12th Street Oakland City Center station

12th Street/Oakland City Center station is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located under Broadway between 12th Street and 14th Street in Downtown Oakland, adjacent to the Oakland City Center. It is the second-busiest BART station in both Oakland and the East Bay (just after 19th Street Oakland), and the 6th busiest BART station overall, with a daily ridership of approximately 13,900 in February 2020.[2]

12th St / Oakland City Center
A Richmond-bound train at 12th Street Oakland City Center station
Location	1245 Broadway, Oakland, California
Coordinates	37.803608°N 122.272006°W
Line(s)	BART K-Line
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	AC Transit: Broadway Shuttle, Tempo, 6, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 29, 33, 40, 51A, 72, 72M, 72R, 88, 96, 314, 611, 800, 801, 802, 805, 840, 851
Construction
Bicycle facilities	Lockers and racks available
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	September 11, 1972[1]
Previous names	Oakland City Center/12th Street (until c. 2008)
Passengers
2020	13,944 (weekday average)[2]
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station West Oakland toward Millbrae Richmond–​Millbrae 19th Street Oakland toward Richmond Lake Merritt toward Berryessa/​North San José Berryessa/​North San José–​Richmond West Oakland toward San Francisco International Airport Antioch–​SFO/​Millbrae 19th Street Oakland toward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point Preceding station AC Transit Following station Uptown Transit Center Terminus Tempo (1T) Harrison towards San Leandro BART
Location

The station has three underground levels, with tracks on the second and third levels. It is served by the Richmond–Millbrae line, Berryessa/North San José–Richmond line, and Antioch–SFO/Millbrae line, as well as by AC Transit buses on the surface.

Oakland City Center/12th Street station opened in 1972 as part of the first section of BART. In 1980–1986, the KE Track project added the third track to the station. From 1992 to 2002, and 2004 to 2010, it was the timed transfer point between northbound trains. Tempo bus rapid transit service began in 2020.

Station layout

The Oakland City Center entrance to the station

The station has three underground levels. The first level is a concourse with ticket machines and faregates. An island platform and two main tracks (C1 and CX) for northbound trains (bound for Richmond and Antioch) are on the second level. A side platform with one track (C2) for southbound trains (bound for Berryessa/​North San José or San Francisco) is on the third level.[3][4] The station has red brickwork, contrasting with the blue of nearby 19th Street Oakland station.[5]

The station has eight public entrances: two at 12th Street, three at 13th Street, and two at 14th Street (one from Frank H. Ogawa Plaza), plus one from the belowground plaza of Oakland City Center near 13th Street. Surface elevators are located at the Ogawa Plaza entrance and at the southwest 12th Street entrance, while the platform elevator is at the south end of the station.[3] An unused passage leads directly to the Central Bank Building at the north end of the station.[6][7]

Street level	Entrances/exits
Mezzanine	Faregates, ticket machines, Oakland City Center entrance/exit
Northbound (CX)	→      Antioch–​SFO/​Millbrae toward Antioch (19th Street Oakland) →
Island platform
Northbound (C1)	→      Richmond–​Millbrae toward Richmond (19th Street Oakland) → →      Berryessa/​North San José–​Richmond toward Richmond (19th Street Oakland) →
Side platform
Southbound (C2)	←      Antioch–​SFO/​Millbrae toward SFO (West Oakland) ←      Richmond–​Millbrae toward Millbrae weekdays, Daly City Saturdays (West Oakland) ←      Berryessa/​North San José–​Richmond toward Berryessa/​North San José (Lake Merritt)

History

The disused entrance to the Central Bank Building

Map of the KE Track project

Oakland City Center/12th Street station, along with 19th Street Oakland and Daly City stations, was designed by Gerard McCue and Associates.[8] By 1967, owners of three Oakland buildings were considering paying for private entrances from the station mezzanine.[9] Only one was actually constructed: an entrance from the Central Bank Building (1400 Broadway) was approved in February 1968.[6]

