All answers given so far are correct, however, i would like to shorten it down to 4

single points, why 16S is just such a good target:

1) 16s rRNA is part of the translation process, therefore present in all bacteria and by
thus a perfect universal target
2) It's a multi-copy gene, which increases the detection sensitivity
3) It consists of conserved and highly variable regions, which increases its detection
specificity and also allows for the use of universal primer
4) It evolves at relative constant rates, i.e. is a molecular clock, which allows to infer
phylogenetic relationships
To answer your second part of the question, why particularly 16S rRNA is used for
species level identification, I would say this is more complicate. This statement is not
true imho, especially if related to partial and not full length 16S rRNA genes. Even for
full length there exists identical 16S rRNA genes among different species. So the
discriminatory power of the 16S is limited and there are other targets and other
technologies which are suited better to perform (sub-)species classification. This is
also the difference in putting a query 16S rRNA gene in phylogenetic relation to other
genes or and to taxonomically classifying it. This particular topic is also extensively
and frequently discussed here on RG.
Irregardless the know limitations and problems with 16S rRNA, it's still a solid target
because of the aforementioned points. And what's true for the 16S is also true for the
larger 23S, which offers better resolution and could be used more often in the future,
maybe.