What to Know
- The Salesforce Transit Center has been called the world's most expensive bus station, with train service still at least a decade away
- A rooftop park spanning four city blocks is open to the public, and brings green space to a neighborhood that had almost none before
- The Transit Center will add retail in 2019, including a Philz Coffee downstairs and a sit-down restaurant nestled amid the trees upstairs
Two weeks after its heavily attended grand opening, San Francisco's new Salesforce Transit Center is still packed — only now, it's packed with people waiting for buses.
"It used to be the best kept secret, the transbay bus," said commuter Michelle Ward as she waited to board an AC Transit bus to Oakland. "Now, it seems the word is out, and lines are long."
Bus service is currently the only mode of transportation offered at the Transit Center. Though it sits on top of a two-story concrete box ready to handle double-decker trains bound for Silicon Valley and eventually Los Angeles, it will be at least ten years before a tunnel can be built beneath city streets, connecting the Transit Center to the current Caltrain depot at 4th and King Streets. [[491597991, C]]
Though critics have called it a "$2 billion bus station" and "the most expensive bus terminal in the history of mankind," those who live in the growing neighborhood of steel-and-glass high rises surrounding the Transit Center say it's much more than that. The public rooftop park, spanning four city blocks, brings an oasis of green space to a part of the city that previously had almost none.[[491313251, C]]
"It's a complete transformation of the entire neighborhood," said Julie Hwang, who lives nearby. "Completely changes the character."
We went for a tour of the Salesforce Transit Center, including the parts that aren't open yet — and talked to commuters about whether the world's most expensive bus station is making their daily travels better. Watch the video above to see what we found — and explore the 360 photos below to take your own tour! [[491595151, C]]
