A wild time for travel, transit is coming to SF in November

For a single morning in June 2022, downtown San Francisco was brought to a standstill as the Warriors championship parade rolled down Market Street. 

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference descends upon San Francisco from Nov. 11 to 17, and is expected to upend transit and travel in pockets throughout downtown, with most the impact Nov. 14 through 19. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend. 

The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are leading security preparations for the event and announced this week that APEC is a National Special Security Event. It’s the 75th time they’ve enacted such a high level of security, and it’s on par with an event like a presidential inauguration. 

For San Franciscans who live, work or travel to sections of SoMa, Nob Hill and along the Embarcadero, the week will likely feature boosted law enforcement presence. Residents and workers will be required to enter these areas through marked checkpoints, show identification and be subject to search. Officers will inspect any bags or packages that come within the designated areas. Any deliveries or services in the protected areas must be completed before to 8 p.m. Nov. 14.

Several streets and freeway ramps from Interstate 80 into SoMa around the Moscone Center are closing from Nov. 14 to 19. Mission, Howard and Folsom streets will be closed between 2nd and 5th streets. 

Streets and freeway ramps around Moscone Center will also be closed Nov. 14 to 19. These closures will result in significant traffic impacts. Those visiting the area are encouraged to take public transit. Drivers should expect delays and plan to give themselves extra time.

On-street parking within the security zone is unavailable, and SFMTA’s Moscone Center Garage will close throughout APEC. The Fifth and Mission/Yerba Buena Garage is slated to remain open for public parking. 

The Embarcadero will undergo closures from Battery Street to Broadway, especially on Nov. 15 and during that evening’s CEO summit gala. 

SFMTA is rerouting more than a dozen bus and cable car lines during the week. The agency will alter some of its most popular bus routes — including the 1 California, 8 Bayshore and 14 Mission — while eliminating Muni Metro service on the T Third Street line between 4th and Brannan and Yerba Buena-Moscone stations. A temporary KT Ingleside-Third line will run, but it will not go past Embarcadero Station.

The new train line connecting Chinatown-Rose Pak Station and Union Square-Market Street Station will stay open, serving as a shuttle between these stations every five minutes. 

Cable car service in the Nob Hill area will be significantly impacted. The California Cable Car line will be suspended entirely between Nov. 14 and 19 (a bus substitution will be offered), while the Powell/Hyde and Powell/Mason cable car lines will be shortened. Those lines will not travel south of Washington Street on Powell Street. Another bus substitution will provide service along Powell Street from Jackson to Ellis streets.

During the press conference on Oct. 18, Jeffrey Tumlin, director of transportation for SFMTA, said that BART and Caltrain will not experience any changes during APEC. 

San Francisco International Airport will undergo flight restrictions that will impact commercial airlines, but the Federal Aviation Authority has yet to publish details. 

Bicyclists traveling on Howard and Folsom streets will be directed to Market Street. The bike lanes on 2nd and 5th streets are slated to remain open.