Ashby station is an underground

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART)

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. The station is located beneath Adeline Street to the south of its intersection with

Ashby Avenue Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

. The station includes

park-and-ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

facilities with 715 automobile parking spaces in two separate parking lots. It is served by the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and

Red lines ''Red Lines'' is a documentary film produced by Spark Media in 2014. It depicts the ongoing civil war in Syria and the efforts of activists Mouaz Moustafa and Razan Shalab-al-Sham to raise international support for the revolution and to promote d ...

Station layout

The station has a single

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

located below ground. The fare mezzanine is located at the same level as the west parking lot; stairs and an elevator provide access from Adeline Street overhead. The station is served several

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

routes that stop in different locations around its perimeter: *Local: 7, 12, 18 *Transbay: F * All Nighter: 800 The free West Berkeley Shuttle runs from the station to the West Berkeley area.

History

The station site is approximately at the historic location of

Berkeley Branch Railroad The Berkeley Branch Railroad was a long branch line of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) from a junction in what later became Emeryville called " Shellmound" to what soon became downtown Berkeley, adjacent to the new University of Califo ...

's Newbury station, which opened after 1876. The BART Board approved the name "Ashby Place" in December 1965. The three stations in Berkeley were originally planned to be elevated, but the City of Berkeley paid extra tax to have them built underground. But Ashby BART was exempt due to a stipulation that allowed the line to continue above ground. The activist

Mable Howard Mable "Mama" Howard (February 3, 1905 - March 29, 1994, Berkeley, California) was a humanitarian, political activist, union activist, and civic leader. Early life Born Mable Daisy Shrock on February 3, 1905, in Van Vleck, Texas, a small town ...

led the effort to move the BART line underground; it would have divided the predominantly Black neighborhood of South Berkeley. The station design was controversial because it was not fully underground; the west side of the mezzanine is level with the parking lot.

Eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

was used to take land for the parking lots, which contributed to the decline of the Black community in the area. Service at Ashby station began on January 29, 1973, as part of the

MacArthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

extension. Uniquely in the BART system, the

City of Berkeley Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and ...

, rather than

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

, controls the

air rights In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...

on the parking lots. Between 2008 and 2010, a portion of the east parking lot was redeveloped as the

Ed Roberts Campus Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

, which houses several regional disability-related organizations. The east parking lot and station entrance were closed for construction on August 18, 2008. The east parking lot reopened on April 19, 2010, and the Ed Roberts Campus and the new east entrance opened that November. The west parking lot of the station hosts a popular

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

on weekends; a proposed residential

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...

over the lot proved locally controversial. The Berkeley City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with BART in December 2019 to begin planning for housing on the lot. The council approved plans for housing at Ashby and in June 2022. By July 2023, the Ashby development was stalled due to disagreements between BART and the city over a planned expansion of a BART electrical substation, which occupies part of the property. BART presented modified plans to accommodate the substation in November 2023, with developer solicitation then planned for mid-2024.

References

External links

BART – AshbyBART – Ashby TODEd Roberts Campus
{{Berkeley, California Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California Stations on the Orange Line (BART) Stations on the Red Line (BART) Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Railway stations located underground in California Transportation in Berkeley, California