The Lasting Legacy of the 1913 Bion Arnold Report

The Lasting Legacy of the 1913 Bion Arnold Report
By Jeremy Menzies

Looking back at San Francisco’s transportation history, one study from 1913 has impacted the city’s transit system for over 100 years. Commissioned by city officials, the “Report on the Improvement and Development of the Transportation Facilities of San Francisco” by engineer Bion J. Arnold, is a comprehensive study of transit in the city. The 450-page report covers everything from rush hour congestion to plans for a Market Street subway. This document is essential to understanding our city’s transportation history and some of its recommendations are still in use today.

Black and white overhead view of street with horse-drawn and electric streetcars, horse drawn wagons, pedestrians, and buildings. Business signage includes Patrick and Company and Fly Trap.

This 1910 view of Market and Sutter streets shows just some of the complex issues that the Arnold report addressed.

Building Muni

One section of the report is entirely dedicated to specifications for building and improving the city’s cable and street cars. Muni’s very first streetcars, frequently called “Arnold” cars, were specified based on construction cost, passenger comfort, ease of operation, and even the unique climate of San Francisco. Today, historic Streetcar 1 is one of these streetcars that still runs in special service.

front and side view of old-style streetcar. Route reads "A". Headsign reads "Ferries". Sign reads "Enter at rear". Car is branded "Municipal Railway".

This photo of one of Muni’s first streetcars was used on page 178 of the report and shows the open end sections, boarding platforms, and “automatic” ventilation features specified by Arnold.

In addition to the vehicles, Muni’s earliest lines, and service to the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, were all directly influenced by the report. Versions of the A, B, C, E, F and H streetcar lines all appear in the report. It also influenced later lines like the J, K, L, and M.

group of people walking away from streetcar. car is headsigned "Exposition".

Passengers alight from a Muni streetcar at the 1915 world’s fair. Arnold dedicated an entire section of the report to discussing service to the fair, which was provided by Muni and the United Railroads Co.

Tunnels & Streets

The report also detailed several tunnels and street changes throughout the city meant to speed travel across town. Of the more than ten tunneling projects proposed, the Stockton Street, Twin Peaks, and Sunset tunnels were all built by 1930. The Broadway tunnel followed in the early 1950s.

cable car in foreground with excavation, bulldozer, and tunnel entrance in background. car is branded "Municipal Railway" and signed "Powell and Mason streets".

A cable car on Mason Street passes by the Broadway Tunnel, still under construction in this 1951 shot.

Among the street changes proposed, the extension of Market Street over Twin Peaks was perhaps the largest. This extension was built alongside the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1917-18.

Improving and Expanding Transit

Arnold also called for a consolidated transit system and a subway under Market Street, both of which were achieved by the mid-20th Century. In 1944, voters approved the purchase of the Market Street Railway Company, the largest transit operator in SF. This merger unified public transit service under Muni. Instead of navigating two competing services, riders finally had a one-fare ride to virtually anywhere in town. Consolidation also allowed improvements to be made across the system.

Drawing of subway station showing streetcars, platforms, signage, people and tracks. Drawing is titled "Track level in typical station. Proposed San Francisco subway. Public Utilities Commission." Signs in drawing read "Fifth Street" as station name, directional signs reading "To 5th Street", "Exit to 5th", "To Powell Street". Streetcar headsign reads "Ocean Avenue".

Bion Arnold’s Market Street subway plans were just one of many ideas floated over the years. This drawing from 1937 shows a proposed subway station at Powell and Market streets.

Arnold’s report is one of the earliest documents to include clear plans for a Market Street subway. 50 years later when Bay Area voters approved general obligation bonds to build BART & Muni Metro, elements of Arnold’s subway showed up in the design.

Ongoing Legacy

Even today, suggestions from the report can be found in the SFMTA’s Muni Forward and Vision Zero Quick Build programs. Moving and consolidating stops, increasing boarding area size, building transit boarding islands, and all-door boarding are all mentioned in the 1913 document.

street-level transit platform with train and people waiting

A common sight today, double-length platforms and two-car trains like those pictured here were just two improvements to transit service recommended by the Arnold report.

The Arnold report is one of the most extensive studies of transportation in San Francisco. 109 years later, many of the changes recommended by the report have become normal parts of our streets and transit system.

Published June 30, 2022 at 07:29AM
https://ift.tt/oVulUQO

Comments

Mumbai rains: Heavy waterlogging in Dadar, low-lying areas; route at Hindmata, Parel diverted https://ift.tt/30TQ9RI

Parts of Mumbai continued to receive downpour since early Monday. According to the details, transport and buses in several low-lying areas in the city were diverted, as some areas witnessed heavy waterlogging due to rains. Routes at Hindmata and Parel were also diverted. The BMC authorities had put barricades on roads and had blocked commuters due to heavy rains and waterlogging. Market areas in Dadar were waterlogged which posed a challenge for the locals.

Delhi: 27-year-old doctor dies of COVID-19 after month-long struggle https://ift.tt/39s6hOe

After a month-long struggle, a 27-year-old doctor has succumbed to the deadly novel coronavirus at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in New Delhi. Joginder Chaudhary had been battling the infection since June 28 after he was tested positive a day earlier.

