CA: The Valkyries’ home opener is Sunday. Here’s why you shouldn’t drive

Basketball honchos and San Francisco transportation planners have a humble message for anyone heading to the Golden State Valkyries’ home opener on Sunday: There is no need to drive.

Yes, we’ve heard this before. When Chase Center opened in 2019, blooming from an industrial lot in the Mission Bay neighborhood, everyone promised it would be easy to get there. Muni built a stylish train platform across the street from the complex, all gridded glass and expansive concrete. It was big enough for 700 fans to huddle and wait for the T Third line. And the Warriors emphatically promoted public transit, offering free bus and train passes to ticketholders on game days.

But fast-growing Mission Bay has become harder to navigate, as tech companies move in and apartment towers rise on the waterfront. So the Municipal Transportation Agency has ramped up efforts to improve the T, not only for events at Chase Center but also to carry people to restaurants, medical campuses and soccer fields.

Recently, SFMTA installed transit signal priority to speed up a painfully slow stretch of the T line, from the Bryant Street Portal to the Dogpatch. This technology adjusts the timing of traffic lights so that buses and trains do not have to wait as long. Early results showed travel times dropped by up to 14% along that segment, according to agency spokesperson Parisa Safarzadeh. The next phase of T upgrades, set for later this year, will focus on Bayview and Visitacion Valley.

For those who prefer two-wheeled vehicles, SFMTA has joined hands with the city port and Public Works to open a new bike lane on Terry Francois Boulevard. Striped in vivid green paint and protected by posts, the bidirectional path fills a gap along the Bay Trail just south of China Basin Park, which was previously a strip of concrete.

“Our administration is prioritizing safer street design and traffic enforcement where it’s most needed, including right here in Mission Bay,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement, in which he described the boulevard as a vibrant, family-friendly space.

Jack Bair, chief development officer for the Giants, marveled at the “steady flow of people” jogging or biking along the trail, past manicured parks, steeple-like office buildings and the red-brick bulk of Oracle ballpark. If the thought of pedaling through briny Mission Bay air isn’t tempting enough, Chase Center offers another incentive: free valet bike parking.

Fans who arrive to Chase Center by car may wind up stuck in the tangle of traffic. And that’s not the worst of it. After circling the blocks to find a sliver of available curb space, a driver will likely pay $12 an hour to park at a meter. A spot in a garage could run up to $80.

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