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San Mateo man celebrates 100th birthday with his first BART ride

Hiro Takahashi of San Mateo has a lot of "been there, done thats." After all, Mr. Takahashi was born in 1915. So how did Mr. Takahashi celebrate his 100th birthday? With his first-ever ride on BART. Mr. Takahashi, his daughter and grandson boarded a San Francisco-bound train late in the morning on September

Mask mandate and labor agreements part of BART Board night meeting on 7/28

The BART Board of Directors on Thursday, July 28 will hold its third night meeting of the year. The Board this year is prioritizing holding several evening meetings to encourage greater public participation with virtual public comment as an ongoing option. The public portion of the July 28 meeting will begin

Watch One Book One BART's virtual author talk with Pulitzer Prize winner Hua Hsu and Jeff Chang

Watch One Book One BART's virtual author talk with Pulitzer Prize winner Hua Hsu and Jeff Chang

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, One Book One BART hosted an author talk with Hua Hsu, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the first BART book club selection, Stay True, moderated by award-winning writer, historian, and thinker Jeff Chang. Watch a recording of the talk below. 

To keep up with all things BART book club, visit bart.gov/bookclub, and sign up for the mailing list at the top of that page. 

Stay tuned for the launch of our next book club on Monday, September 18, 2023

The next book selection is Oakland-based author Margaret Sexton Wilkerson's "On the Rooftop." Reese Witherspoon called the novel, set in San Francisco's Fillmore District, "an utterly original and brilliant story."

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Email [email protected]

We look forward to reading with you! 


Banner for author talk with Hua Hsu and Jeff Chang

One Book One BART – the official BART book club – invites members of the public to a free, virtual author talk with Hua Hsu, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir and official book club selection, Stay True. The event, which marks the culmination of the Spring/Summer ‘23 One Book, One BART club, will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, August 2, at 4pm. A Q&A will follow the discussion.

The talk will be moderated by Jeff Chang, author of acclaimed book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, which was named one of the best U.S. nonfiction books of the last quarter century. His other books include Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post Civil Rights America and We Gon' Be Alright: Notes On Race and Resegregation. Chang has received the American Book Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the USA Ford Fellowship in Literature.

When: Wednesday, August 2, 4pm to 5pm

Join the meeting online via Zoom (no registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84824326758

For updates about upcoming One Book One BART events, including the launch of the Fall/Winter ’23 book club, visit bart.gov/bookclub.

Sign up for the One Book, One BART mailing list by visiting BART’s Profile Center and adding your information. On step 3 – “Manage Subscriptions” – click the caret next to “Other” and check the One Book, One BART box.   

Questions? Email [email protected].

 

This weekend will be first to feature BART’s beefed up Saturday and Sunday service

All Aboard Transit Day banner

BART’s reimagined schedule, which was rolled out on Monday, will be a boon for riders who want to travel around the Bay this weekend. The new service plan is designed to work for everyone, every day and means no BART rider will have to wait more than 20 minutes for a scheduled train no matter what hour of the day or what day of the week. 30-minute wait times between scheduled trains are now a thing of the past for BART on nights and weekends.

This Saturday and Sunday riders will notice the difference as they see more trains at their stations. Weekend service now has 20-minute service on all 5 lines until 9pm. And after 9pm 20-minute service on 3 lines will arrive at the same time every day of the week.

Examples of our boosted weekend service include:

*Richmond-MacArthur riders will now see 6 trains per hour instead of 4. 
*West Oakland-Daly City riders will get 12 trains per hour instead of 10 on Saturdays and 8 on Sundays. 
*Bay Fair-Berryessa riders will see their trains per hour increase from 4 to 6.
*Trains per hour are also increasing for our evening 3-line service, which begins every night at 9pm.

This Saturday is All Aboard Transit Day in celebration of Transit Month when everyone in the Bay Area is encouraged to try transit. Take as many transit trips as your heart desires this Saturday to help us beat the Saturday September 2022 ridership record. We will add up the total ridership for the day and report out to the public if we exceed the Saturday, September 2022 ridership, which was the highest ridership for a Saturday in September during Transit Month 2022.

On Saturday, BART will host "Meet the BART Anime Mascots" event at Powell Street Station from 2-6 pm. Take photos with the mascots, make buttons with staff, grab a prize from the BART capsule ball machine, and more! Come in cosplay and get a rare BART anime charm. The Link21 outreach team will also be there to talk about our project to build a second train crossing connecting Oakland and San Francisco. 

BART will also have special late-night service for the Ed Sheeran concert at Levi’s Stadium this Saturday. 

