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BART launches new history website ahead of 50th anniversary celebration

­ microsite screenshotFifty years ago, BART first opened for service, marking a new era in transit for the Bay Area.

That same year, Don McLean’s “American Pie” jingled on the radio, the Watergate scandal unfolded across international headlines, and NASA launched its first Space Shuttle Program. Today, fifty years later, the times, they have a-changed.  

In celebration of our upcoming golden anniversary, today BART launched a new history micro-website at bart.gov/50years. On this site, you’ll find a treasure trove of historical documents, photographs, videos, and stories that tie it all together.

Download an image of Nixon on BART for your computer background, comb through our historic annual reports – some dated as early as 1966 – or watch workers lower the Transbay Tube into the bay in historic footage. On our new microsite, history unfurls before your eyes.

50th Anniversary Celebration just weeks away

Join us in celebrating 50 years of service on September 10 at Lake Merritt Station and Plaza as we toast to five decades. The 50th Birthday Party and Family Fun Festival is free to the public and will be held from 11 am-4 pm. The event will feature food trucks, music, games, prizes, and the opening of a time capsule.

50% off BART Fares All September

50 percent off september

BART is also thanking its riders and encouraging more people to return to the system by offering a 50% discount for the entire month of September. Riders using Clipper will get half off all published BART fares in September. That includes 50% off already discounted fares for youth, senior, Regional Transportation Connection, Clipper Start, and Gator Pass riders.

 

Learn about more upcoming events – including arcade games at Powell St. Station – at bart.gov/50years.