New top story from Time: Caster Semenya Is Barred From Her Best Race. But She Won’t Give Up On Tokyo.

https://ift.tt/2R9s9c0 Caster Semenya’s fight continues. In February, the South African runner filed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, for the right to run in the Tokyo Olympics in her preferred event: the 800-m, a race in which Semenya is the two-time defending Olympic champ. In 2018 World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, ruled that female athletes with differences of sex development, competing in races from 400 m to the mile, must reduce natural testosterone levels through medical intervention in order to run in those races. Semenya, who was born a woman and is legally recognized as a woman, has said that from around 2010 to 2015 she took birth control pills to lower her testosterone: she said she suffered from side effects like fevers and experience abdominal pain, among other symptoms. She has since refused to take any more medication to comply with the World Athletics rules. Semenya took her case to the Court of Arbitration for...

New top story from Time: As COVID-19 Surges in South Dakota, Medical Groups Urge Masks Despite Gov. Kristi Noem’s Skepticism

https://ift.tt/2JadCcd (SIOUX FALLS, S.D.) — South Dakota’s largest medical organizations on Tuesday launched a joint effort to promote mask-wearing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the state suffers through one of the nation’s worst outbreaks, a move that countered Gov. Kristi Noem’s position of casting doubt on the efficacy of wearing face coverings in public. As the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 have multiplied in recent weeks, the Republican governor has tried to downplay the severity of the virus , highlighting that most people don’t die from COVID-19. Noem, who has staked out a reputation on refusing to issue any mandates to stem the virus’ spread, has repeatedly countered recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to wear masks in public settings. Shortly after the Department of Health reported that the number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 broke records for the third straight day on Tuesday, peop...

5 things that make Perseverance NASA's strongest and smartest Mars rover yet https://ift.tt/3hIkHN6

After eight successful Mars landings, NASA is all set for another mission with its newest rover. The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff this week — is NASA’s brawniest and brainiest Martian rover yet. It sports the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars. Its super-sanitized sample return tubes — for rocks that could hold evidence of past Martian life — are the cleanest items ever bound for space. A helicopter is even tagging along for an otherworldly test flight.

FOX NEWS: Crossword Puzzle of the Week: July 28 Take Fox News' Crossword Puzzle of the Week and test your knowledge of the Olympics.

Crossword Puzzle of the Week: July 28 Take Fox News' Crossword Puzzle of the Week and test your knowledge of the Olympics. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3zJBKaB

New top story from Time: A Woman of Color Cannot Save Your Workplace Culture

https://ift.tt/39GFaQC “The ideal candidate would be a woman of color.” I’ve been hearing this from several hiring managers lately, and something about it wasn’t sitting well. On the one hand, workplaces are finally confronting the lack of diversity in their ranks and getting explicit and intentional about what they need to do. On the other: WTF? For decades, white managers ascended, wrote mission statements without centering equity, built teams off existing networks—and now they are ready to be inclusive? The phenomenon isn’t new. Researchers call the expectations on women of color, specifically Black women, “ superwoman schema ”; others dub it an extension of “ strong Black woman syndrome .” We cheer and tweet the heroics of women of color (from caregiving within their families to the loftier, say, saving of democracy by getting out the vote) without mentioning the toll this burden takes. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The idea of women of color now saving the modern...

New top story from Time: Why India’s Most Populous State Just Passed a Law Inspired by an Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theory

https://ift.tt/3pZtgYR India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh , introduced a law outlawing so-called “Love Jihad” on Tuesday, the first of at least five states led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that are considering new legislation targeting interfaith relationships in the world’s largest democracy. Love Jihad is a baseless conspiracy theory that Muslim men are attempting to surreptitiously shift India’s demographic balance by converting Hindu women to Islam through marriage. The narrative has been pushed by Hindu nationalist groups close to India’s ruling BJP since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was first elected in 2014. Since Modi came to power, his government has introduced several other measures that target India’s minority Muslim community. The conspiracy has received renewed attention after a Hindu woman in Haryana was murdered in October by a Muslim man who, her family said, had pressured her to convert and marry him. The new law was ...

21-year-old student jumps to death from 22nd floor of Ghaziabad highrise https://ift.tt/302bKs6

A 21-year-old man died after allegedly jumping from the 22nd floor of a residential condominium in Indirapuram locality in Ghaziabad on Monday, police said. According to police, the victim was under depression. However, no suicide note was recovered from the spot. Police said that the incident happened at one of the residential towers of Saya Zenith, a high-rise society in Ahinsa Khand II of Indirapuram. The family of the man was present at home when the incident occurred.

Covid-19 stressing you out? 8 ways you can sleep better https://ift.tt/2CNNFN2

No matter who and where you are, your circadian rhythm (the basic sleep-wake cycle or body clock) is the internal process that determines your physical, mental and behavioral changes throughout the day and night. Sleep is a critical part of this circadian rhythm and any disruption in the sleep cycle can affect your overall health. While getting sufficient sleep every night is important, many have reported difficulty in achieving it during the pandemic. A study published in 'Current Biology' in June 2020 revealed that even though people working from home during the pandemic are likely to be getting more sleep time, their sleep quality is often poor and disrupted.

My precise view

Search This Blog