Planned for wheelchair riders
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains stop deep under Civic Center. Take the elevators up to the street, then go a short way outside to the Asian Art Museum and UN Plaza.
Written for riders heading to museums from Civic Center station.
Station CIVC
Why this stop matters for museum visits
Civic Center · Asian Art Museum door
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) platform is deep underground. You need the elevator to get up to the Hyde Street or Larkin Street sidewalk.
Disability & mobility
Civic Center/UN Plaza is a deep Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. The Asian Art Museum is a short trip outside, but you can only start that trip if the elevators are working.
Museum
The main museum near this stop. The museum’s website covers access inside the building. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) only gets you to the plaza.
Accessibility page for Asian Art Museum
Better for the Asian Art Museum
Plaza
Same station, but you spend your time outside on the plaza. The paving is mostly flat. Events and crowds can block parts of the path.
Better for time outside on the plaza
At this stop, “accessible” only holds when the elevators are working.
If the Civic Center elevators are out, Powell St. or Montgomery St. station may still work for you, but the distance outside changes. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) elevator status: bart.gov/stations/elevators.
On the ground
Three steps: the elevator, the plaza, the museum door.
01
The station is deep underground, and the only other way down is stairs. Check our live map before you board.
02
If the elevators got you here, the Asian Art Museum is a short trip outside.
03
Elevators inside the museum are run by the museum, not by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
Why this stop feels like this
Civic Center exists for museum trips. Whether you can make one depends on the elevators.
The stop sits under Civic Center so riders can reach the Asian Art Museum without a long trip along Market Street from Powell.
If an elevator is out, change plans before you start across the plaza; don’t treat it as a small delay.
On the street
Civic Center/UN Plaza station
Market Street · Civic Center
San Francisco, California
Civic Center elevators · outside to the Asian Art Museum
Yellow · Red · Green · Blue
Nearby when the elevators work: Asian Art Museum, UN Plaza.
Open Civic Center/UN Plaza on the live mapLive elevator status at Civic Center/UN PlazaAfter the elevator
Sorted shortest first. Times are hand-set for a chair or stroller pace after you clear the elevators — not live routing.
At the venue
We copied these by hand from each venue’s own pages. They may be out of date or wrong, so confirm on the venue’s page before you go.
Source: Asian Art Museum
Last look
Four things to check before you go.
Make sure the Civic Center elevators are working before you ride downtown.
The Asian Art Museum is a short trip outside from this stop.
If the elevators here are out, Powell St. station may still work, but the route outside changes.
The museum’s website covers its entrances and elevators. Our map covers the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station elevators. Check both.
About this guide. We put these guides together by hand. Travel times are our own estimates, and venue details are copied from their websites, so either can be wrong or out of date. Check the venue’s page before you go. For elevators, trust the live map and the transit agency.