The station opened on September 11, 1972, as part of the first section of BART to open; service was extended to Richmond the next year. Service to Concord was added on May 21, 1973, and extended to San Francisco through the Transbay Tube on September 16, 1974. Richmond–San Francisco service was added on April 19, 1976.[1]

The station initially had one side platform on each level, with one track on the east side of each platform. The KE Track project, begun in 1980 and completed on March 17, 1986, converted the upper platform to an island platform with a new west track (Track CX).[10][4] The new track was originally used for peak hour service (southbound towards San Francisco in the morning, and northbound in the evening).[11]

Schedule changes on June 22, 1992, introduced timed transfers between Richmond–Fremont line and Concord–Daly City line trains. Oakland City Center/12th Street was the transfer point between northbound (Richmond-bound and Concord-bound) trains, while MacArthur station was the transfer point between southbound trains.[12][1]^:35 Timed transfers were discontinued in 2002, but resumed on February 9, 2004.[13]

The station was renamed to 12th Street Oakland City Center around 2008.[14][15][16] On September 13, 2010, the northbound transfer location was changed to 19th Street Oakland station.[17] Sunday-only service to the station on the Dublin/Pleasanton line was operated from February 11, 2019 to February 10, 2020 due to construction work in the Transbay Tube.[18][19]

Construction of the Oakland–San Leandro East Bay Bus Rapid Transit line (later branded Tempo) began in August 2016.[20] Tempo route 1T service began on August 9, 2020, with surface stations at 14th Street and City Center.[21]

Bus connections

A route 1T bus at City Center station

Downtown Oakland is a major transfer point for AC Transit buses, which stop at various locations on Broadway and cross streets near the station:[22]

• Broadway Shuttle: Day and Night
• Rapid: 1T, 72R
• Local: 6, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 29, 33, 40, 51A, 72, 72M, 88, 96
• All-Nighter: 1T, 840, 851

Route 1T stops at dedicated platforms at two locations: 14th Street on Broadway at the north end of the station, and City Center just east of Broadway on 12th Street (northbound) and 11th Street (southbound) at the south end of the station.[22]

References

1. "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
2. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 2020.
3. "Station Layout: 12th Street/Oakland City Center Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. June 17, 2013.
4. Mahon, Vincent P. "Track Rehabilitation and New Construction in An Operating Environment at BART" (PDF). Transportation Research Record. 1006: 45–54.
5. Burks, John (September 12, 1972). "1st Day Smash Hit With Happy BART Riders". San Francisco Examiner. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Solution Hinted On Ashby Subway". Oakland Tribune. February 9, 1968. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Historic Central Building" (PDF). Grubb & Ellis. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2016.
8. Cerny, Susan (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502. ISBN 9781586854324.
9. "Subway Entry for 4 Firms?". Oakland Tribune. June 8, 1967. p. 68 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Annual Report 1985–86. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District – via Internet Archive.
11. Marino, Frank (July 1986). "BART". Pacific RailNews. p. 40.
12. Chin, Steven A. (June 12, 1992). "More, faster service slated by BART". San Francisco Examiner – via Newspapers.com.
13. Cabanatuan, Michael (February 9, 2004). "BART changing schedule so more go to SFO / Peninsula ridership below expectations, needs a boost". San Francisco Chronicle.
14. "BART Fares and Schedules" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 1, 2008.
15. "BART Fares and Schedules" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 14, 2009.
16. "12th St. Oakland City Center Station". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008.
17. "Minor BART schedule changes on Monday, September 13" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. August 25, 2010.
18. "February 11 schedule change impacts weekdays and Sundays" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 15, 2019.
19. "New Sunday service plan to begin in February" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 25, 2019.
20. "AC TRANSIT ANNOUNCES THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR THE EAST BAY BUS RAPID TRANSIT" (Press release). Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District. August 26, 2016.
21. "AC TRANSIT TEMPO OPENS TO RIDERS SUNDAY, AUGUST 9" (Press release). Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District. August 7, 2020.
22. "Transit Stops: 12th Street/Oakland City Center Station" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Commission. August 18, 2020.

External links

Media related to 12th Street Oakland City Center station at Wikimedia Commons

• BART – 12th St. Oakland City Center