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On Saturday, September 6, the BART Police Department K-9 Unit proudly took home first place overall in Explosive Ordinance Detection (EOD) at the first annual Tracy Police Department K-9 Association Trials in Tracy, California.

The event welcomed community members to watch K-9 teams from across the region compete in a series of challenges including EOD, Firearm Search, Tracking, and Agility. We are excited to share that BART PD’s K-9 Kygo, pictured below, earned 1st Place in EOD Building Searches and the coveted 1st Place overall in EOD.

The BART Police K-9 Program has been serving the riders of BART since the 1990s. The specially trained K-9 and handler teams work tirelessly to keep BART patrons and surrounding communities safe by conducting searches of trains, platforms, stations, and surrounding areas. Our teams work and train in all of the areas BART serves and supplement patrol officers to provide enhanced safety and a visible presence throughout the system.

Some of our K-9s are provided by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and our teams work in close cooperation with this agency to enhance safety across the region.

K-9s are not only highly skilled working dogs but also valued members of the BART Police family. If you see one of the K-9 teams while traveling on BART, feel free to say hello. Just remember, our teams are working hard to keep the public safe, so always check with their handler before giving them much-deserved pets.

On Wednesday, Dec. 10, members of the BART Police Department and their families gathered at BART PD Headquarters for the 13th Annual BART PD Awards Ceremony, a celebration of the officers, professional staff, civilians, and good Samaritans who went above and beyond to keep the system safe over the past year. 

The annual event offers a moment to reflect on the department’s achievements and the progress made across the BART system. There is much to recognize in 2025; as of October, overall crime is down 45% year over year, with violent crime declining by 32% and property crime dropping 47%. 

These improvements highlight the continued success of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan, which emphasizes delivering a secure, welcoming experience from departure to arrival, and the steadfast dedication of BART PD officers and civilian staff. 

“We’ve made a huge advancement in safety this year,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin in his opening remarks. “Let’s continue to build on this progress in the new year.” 

During the ceremony, Chief Franklin presented nine awards to twenty honorees. Congratulations to this year’s recipients: 

Good Samaritan Award 

BART Station Agent Shalana Penyweit; Damon Bonadie and Raqheali Bonadie 

Community Service Award 

Analyst Jennifer Bowman

Civilian of the Year 

Supervisor Jason DeVera 

Excellence in Service Award 

Community Service Officer Justin Sap, Officer Miguel Cortez-Valdez 

Exceptional Case Award 

Officer Tyler Espino, Officer Rafael Arreola, Officer Todd Hubbard, Officer Michael McPeak, Community Service Officer Roland Laureta, Detective Teaundre Matthews, Sergeant Erik Rose 

Life-Saving Award 

Officer Garrett Dibble, Officer Brandan Trammell 

Dispatcher of the Year 

Dispatcher Alicia Hernandez 

Officer of the Year 

Officer Brandan Trammell 

Chief’s Award 

Manager Matthew Cromer 

On May 6, 2025, at around 5:30pm, BART Police K9 Baron sprang into action following a shooting near 14th Street and Broadway in Downtown Oakland. After the armed suspect fled the scene, Baron and his handler, BART Officer Saechao, came to the assistance of the Oakland Police Department. The pair tracked a blood trail for nearly one mile and recovered a handgun that was discarded out of plain sight in a flower planter box. 

Baron had recently completed a Canine Tracking Course thanks to Officer Saechao’s leadership enrolling his K9 and accompanying Baron to the course. At the planter box, Baron showed clear behavior that something related to the shooting was located there, and Officer Saechao accurately read the behavior. All BART K9s have undergone detection and patrol training, but Baron is the only one with tracking training. 

K9 Baron was rewarded for his great performance with treats and love. 

"It is truly remarkable Baron tracked the discarded weapon so far away, and BART is grateful to have Baron's talent on our team," said Kevin Franklin, BART Chief of Police.

BART Police use K9's to help patrol BART property, including responding to calls related to unattended packages and other circumstances. 
 

Senate Bill (SB) 63 is a historic opportunity to allow voters in five counties of the Bay Area to consider a 14-year sales tax measure in November 2026 to preserve and improve transit. BART, and the entire transit network that keeps the Bay Area moving, stand to benefit from this bill. 

The legislation is needed because remote work has caused a decline in operating revenue for various operators and deficits are too large to solve through cuts alone.  Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been clear that BART’s outdated funding model no longer works. BART is facing annual operating deficits of $350-400 million once the emergency assistance we have been provided runs out at the end of Fiscal Year 2026.  

