Thursday, April 9, 2009

How to get to the San Franciso MMS hearing

The MMS hearing is being held at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center Robertson Auditorium.

Address:
1675 Owens Street
San Francisco, CA 94158

Map:

View Larger Map


We strongly encourage the use of public transit - we are fighting against more oil drilling after all. The google map directions using the public transportation option are great.

Here are some options thanks to Vicky Hoover from the Sierra Club.

Muni:

The closest and most convenient public transportation to the Robertson Auditorium at the UCSF Mission Bay campus is the San Francisco Muni System "T" Line, which runs underground down Market St. (connecting easily there to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system and then surfaces along the Embarcadero, running south to the Caltrain station at 4th and King Sts. (easy conection with Caltrain from the Peninsula and San Jose areas) and then down Third St. through Mission Bay and on to the south toward Brisbane--the last/southernmost stop, almost on city/county line is "Sunnydale".

The T line stop closest to the Robertson auditorium is the UCSF-Mission Bay station; across from South St. From there it is a walk of only a few minutes westward along "Eugene Friend Way"--a broad pedestrain/bike way, to get to the Auditorium.

Note that this is approaching from the east side of the Robertson Auditorium, NOT the west, or Owens St. side. The Owens St side is actually less pedestrian-friendly to approach. (the I-280 freeway is very near there.)

BART:

For people coming from the San Francisco airport on BART, or from anyone coming on BART from the East Bay, get off the BART train at one of the downtown San Francisco stations (Embarcadero from the East Bay, and from the airport either Civic Center, Powell St., Montgomery St. or Embarcadero. Then, without exiting the station, go up to the Concourse level from the BART platform level, buy a Muni ticket ($1.50 or .50 for seniors) then descend to the Muni level, look for the "T" line -- making sure to take it in the Inbound, NOT Outbound direction. Look for signs to Mission Bay, or Hunter's Point, or Sunnydale. But mainly, get an Inbound train.

CALTRAIN:

From Caltrain, it is even easier. The "T' line stops at 4th and King, on 4th, just across King from the Caltrain station. (Careful though -- there is a totally different Muni stop even nearer the Caltrain station, on King, for the "N" line. Don't
go to that one--you need the one marked "T", and then be sure to get on the "southbound" train, not "downtown". Then it is a short ride, only two stops, to the UCSF-Mission Bay stop. (The first stop is called "Mission Rock."

Or, one can walk from the Caltrain station -- walk east down King to Third St., hang a right, and walk along Third to South St/Eugene Friend Way - a bit more than half a mile.

BUS:

There is also the #10 Muni bus line, that runs from the financial district north of Market (Battery St.) goes south of Market and to 4th and Townsend - where one can walk a short block to King and transfer to the "T" line, OR you can walk from there OR stay on the #10 and it will take you pretty close to the site, as it circles south on Rhode Island Ave, and to 16th St. Get off on 16th, walk to Owens.

Alternatively , there is the #22 bus, coming from the Marina, the FDillmore and Upper Market St., that goes prety close, to 17th St and 18th Sts,. Closest to the site is probably 17th and Connecticut.

You can see all this routing yourself at http://transit.511.org/static/providers/maps/SF_7122007102343.pdf

But truly: just Take the T train for Trouble-free Transit.

(there is a big car parking lot, a little way up Third, by the ball park.) But, especially since our message is NO OIL DRILLING, etc. the fewer cars the better.)

Note that these directions via the Muni "T" line do NOT lead to the Owens St side of the building--the "official" address. But that's ok, in fact it's good: the east entrance, fronting on "Bank of America Terrace" is closer to the stairway going up to the Robertson Auditorium, second level, and also to the elevators.

There are some bike racks out by Bank of America Terrace, but they are a strange kind I never used before, not the trusty "wave" ones. I struggled with it a bit, guess one has to get used to them.

One can see the tall tower directly on leaving the "T" , right from the UCSF-Mission Bay stop. I timed my walk from there to the Bank of America Terrace entrance -- 4 minutes, not trying to go specially fast.

No comments: