BayRail Alliance
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BART Photo courtesy SF Cityscape Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART, is a regional heavy-rail system serving the East Bay, San Francisco, and Northern San Mateo County. BART provides an alternative to commuters in many cities in Alameda and Contra Costa County to driving to San Francisco and within the East Bay on congested freeways, including the Caldecott Tunnel and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Since the completion of the Transbay Tube in 1974, BART has always been a popular and rapid form of transportation between the East Bay and San Francisco. BART provides direct service to San Francisco International Airport, the Oakland Coliseum, San Francisco’s Mission and Financial Districts, and the University of California at Berkeley, as well as cross-platform connections to Muni Metro in 4 Downtown San Francisco Stations, Amtrak in Richmond, and to Caltrain in Millbrae. BART trains are carpeted and have cloth padded seats and also allow bicycles onboard during off-peak hours. All BART stations have bicycle racks, transit connections, and are full accessible to persons using wheelchairs with elevators and level boarding platforms. Most stations have bicycle lockers and plenty of inexpensive parking. By the numbers Systemwide Length: 104 miles. Average Weekday Ridership: ~329,369 (4/06-6/2006) *** check numbers 43 Stations in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, which include 15 surface, 13 elevated, and 15 subway stations. 5 Lines. 3 lines (Red, Yellow, and Green Lines) run from Daly City through San Francisco via the Transbay Tube to Richmond, Pitsburg/Baypoint, and Fremont, respectively. 1 runs between Dublin/Pleasanton and Millbrae via the Transbay Tube to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae (Blue Line). And 1 runs solely in the East Bay between Richmond and Fremont (Orange Line). Governing Body BART is a three-county (San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa) special district and it is governed by the BART Board of Directors. The BART Board is consisted of nine elected directors each representing an electorial district. Some of the districts span across county lines. Funding Last Year’s Operating Budget: ~$442,347 (FY 2004-05) Last Year’s Capital Budget: ~$114,511 (FY 2004-05) Operational funding for service within the three-county BART district is provided by half-cent Sales Taxes in each of the three counties of the BART district. SamTrans pays to operate BART service in San Mateo County. Capital funds come from a variety of sources including bridge tolls and bonds. How to support funding for this service Ride the trains, tell your friends about BART, and write to board members and/or other elected officials. Challenges for this service After 35 years of service, the BART’s core system is aging and at capacity. Its cars are also aging and in need of replacement. The system struggles to operate efficiently without cutting service, but while raising fares. The system is expensive to operate and constantly runs a deficit. BART has a unique 66” rail gauge while nearly all other railroads, including light rail and commuter rail run on a standard 56.5” rail gauge. Therefore, BART is incompatible with other rail systems. Only BART trains can run on BART tracks and BART trains cannot run on other railroads. The recent extension from Colma to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae was less than successful, and ridership is less than half what was projected. SamTrans then has to slash service, because it must pay to operate the new extension. VTA is planning to build and fund a BART extension from Fremont to San Jose and Santa Clara at an estimated cost of more than $7 billion. Transit advocates are doubtful that VTA has the financial resources to successfully build and operate the planned extension while preserving and/or expanding existing bus, light rail, and commuter rail services. BART Milestones November 14, 1957: BART District formed. June 19, 1964: Official start of construction at Concord. September 11, 1972: First day of BART service between Oakland and Fremont. December 12, 1972: BART sees its millionth passenger. January 29, 1973: Opening of service between Oakland and Richmond. May 23, 1973: Opening of service between Oakland and Concord. November 3, 1973: Service within San Francisco opens. November 5, 1973: Service is extended from Montgomery Station in San Francisco to Daly City. September 16, 1974: Service through the Transbay Tube opens. February 26, 1975: BART announces its transfer agreement with San Francisco Muni. January 1, 1976: BART establishes service between 6am and 12am. April 19, 1976: Trial direct service begins between Richmond and Daly City. May 27, 1976: Embarcadero Station in San Francisco opens. June 7, 1976: Trial direct service between Richmond and Daly City becomes a set schedule. December 6, 1976: BART increases commute-hour length of trains to 10 cars on all lines. January 26, 1977: BART sees its hundredth million passenger. May 23, 1978: BART has traveled 2 billion passenger miles. July 2, 1978: Regular Sunday service established from 9am to midnight. April 30, 1979: BART establishes emergency procedures following the Transbay Tube fire. April 7, 1980: East entrance to Fremont