Officials announce Transbay Transit Center, rooftop park reopens July 1

The San Francisco Transbay Transit Center and its 5.4-acre rooftop public park at the Salesforce building will reopen on July 1, transit officials announced Tuesday.

The $2.2 billion transit center opened in August of last year, but officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, who manage the transit hub, closed it within a month of opening because of fissures found on two steel beams on the third level bus deck.

Transit officials said Muni and Golden Transit Service will return sometime in early July while AC Transit, Greyhound and Westcat Lynx anticipate resuming service on the bus deck of the Transbay Transit Center in late summer, following operator training and notice to riders.

Mohammed Nuru, chair of the TJPA Board of Directors, said in a statement:

“We are pleased to welcome the public back to the transit center and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this temporary closure has caused.”

While the transit center was closed, officials worked to find a cause, make repairs and review other parts of the center as a precaution.

Both San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf called for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to serve as an independent review panel for all transit center repairs.

MTC Executive Director Therese McMillan on Monday wrote a letter to Breed and Schaaf saying the independent panel found the steel structure to be sound and the transit center safe to reopen:

“MTC supports the reopening of the Transbay Transit Center based on TJPA’s project team’s structural findings and the Peer Review Panel’s concurrence. We agree the steel structure is ready for service.”

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.