The new schedule, which began Monday, is already serving record numbers of riders. On Wednesday, BART carried 192,961 passengers – the most since the pandemic shelter-in-place orders were enacted in March 2020. Just a day before, Tuesday, September 12th, BART served 192,081 riders. The new schedule is responsive to post-pandemic commute patterns and ridership growth opportunities, with a new emphasis on weeknight and weekend service. 

BART celebrates Earth Day with fellow Bay Area transit agencies

As we’ve seen in recent events, our communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Average annual air temperatures in California have risen 2.5 degrees since 1895, and eight of the ten warmest years occurred between 2012 and 2022 ( California Office of Environmental Health Hazard

BART uses grazing goats to reduce fire danger on right-of-way property

A 700-goat herd grazes on BART property in Fremont under the watch of herder Zenobio Ordonez By MELISSA JORDANBART Senior Web ProducerAs the Bay Area endures another hot, dry summer, BART is using goats to graze and cut firebreaks on its right-of-way property, which reduces reliance on fossil-fuel-powered

BART will no longer accept paper/magstripe tickets beginning Nov 30

Beginning November 30, 2023, paper tickets will no longer be accepted at BART as fare payment and for use at the fare gates. This change is occurring as BART begins to roll out new state of the art fare gates which will not accept paper tickets and as Clipper prepares for the launch of the next generation of Clipper. 

Paper tickets balances cannot be transferred onto a Clipper card. BART offers paper ticket refunds for tickets with a remaining value greater than $1.00. It can be multiple tickets that add up to $1 or more. Click here for directions to request a refund

There is no deadline for requesting a refund. Refund requests do not need to be submitted by November 30th. 

Pay By Phone

Clipper is now available through Apple Pay and Google Pay. Riders can get a new Clipper card on their phones for free (normally $3). Funds added using Apple Pay and Google Pay are immediately available for use.

Set up is easy and can be done on the spot or in advance while you are at home. Every rider needs their own digital card. For families travelling together, multiple cards can be added to an Apple phone, but users must turn off Express Transit mode to toggle between each card when tagging at the fare gate.   

Next Generation Clipper

BART has moved to a Clipper-only fare payment system because the region has prioritized the use of Clipper as the Bay Area’s all-in-one transit card administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In calendar year 2024, the next generation of Clipper will be rolled out including open payment which provides the option to tag a credit/debit card at a BART fare gate, including Apple Pay or Google Pay, without setting up a card on your phone in advance. The next generation of Clipper also opens the door for new discount programs, promotions, and potentially fare capping for BART riders. 

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September 11, 2023 Update:

Beginning Saturday, September 30, 2023, BART will no longer sell magstripe paper tickets at SFO. Only Clipper cards will be available at SFO vending machines and riders will continue to be encouraged to add a Clipper card to their phone for a card-free option. 

BART began offering paper tickets at SFO in October 2022 in response to global supply chain issues impacting the region’s plastic card inventory. The region now has an adequate supply of cards and BART will eliminate the sale of all paper tickets. This includes the sale of red paper tickets at the Customer Service window at Lake Merritt Station for RTC applicants waiting for their Clipper card to arrive and paper tickets for group sales.  

Riders are still able to use the paper tickets they already have on hand, including weekend promotion tickets, to enter and exit through most fare gates until November 30, 2023. 

Officer-involved shooting at Union City BART Station parking lot

(Tuesday, 11/19 11:45am update)

Statement from BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin on the incident at Union City Station:

"On Monday, November 18, at 8:57pm BART PD officers responded to a report of reckless driving in the parking lot of Union City Station. As part of the overall investigation, the two responding officers conducted a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, the driver is alleged to have assaulted a police officer which led to one of the officers discharging their firearm. 

The suspect, 32-year-old Jasmine Gao of Union City, was shot in the upper body. Gao was provided with immediate first aid and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Once medically cleared, she will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon on police, reckless evading, failure to follow a court order, and resisting arrest with an enhancement of committing a felony while out on her own recognizance. She also had two outstanding arrest warrants. The suspect is reported to be in serious, but stable condition.

Pursuant to standard department protocol, drug and alcohol testing was conducted for the officer who fired their service weapon. Per policy, both officers had their body-worn cameras activated. 

Union City Station was closed Monday night as part of the investigation and was reopened in time for the start of BART service Tuesday morning. Union City Police also responded to the incident and provided support including securing the scene. Anybody who may have additional information should contact BART PD detectives at 510-464-7040."