The BART Board of Directors supports SB 63 because it will cover a significant portion of BART’s operating deficit and allow us to maintain current service levels and improve the rider experience. BART will continue to identify additional cost savings and efficiencies to address our deficit, and we welcome the enhanced accountability measures and financial efficiency review included in SB 63.

BART is grateful to Senators Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguín for championing this legislation and their fierce advocacy for transit funding. 

The Oakland Ballers play at Raimondi Park, located a little less than one mile from the West Oakland BART Station. 

Walking from West Oakland BART to Raimondi Park

From West Oakland, head north on Mandela Parkway, then make a left on 18th or 20th Street to find the park's entrance.

BART and AC Transit

Take BART to West Oakland and AC Transit bus 29 to Raimondi Park.

Free Shuttle

The Oakland Ballers, in partnership with Douglas Parking, will have shuttles from West Oakland BART to Campbell between 18th and 20th, running every 20 minutes starting 3 hours before game time and a half hour after the game ends

For more information, visit the Baller's Website.

Enjoy the animated "BART race" that will appear on the scoreboard between innings. 

BART has introduced several new features to make it easier for customers to pay for parking.

Stall number entry no longer required on the official BART app

Forgot your parking stall number? No problem, we heard you. Stall number entry will no longer be required on the latest version of the official BART app. Instead, register up to 5 license plates on your account and the system will check against all of them.

Introducing “Tap and Go” – Pay for parking with one tap  

The latest app version will also include a convenient new “Tap and Go” feature that allows you to pay for  parking with one tap from the app home screen. To enable the feature, visit the Daily Fee section of the latest version of the app. You’ll need to create a parking wallet if you don’t already have one and register up to five license plates. Once the feature is enabled, a “pay now” button will appear on the app home screen allowing you to pay for parking with one tap.
 

Buy Reserved parking on BART’s website 

Customers are now able to purchase reserved parking (Single/Multi-day or Monthly) on BART’s website, in addition to the official BART app. This supports those who can’t or don’t want to use an app to purchase Reserved parking. Daily Fee parking will not be available through the website and must be purchased on the official BART app or at the machines inside the station.

For additional information, please review our FAQs or contact us.   

This June, the San Francisco Unicorns will play their 2025 Major League Cricket (MLC) home matches at the Oakland Coliseum, just steps from BART’s Coliseum Station.

This is a significant moment for the franchise and Major League Cricket. A total of nine matches will be hosted at the Coliseum, featuring all of MLC’s six teams. The Unicorns will host the opening match at the Coliseum against the Washington Freedom on June 12 at 6pm. Follow the rider guide above for directions on getting to the matches with BART. 

“We know the importance of seamless travel to ensure the best gameday experiences," said Dave Martindale, BART Director of Marketing and Research. "Using BART is by far the quickest and greenest way to travel to Oakland, and with easy access from Downtown San Francisco and the various population hubs of the Bay Area, we encourage all fans to grab their tickets for the match and be sure their Clipper cards are loaded.”

To mark the occasion of the first match on June 12, BART ran Unicorn Fan Trains from Fremont to Coliseum stations with staff riding trains to celebrate with fans and hand out BART x Unicorn swag. Take a look inside the trains in the video below. 

“We are beyond thrilled to bring the San Francisco Unicorns to the Oakland Coliseum for our home matches in 2025,” said David White, CEO of the San Francisco Unicorns. “The Bay Area has a deep and growing love for cricket, and this move allows us to create an unforgettable matchday experience in one of the region’s most iconic venues." 

 

 

 

 

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To make planning BART trips and using the BART system even easier, platform details are now included in Trip Planner itineraries, giving riders confidence that they are waiting for their train in the right spot.  

The information will be especially helpful for riders who are making platform-to-platform transfers, for example at MacArthur Station as reflected in the before and after images below. The Trip Planner itinerary calls out how riders will transfer from the Yellow Line train at Platform 4 at Macarthur Station to an Orange Line train on Platform 2. 

Riders will also be able to see if a train is using a different platform than normal, a tactic used during delay scenarios when trains may need to run on different tracks.

“BART is making changes to ensure navigating transit is as easy as possible as part of our efforts to improve the customer experience and increase ridership,” said Alicia Trost, BART Chief Communications Officer. “New riders and those who use BART infrequently will now have this critical platform information that will make their journey more seamless.”  

Before: Without platform details                               After: With platform details   

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Platform numbers are posted on concourse signage at major decision points as well as on the platforms on directional signage and digital signs. 

Concourse signs                                                    Platform level signs   

The platform level data is now also available for third-party apps to implement through BART’s Developer Program.