Station completed. July 7, 1980: Official start of direct Richmond to Daly City trains. July 11, 1980: BART bike lockers established at every station except downtown Oakland, San Francisco, and downtown Berkeley. October 25, 1980: Saturday service expands from 3 routes to 4 routes to include direct service between Richmond and Daly City. September 11, 1982: BART celebrates its Tenth birthday. It carries 190,000 people per weekday. April 1, 1983: BART/Muni monthly Fastpass established, allowing unlimited BART rides per month between San Francisco Stations. September 16, 1984: BART celebrates 10 years of Transbay service. Nearly 200 million people have gone through the Transbay Tube since its opening. December 10, 1987: BART’s first C-Cars were dedicated. December 19, 1988: BART entrance to San Francisco Shopping Centre opens at Powell Station. October 17, 1989: Major earthquake leaves BART system intact. October 25, 1991: Simultaneous groundbreaking was held for the Dublin/Pleasanton and Pitsburg/Baypoint extensions. December 13, 1991: A new Bus Transit Center was dedicated at Bayfair Station. September 11, 1992: BART celebrates its twentieth anniversary with nearly 1 billion people carried over 12 billion passenger miles. March 19, 1993: Colma extension began construction. September 16, 1994: 20th anniversary of the Transbay Tube. February 24, 1996: Service to Colma Station opens. December 7, 1996: Service to Pitsburg/Baypoint Station opens. May 10, 1997: Service to Dublin/Pleasanton Station opens. November 3, 1997: Groundbreaking of extension to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae. June 7, 2000: New bus transfer facility opens at Fremont Station. May 17, 2001: A bike rack placement project doubles the bike parking capacity at 26 stations. June 5, 2001: Ground is broken for the reconstruction of the southwest plaza of the 16th Street/Mission Station. July 19, 2001: Cross-platform transfer between Amtrak and BART opened at Richmond Station. September 11, 2002: BART celebrates its 30th birthday with nearly 2 billion passengers and over 22 billion passenger miles. May 17, 2003: Southwest plaza of 16th Street/Mission renovation completed. June 22, 2003: San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae extension opens. September 16, 2004: 30th anniversary of the Transbay Tube. Sources BART’s official website, http://www.bart.gov BART 2005 Annual Report, http://www.bart.gov/docs/AR2005.pdf BART facts and history, http://www.bart.gov/about/history BART chronology, http://www.bart.gov/docs/BARThistory.pdf BART Quarterly Average Weekday Exits by Station, http://www.bart.gov/docs/station _exits_quarterly.pdf Photo courtesy Steve Boland, http://www.sfcityscape.com BART MilestonesSeptember 29, 2006: $80m West Dublin-Pleasanton BART station breaks ground
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FAQ About BARTSave Even More Money on Transit!!!There are many ways of getting discounts on transit fares.
Agreements between Transit Agencies Many transit agencies have agreements with other agencies that will allow you to ride the partnering agencies' transit for free or at a discount. Read more Multi-ride tickets and Frequent Riders Discounts The most obvious way to save money, if you become a frequent transit rider, is to buy a multi-ride ticket (such as Caltrain’s 10-ride tickets good for two months, or the Capitol Corridor's Ten-Ride tickets good for 45 days), packs of discounted bus tokens, monthly passes, or other discounted fare like BART’s high-value tickets. ACE has a frequent rider program that rewards people who buy monthly passes for 11 consecutive months. Group travel - 2 or more Traveling with a friend or spouse? Groups of up to five people can share a discounted multi-ride ticket on Caltrain and Capitol Corridor trains. When riding Caltrain, use the validator to punch the 10-ride Ticket once for each member of your party before boarding the train; for example, punch twice for two people, or five times for five people. Remember that once you punch a trip on the ticket it receives a time stamp good for four hours, so validate just for the trip you're about to take. On the Capitol Corridor, simply hand the ticket to the conductor when he or she comes by to collect tickets. See their restrictions for exact rules. If you're organizing a school trip or other large group, you may be able to obtain group tickets at a reduced price. Contact the transit agency that you want to use for details. Senior/Disabled/Youth Discounts If you're over the age of 65, have a qualifying disability, or are a young child or teen, you may be eligible for a discounted or even, free ride. Policies vary considerably, so be sure to check with each transit agency you want to use for the exact rules and forms of ID that they'll accept. See for example the VTA Fares page. Employee Discounts Many companies participate in programs to give employees discounts on transit. These programs include Commuter Check, Wage Works, and Ecopass programs. Check with your employer's HR Dept. or Commute Coordinator to learn what transit benefits your employer offers. Group Memberships Members of AAA and NARP can buy Capitol Corridor and other Amtrak tickets at a discount. So can students, veterans, and active military personnel. Restrictions apply. Read Rules
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