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SalesForce Transit Center: Social Media On San Francisco – Oakland Response, Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan Role

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SalesForce Transit Center, developed by Maria Ayerdi Kaplan, San Francisco’s a social media gem!

SalesForce Transit Center’s first regular commute day was Monday, August 13th, and Oakland News Now checked in on the social media perspective of the major event in San Francisco Bay Area history. The giant facility, originally planned by its developer Maria Ayerdi Kaplan when then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown hired her to run the Transbay Transit Center Joint Powers Authority as its Executive Director, in 1999, has opened to rave reviews, and altered how the East Bay gets to San Francisco – back to the way it was.

(Marc Benioff is wrong: its better than the Highline NYC.)

But here is something you should know…

What Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan Did That Created Salesforce Transit Center

If you’re wondering what Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan did in her role as Transbay Transit Center Joint Powers Authority Executive Director, she formed the entire Transbay Transit Center Program that gave rise to the mixed-use development transit-oriented plan in the South of Market area. Today it has thousands of new residential units and millions of square feet of commercial space, read on. Because it’s important the story, her story, not be swept under the rug, now that SalesForce Transit Center is open.

Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan’s job was to develop the plan for what is now called SalesForce Transit Center and moving the Transbay Transit Center Program and its associated development through regulatory approvals at the federal, state, regional and local levels of government. Maria Ayerdi Kaplan secured billions in funding for the Transbay Transit Center Program’s completion from public and private sources and developing enterprise revenue streams. Additionally, Ms. Ayerdi Kaplan formed the stakeholder process that generated vast support for the Transbay Transit Center Program.

For her efforts, Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan celebrated by the Golden Gate Business Association for her vision, leadership and commitment to the LGBT business community, in 2014. She was also given the Influential Woman in Business award by Women Construction Owners and Executives in 2015. As you walk through SalesForce Transit Center, remember that it was Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan who was responsible for it.


And the Cesar Pelli design that’s captured the imagination of the World emerged from this competition in 2007 that Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan established (from Zennie62 on YouTube):

Now, back to the social media look at SalesForce Transit Center, mid week.

SalesForce Transit Center Is Considered One Of The World’s Iconic Urban Spaces

Yes, it’s really a giant bus stop (as San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin once called it), but that tells only part of the story: the social media entries all point to SalesForce Transit Center as one of the World’s iconic urban spaces.

What bothers this Berkeley-trained urban planner with an Oakland-centric view is that SalesForce Transit Center represents one more example of how San Francisco proves it has the will and the initiative to complete big public projects, whereas Oakland still has not done that in a very long time.

But I digress. Here’s what others say…

But then, there’s this problem of Salesforce Transit Center customer service that comes up….

Oakland News Now will have more on this new ‘Wonder of The World’ that re-connects San Francisco to the East Bay for a new generation of transit riders.

Stay tuned.