2nd Transbay Tube needed for late-night transit, task force says

BART riders at the Montgomery Station experience less than normal congestion during the evening commute to the east bay on Thursday, June 14, 2012. The shut down of the transbay tube in the morning forced some commuters to drive instead. less BART riders at the Montgomery Station experience less than normal congestion during the evening commute to the east bay on Thursday, June 14, 2012. The shut down of the transbay tube in the morning forced some ... more Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 2nd Transbay Tube needed for late-night transit, task force says 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Getting into, out of, or around San Francisco on public transportation after midnight needs to be easier, faster, safer and more reliable — and the Bay Area can’t wait for a second Transbay Tube, a city task force has concluded.

The Late Night Transportation Working Group, 29 people representing late-night businesses, workers and tourism and transportation operators, will recommend Monday an expansion and overhaul of overnight bus service, getting private businesses to help pay for better late-night transit, expanding Bay Area Bike Share and getting transit agencies to take a closer look at what’s keeping them from running late-night rail service.

The group will present its recommendations, outlined in a 26-page report, to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Economic Development Committee.

The report was commissioned, and the task force assembled, after a committee hearing a year ago detailed the increasing need for late-night and early-morning transit — for workers getting off their jobs late or starting work early as well as late-night revelers — and the woeful inadequacies of the existing late-night choices.

While the city’s late-night economy is booming — with 60,000 workers, the task force estimates — rail service on BART, Muni Metro and Caltrain shuts down between midnight and 1 a.m. That leaves transit riders erratic and infrequent bus service.

“Late-night bus service is very hit-and-miss,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who launched the look into late-night transit. “It’s not frequent enough, it’s not reliable enough, and it’s not fast enough. And there are gaps in the city — areas that don’t have service.”

Safety is also a concern among late-night riders. particularly among women and workers who receive tips and are wary of waiting at dark bus stops with pockets full of cash.

The assumption used to be that late-night transit was mainly for club- and concertgoers or to keep drunken drivers off the roads. But the focus has shifted to the growing number of restaurant, nightclub and hotel workers who get off work in the early-morning hours or need to head in to work before dawn.

“This isn’t just about partiers getting home late at night,” Wiener said. “It’s become more and more apparent that there is a large number of workers getting off work late.”

In addition to recommending more robust late-night bus service and bike sharing, the report also suggests better lighting and safety features at transit stops, more secure bike parking, taxi stands and establishing a system for shared rides in taxis, much as ride-sharing companies offer. It also recommends better publicity of late-night transit choices and establishing a system to measure and monitor service.

Already, Wiener said, the late-night transit scene has improved with a BART-funded expansion of late-night transbay service on AC Transit, and Muni plans to boost its Owl service.

While the recommendations focus on late-night transit improvements that could arrive relatively quickly, the report doesn’t give up on the idea of getting BART, Muni Metro or Caltrain to run later or, eventually, around the clock. It calls on the transit agencies to prepare extensive reports outlining the obstacles to late-night service and what it would take to get there.

That information, along with a regional study of the capacity of the transbay and downtown transit corridors, should be used to develop plans and lobby for funding for projects such as a second Transbay Tube.

“That is the Holy Grail, getting late-night service on BART,” Wiener said. “That issue is not ever going to be solved until we get a second Transbay Tube.”

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan