) – will include an 800 foot-long pedestrian tunnel under Beale Street connecting Embarcadero station with the underground rail concourse.

References

References

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18. (June 12, 2021). "BART opens all entrances/exits that were previously closed due to pandemic". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
19. (November 8, 2021). "Concourse and platform work at Embarcadero Station starts 11/15 to prepare for canopy installation". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
20. (June 7, 2022). "Entrance Closure Alert: Embarcadero Station entrance at Davis and Market closed 06/13/22 for work on new canopy". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
21. (August 31, 2023). "Entrance Closure Alert: Market and Beale streets entrance at Embarcadero Station to close 9/5 for canopy work". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
22. (March 18, 2024). "New canopy protects entrance at Embarcadero Station". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
23. (October 4, 2023). "Entrance Closure Alert: Embarcadero Station entrance in front of Federal Reserve to close for canopy work 10/18". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
24. (March 7, 2024). "Entrance Closure Alert: Embarcadero Station entrance at Market and Pine to close March 14". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
25. (February 3, 2025). "New escalator and canopy open at downtown SF stations". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
26. (November 7, 2025). "Meet the artists who created original works for BART’s Downtown San Francisco escalator canopies". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
27. (July 2023). "New Fare Gates & Station Hardening". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
28. (February 9, 2022). "New Embarcadero platform fare gate speeds up transfer to Muni, improves accessibility, reduces fare evasion". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
29. (June 30, 2023). "BART reopens restrooms at Embarcadero and Downtown Berkeley stations". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
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33. Cabanatuan, Michael. (June 10, 2014). "Huge rope sculpture to be removed from Embarcadero BART". San Francisco Chronicle.
34. Frock, Christian L.. (May 27, 2013). "On Permanence: Barbara Shawcroft's 'Legs' and the Challenges of Public Art". KQED.
35. (August 8, 2019). "Transit Stops: Embarcadero Station". Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
36. "BART/Muni Underground Pedestrian Connector". Transbay Joint Power Authority.