Discover Bay Area geology (and so much more) by transit

Two Victorian houses that have fallen off of their foundations after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. Created 1907 by H.C. White Co. Stereo Image from Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.09834/

The Seamless Bay Area blog, as you might expect, is usually chock full of content that’s exclusively about transit. But this month (Transit Month!) we’re making an exception, and venturing into the natural world to highlight the fact that transit shouldn’t “just” be your commuting tool, or the connection to the services you need and the people you care about. Transit has the potential to connect us all to the incredible vistas and experiences of the Bay Area’s wild places, and the fascinating natural systems behind them.

Without hills and ridges, the Bay Area would be a distinctly less photogenic place. The Bay Area’s most famous bridge spans between San Francisco’s most northern hill and rock outcropping to the headlands of Marin. The East Bay hills and the Bay’s peninsula provide micro-climates for redwoods and deserts alike.

Across all of it, our transit system rolls up and down, over and under. Fundamentally, the Bay Area and its hills are shaped by its active faults, fractures between rocks. And these fractures aren’t small! The Bay Area sits on the boundary between two of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates: the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. As these massive plates rub against each other, large ruptures occur, generating major faults like the San Andreas and Hayward faults, and thousands of smaller faults that are scattered throughout the Bay Area.

Major disasters in the Bay Area have made it clear that our built environment needs to reflect the realities of these hidden geological features. This month, two Transit Month events highlight some of the ways Bay Area faults impact infrastructure and  our landscape.

Two great geology x transit events during Transit Month

On September 17th, Join Seamless Bay Area and Dr Austin Elliott of the USGS for a tour of the Hayward Fault in Fremont. Learn how planning for transit and other infrastructure has been influenced by geological hazards, and tap into a wealth of resources to continue exploring on your own. We'll meet at Fremont BART station, take the AC Transit 216 bus to the Fremont Central Park community center, where Dr Elliott will take us through some of the local geological features. For those who wish, we'll continue south to explore how infrastructure can be built to anticipate fault movement, before making our way back to BART on foot.

Sign up here!

Then, on September 30th, Dr Austin Elliott leads a second tour of earthquake geology and hazard mitigation along Market Street in San Francisco. Starting at the Salesforce Transit Center, Dr. Elliott will discuss how earthquakes have impacted the current form of San Francisco, before heading along Market St to Civic Center. Learn how municipal buildings and infrastructure, including the Van Ness BRT, have been engineered to deal with earthquake shaking. Finally, climb up to the Corona Heights to learn about the geological history of San Francisco and get an amazing view of the city.

Sign up to join us!

Resources for learning more about Bay Area geology by transit

Can’t make either of these events? Then check out the incredible Streetcar to Subduction resource from the American Geophysical Union, which uses maps and videos to showcase a number of great geologic locales to visit by transit. And, of course, none of this would have happened without the pioneering work by transit-loving Bay Area geologist Clyde Wahrhaftig (who didn’t drive, but wasn’t above scrounging rides to inaccessible locations).

Geology not your thing? Then look to Evan Tschuy’s hikingbytransit.com, the amazing Outer Spatial app, or these (old but awesome) materials from the Post-Car Press. Collectively, they list out the many amazing places you can get to without a car. Don’t forget that Transit Month also has several other events highlighting how easy it is to reach beautiful open spaces by transit:

Transit can be for everyone and every trip

It’s vital that our transit agencies remain strong such that everyone has the car-free opportunity to access the amazing parks, outdoor spaces, and learning opportunities the Bay Area offers, and we mustn’t dismiss -- or forget to advocate for -- the incredible value of this dimension of a world-class seamless regional transit network. Join us this month as we celebrate access to nature and public transit - the perfect combo!

Beaudry Kock