Next generation escalators arrive at BART’s downtown San Francisco stations

The Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) first of the new escalators opened for service Aug. 31, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by BART and city officials.  

This is the first of 41 new escalators that are part of the largest investment BART has made in escalators in decades.   

The $96.5 million Market Street Escalator Project is funded by voter-approved Measure RR and will bring 41 new escalators to BART’s four downtown San Francisco stations. The project is happening in conjunction with the Market Street Canopy Project to ensure the escalators are well protected and riders are provided with revitalized entrances to BART’s busiest stations. 

“This is a great day for our riders,” said BART Board Member Bevan Dufty. “Our repair teams have done incredible work to keep our aging escalators in the best operating condition possible, but those units have worn down through heavy use. Our riders have been loud and clear in telling us that replacing escalators needs to be a priority for BART and now we’re delivering on that demand.” 

The new escalators incorporate the latest technology with multiple improvements: 

• Safety enhancements that comply with the latest code requirements.   
• New LED skirt lighting. 
• Materials used in fabrication are lighter in weight yet equally or more robust than heritage escalators.  
• The escalators are constructed of sustainable materials and utilize an automatic lubrication system that applies lubrication only when and where it is needed. 
• Once phase two of the project is complete the escalators will have sleep mode operation and variable frequency regenerative drive functions to allow for smooth starts and stops and to allow the escalators to slow down and save electricity when no passengers are using them. 
• Advanced controller equipment and real-time remote monitoring of escalators allows BART to know the moment an escalator is not available for public use as well as the cause of the shutdown. 

Many of the escalators being replaced are among the oldest in the system. The Market Street Escalator Project will replace 22 units that extend from the street to the concourse level and 18 that connect concourses with platforms. Additionally, a street-level escalator at Civic Center Station will be installed at the entrance closest to the Orpheum Theater where right now there are only stairs. 

The parallel canopy project is bringing as many as 22 new entrances to downtown San Francisco stations that include new entrance gates, screens with real-time transit information and multiple security cameras. 

 The new escalators are built especially for the challenges they'll face at BART and are a key part of the plan to revitalize the entrances to some of BART's busiest stations.