Transbay Transit Center to re-open, but buses won't roll right away

After an eight month closure the Transbay Transit Center is set to reopen July first but bus service will roll out over the course of the rest of the month.

After months of examinations and work, engineers have now said the Transbay Transit Center is safe to reopen. "We've very happy to report that the transit center will reopen July 1st to the public, said Christine Falvey, Transbay Transit Center Spokesperson. "That doesn't mean bus service on the first day. But, people can come and enjoy the park, the free events and activities."

The transit center closed after cracks were discovered on support beams in September. Since then, engineers have worked to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

Now that the work has been certified by engineers, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority met to hear the latest details on when commuters will once again flood in and out of the transit center. "The bus plaza, which is local bus service, Muni, Golden Gate Transit, look for early July dates," said Falvey. "And then later this summer on the bus deck, AC Transit will begin service, and other operators."

Commuters waiting at the temporary bus terminal say they want to be sure the new center is safe.

"Well, I hope it works. I mean, I'm glad they're reopening it if it's safe. If it turns out not to be safe obviously that's a bad idea," said one commuter.

"People can have a lot of confidence now. Outside experts have said that the building's safe, that it can reopen," said Falvey.

The transit authority said it's also addressed another high profile problem. Since it's opening the decomposed granite walkway throgh the elevated park began deteriorating as well. "We took the opportunity during the closure to replace the entire path," said Flavey. "So, now when people come for day one, they'll see a new path around the park."

As for the costs the Transbay Transit Center incurred about $6 million dollars for all the engineering and peer reviews they had to do that's separate from whatever Webcor the builder spent to fix those cracked beams.

The building was under the equivalent of a warranty at the time. So, the Transbay Joint Powers say they'll work to recoup that money and make sure the costs for repairs don't fall on commuters.