Using more buses, trains, and other forms of mass transit is a great way to address global climate change, air pollution, water pollution, and traffic congestion.
In the US, there is a quite a mass transit stigma, unfortunately. But there are a lot of efforts at making mass transit more comfortable, more attractive, and even sexy. From high-speed rail to modern streetcar systems to bus rapid transit to wi-fi on transit, there are a lot of cool things going on.
One more way to encourage more mass transit and facilitate its use is by creating super sweet and useful transit centers. San Francisco is on the road (or, we might change that phrase to “on a train”) to creating just such a transit center. Its upcoming Transbay Transit Center will perhaps be the sexiest transit center in the nation.
As I wrote over on Ecolocalizer yesterday, San Francisco started construction on this transit center last week. The center is already being called the “Grand Central of the West,” but I would say that it is more than that — it looks to me like the Grand Central of the 21st century.
The Transbay Transit Center will include “a 5.4 acre park, ‘City Park,’ on the roof of the bus and rail station” as well as “an open air amphitheatre, gardens, a trail for running/walking, open grass areas for picnics, lily ponds and more.”
In total, the transit center will be 1 million square feet in size and will serve 10 different transit operators. Looks like an exciting project to me (and I’m sure many more).
There is much more information and numerous visuals available on the Transbay Transit Center website.
Image Credit: Screenshot of Transbay Transit Center animation
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