 


(Tuesday, 11/19 9am update)

Here's the entry for this incident in BART PD's daily log:

245 (c) PC / 2800.2 CVC / 166(a)(4) PC / 148(a)(1) PC / Warrant (x2) Arrest (Prohibition Order will be issued) – Union City Station

11/18/2024 2057 hours Officers conducted a traffic stop and contacted the driver Jasmine Gao (05/03/1992, Union City). During the incident, an officer involved shooting occurred. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to hospital for treatment. Once medically cleared, Gao will be booked into the Alameda County jail in Dublin on the above listed charges. 2411-1355 L26 

Additional info:

The listed charges include assault with a deadly weapon on police, reckless evading, failure to follow a court order, and resisting arrest with an enhancement of committing a felony while on your own recognizance. 


BART Police confirms an officer-involved shooting took place approximately 9:30pm on Monday, November 18, 2024 in the parking lot of the Union City BART Station. One suspect was shot by police and transported to the hospital. Their condition at this time is unknown. BART Police closed the station on Monday night for the investigation. More details will be released as information is confirmed.

Per policy, BART’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor has been notified and has responded to the scene for their investigation.

BART’s schedule will change on August 11, 2025, to improve key transfers

On Monday, August 11, 2025, BART will make minor schedule changes in coordination with the region’s other transit systems as part of a collective effort to sync schedules, reduce impacts, and improve transfers for transit riders in the Bay Area.

Minor Adjustments

Overall, some departure times will shift by a few minutes, and we encourage riders to check the schedule before August 11, 2025, to see if their trip is impacted. 

The BART Trip Planner has been updated with the new schedule so riders can start planning their trips using the date August 11, 2025, and beyond. PDF timetables have also been posted. 

Improved Connections

  • The BART to Antioch connection at the transfer platform will speed up. The wait time will be reduced from seven minutes between arriving on the BART to Antioch DMU train to departing on the BART Fleet of the Future train to four minutes.  
  • BART trains will have a longer dwell time at Millbrae Station for improved reliability of Caltrain and SamTrans connections.
  • BART trains will have a longer dwell time at Dublin/Pleasanton Station for improved LAVTA Wheels connections, and Wheels made changes to speed up the following trips:
    • Riders from East Dublin to Downtown San Francisco will save 17 minutes in the morning peak for riders who take LAVTA’s Wheels #2 and BART.
    • Riders from Pleasanton to Downtown San Francisco will on average save 15 minutes in the morning peak for riders who take LAVTA’s Wheels #8 and BART.
    • Riders from Livermore to Downtown San Francisco will save 17 minutes in the morning peak for riders who take LAVTA’s Wheels #10R and BART.
  • BART will have more even train spacing between the Orange & Green lines from Berryessa to Richmond for improved connections with VTA, AC Transit, and Union City Transit bus service. Currently trains run every 7 and 13 minutes toward Berryessa, and it will now be 9 and 11 minutes. Trains heading in the Richmond direction will go from 9 and 11 to 10 and 10. 

Transit Coordination – The Big Sync

Bay Area transit agencies have been syncing schedules in a whole new way to make riding transit even faster and improve transfer reliability and timing. Transit agencies from across the region are rolling out new schedules in mid-August in coordination with each other and have now aligned the timing of schedule changes twice each year, once in summer (mid-August) and once in winter (mid-January).

This is the third iteration of a coordinated Big Sync in the Bay Area. Agencies meet several months in advance of each schedule change to share planned changes and to look for opportunities to improve transfers.

Advancing schedule change alignment is a key priority for Bay Area transit general managers who meet on a weekly basis to make transit more rider-focused and efficient. 

Weekdays

August 11, 2025, Weekday Service for Antioch to SFO (Yellow) Line.pdf 

August 11, 2025, Weekday Service for Berryessa_N San Jose to Daly City (Green) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekday Service for Berryessa_N San Jose to Richmond (Orange) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekday Service for Dublin_Pleasanton to Daly City (Blue) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekday Service for Richmond to Millbrae + SFO (Red) Line.pdf

Weekends

August 11, 2025, Weekend Service for Antioch to SFO (Yellow) Line.pdf 

August 11, 2025, Weekend Service for Berryessa_N San Jose to Daly City (Green) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekend Service for Berryessa_N San Jose to Richmond (Orange) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekend Service for Dublin_Pleasanton to Daly City (Blue) Line.pdf

August 11, 2025, Weekend Service for Richmond to Millbrae + SFO (Red) Line.pdf

*This article was posted on July 31, 2025