Hercules Transit Center is a major commuter hub in the western Contra Costa County city of Hercules, California. It is anchored by WestCAT bus services. The center was originally on San Pablo Avenue. In August 2009, the transit center was relocated to the other side of I-80 with additional paid parking, which is $3/day. [1]
The transit center is a pulse (a timed and synchronized) transfer point for various local feeder bus lines from the adjacent areas of Hercules, Pinole, Rodeo, the northern Hilltop area of Richmond, Bayview-Montalvin, and Tara Hills.
The feeder services direct express commuter bus service to El Cerrito del Norte BART station in El Cerrito, downtown Martinez (the county seat) and the Martinez Amtrak station. These services provide transfers to AC Transit at Richmond Parkway Transit Center, shopping areas at Hilltop Mall Shopping Center and Pinole Vista Shopping Center and weekday transbay service to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal.
The westbound weekday morning commute from this point south towards the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge is the most congested in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2001 according to Caltrans.
Studies have been concluded as to the feasibility of extending BART service to the Transit Center. [2] A larger, proposed Hercules Regional Intermodal Transit Center has been planned for the corner of Bayfront Boulevard and Railroad Avenue, though it would not necessarily discontinue the use of this facility.
The following weekday bus lines stop at the center:
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 131 miles of track, including eBART, a 9-mile (14 km) spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connector, a 3-mile (4.8 km) automated guideway transit line serving San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. With an average of 169,800 weekday passenger trips as of the third quarter of 2024 and 48,119,400 annual passenger trips in 2023, BART is the sixth-busiest rapid transit system in the United States.
Contra Costa County is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,165,927. The county seat is Martinez. It occupies the northern portion of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area and is primarily suburban. The county's name refers to its position on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. Contra Costa County is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hercules is a city in western Contra Costa County, California. Situated along the coast of San Pablo Bay, it is located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Berkeley. As of the 2020 census, its population was 26,016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The site of Hercules was first developed in 1881 as a manufacturing facility of the California Powder Works for the production of its patented dynamite formulation, Hercules powder. In 1882, the Hercules Powder Company was incorporated and assumed responsibility for the Hercules site. It was one of several explosive manufacturers that were active along the Pinole shoreline in the late 19th to the mid-20th century. The small company town that grew up near the facility subsequently became known as "Hercules", and was incorporated at the end of 1900. Starting in the 1970s, Hercules was heavily redeveloped as suburban bedroom community that lies along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It has a very ethnically diverse population.
San Pablo is an enclave city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. The current mayor is Patricia Ponce. Currently, the city council consists of Abel Pineda, Arturo Cruz, Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado, and Rita Xavier. Ponce is mayor, and Cruz, Pabon-Alvarado, and Xavier are council members. Dorothy Gantt is the city Clerk. Viviana Toledo is the city treasurer.
AC Transit is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" routes across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco and selected areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members. It is not a part of or under the control of Alameda or Contra Costa counties or any local jurisdictions.
WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County. It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority.
State Route 123 is a 7.39-mile (11.89 km) state highway in the U.S. state of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Named San Pablo Avenue for almost its entire length except for its northernmost 0.10 miles (0.16 km), SR 123 is a major north–south state highway along the flats of the urban East Bay. Route 123 runs between Interstate 580 in Oakland in the south and Interstate 80 at Cutting Boulevard in Richmond in the north. San Pablo Avenue itself, a portion of Historic US 40, continues well past the SR 123 designation south to Downtown Oakland and north to Crockett.
Richmond station is an Amtrak intercity rail and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located in downtown Richmond, California. Richmond is the north terminus of BART service on the Orange Line and Red Line; it is a stop for Amtrak's Capitol Corridor, San Joaquins, and California Zephyr routes. The accessible station has one island platform for the two BART tracks, with a second island platform serving two of the three tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad Martinez Subdivision for Amtrak trains. It is one of two transfer points between BART and Amtrak, along with Oakland Coliseum station.
El Cerrito del Norte station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located on Cutting Boulevard in El Cerrito, California. The station is served by the Orange and Red lines. Located near San Pablo Avenue and Interstate 80, it serves as a regional transit hub for local AC Transit bus services, and for commuter feeder services from Solano, Napa, and Marin Counties in the North Bay plus western Contra Costa County. Opened in 1973, the station was renovated in 2017–2021 to add additional elevators, stairs, and lobby space.
El Cerrito Plaza station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in El Cerrito, California, located adjacent to the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center. It primarily serves southern El Cerrito, northern Albany, and Kensington, along with nearby portions of Berkeley and Richmond. Nearly identical in form to El Cerrito del Norte station, El Cerrito Plaza station has two side platforms serving the line's two elevated tracks, with a fare lobby underneath. The Ohlone Greenway runs through the station area. The station is served by the Orange and Red lines.
The Richmond Parkway Transit Center, or RPTC, is a park and ride lot and bus terminal located in Richmond, California. It is named after the adjacent Richmond Parkway and serves as a transfer point for WestCAT and AC Transit. The center is situated on the corner of Richmond Parkway and Blume Drive, near the Pinole border and adjacent to Interstate 80 and the Hilltop Plaza shopping center.
Hilltop District, more commonly known simply as Hilltop, is a neighborhood located in the northeastern area of Richmond, California.
Richmond Heights, formerly East Richmond and also known as Mira Vista, is a district of eastern Richmond, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Hercules station is a proposed intermodal infill train station and ferry terminal in Hercules, California in Contra Costa County. It is to be the first direct Amtrak-to-ferry transit hub in the San Francisco Bay Area and will be constructed in between the existing Richmond and Martinez stations. By July 2018, three of the station's six construction phases had been complete, including street at Bay Trail approaches. However, no proposed opening date has yet been announced by the City of Hercules.
Throughout the history of Bay Area Rapid Transit, there have been plans to extend service to other areas.
Macdonald 80 Shopping Center, or Macdonald 80, is a 200,000 sq. ft. (18,580m³) regional shopping mall in the North & East neighborhood in Richmond, California, anchored by a Target store. The center was largely demolished and rebuilt after suffering from urban decay and blight. It is the only entirely LEED certified mall. It is anchored by a large Target store.
Abella Center formerly International Marketplace and originally El Portal Shopping Center is a mixed-use city services, business, shopping center and housing village transit-oriented development that was formerly a mall in San Pablo, California.
SolTrans, officially Solano County Transit, is a joint powers authority that provides public transportation service to the southern Solano County cities of Vallejo and Benicia, California, United States. SolTrans was established in 2011 and is the result of a merger between Vallejo Transit and Benicia Breeze. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 954,200, or about 3,400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
The Fairfield Transportation Center or FTC is a bus station in Fairfield, California, United States. The facility serves as a bus hub for transportation on local, commuter, and long-distance bus services. There are plans to expand the center. Casual carpooling is also practiced here.