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On Sunday, Dec. 10, BART rang in the holiday season with our riders during our inaugural SweaterFest ‘23. More than a thousand of you showed up to Rockridge Station to celebrate with us – a reminder of just how much the Bay Area loves BART.  

We encouraged attendees to wear their BART holiday sweaters – from 2023, 2022, or 2021 (the first year we launched the sweaters) – and pose for a group photo on the steps to the station. You can view the photo and more snapshots from the joyous event in the above slideshow.  

Some BART fans showed up as early as 11am – three hours before the start of the event – to be the first in line to buy a 2023 holiday sweater. By 2pm, the line to purchase BART merch snaked around the Rockridge sign and the plaza. 

“I didn’t know BART had a fashion line,” said one rider passing through the station.  

In addition to selling tons of BART-themed gifts, including the last-remaining 2023 holiday sweaters and beanies, we also launched our BART Stamp Rally with official BART passports, and handed out lots of free BART merch, including number plates and the new BART train plushie.  

Thanks for coming out, Bay Area. Happy Holidays!  

This year, BART sold 3,500 holiday sweaters in total. To help meet the strong demand, we pre-sold 2,370 sweaters earlier in the year. We ordered more than 1,000 additional sweaters to sell during the holiday season and were thrilled when they sold out quickly.  

If you weren’t able to get a sweater before they sold out this year, we encourage you to stay up to date on all things BART by following us on social media (click the icons at the bottom of this page), signing up here for our BART News email subscription, and downloading the official BART app.  

Congressmember Lateefah Simon tours Fruitvale Station.

BART’s efforts to put rider safety first are paying off with another drop in violent crime. For the first three months of the year violent crime on BART fell by 23% compared to last year. The latest drop comes on top of a 17% decline in overall crime on BART in 2024. 

BART’s efforts to enhance rider safety were a focus of a tour by East Bay Congressmember Lateefah Simon (CA-12) who visited the 19th Street and Fruitvale stations in Oakland. Congressmember Simon recently met with BART in Washington, D.C., and this visit was an opportunity to get an in-person update on the progress BART has made in recent months on rider-focused safety, cleanliness, and accessibility improvements. Congressmember Simon previously served as BART Board President and BART District 7 Board Member. 

“I believe that BART will be the nation’s safest transit institution,” said Congressmember Simon. “You know why? There are [transit-dependent] folks like me who don’t have a choice, who aren’t jiggling car keys. They are riding BART because unfortunately, mobility in many parts of the Bay Area is still a privilege. We’ve made it a right here at BART.”  

The implementation of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan has been at the forefront of putting rider safety first. The plan includes boosting visible train patrols, installing Next Generation Fare Gates, right-sizing trains to create safer spaces, improving station lighting, and other rider-focused initiatives.

“This steep decline in our violent crime rate would not be possible without the hard work of the people of the BART Police Department,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “We will continue to deploy sworn officers as well as non-sworn unarmed Crisis Intervention Specialists, Transit Ambassadors, Fare Inspectors, and Community Service Officers to maximize our presence in the system and ensure BART is welcoming for all.”

BART has already installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 29 stations and remains on track to have the new, more durable gates in place at all 50 stations by the end of this year. The new gates are improving the station environment by serving as a deterrent against many instances of fare evasion and reducing the amount of unwanted activity in the system. A recent survey found the number of riders who have reported seeing fare evasion on BART has dropped by almost 1/3 since installation work began for the new gates.

The world is coming to the Bay Area this summer for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and BART and our transit partners are ready to carry fans from across the globe to matches, watch parties, and events across the region.  

BART is bolstering our staff and security presence, running longer trains, and will offer special limited-express service after midnight for late-night matches. BART will also deploy extra lighting at key station parking lots to enhance safety for fans returning from evening matches. 

To assist visitors and occasional riders in navigating the system, special announcements will be made onboard trains about where to exit, and directional signage will be posted in stations to help visitors and occasional riders navigate the system.  

Unlike many rail systems around the country, BART will not be implementing surge pricing for FIFA. Riders will pay the regular fare.  

Find guidance on taking transit to fan zones, watch parties, and other events by visiting bart.gov/fifa. 

Planning and paying for your trip 

Plan your door-to-door trip using BART’s Trip Planner. Itineraries will include key transfer information. You can also check Real Time Departures for the stations you use.  

Parking at BART stations (except Milpitas and Berryessa stations) is free on weekends and after 3pm on weekdays.  

Every BART station has restrooms except Pittsburg Center, 12th St./Oakland City Center, Civic Center, 16th St. Mission, 24th St. Mission, and the Oakland International Airport Station (Coliseum Station has a restroom).  

All Bay Area transit, including BART, accepts contactless debit or credit cards and mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay for adult fare payment. No setup is required. Just Tap and Ride. Each person needs their own card or device. Clipper cards are also accepted.   

Riders who use more than one transit agency in a single trip (e.g., BART to VTA) will only be charged full fare on the first operator. A transfer discount of up to $2.85 will apply on any additional transit agency the rider uses within a two-hour window. Transfer discounts are calculated automatically using Tap and Ride or Clipper for accounts that have been upgraded to the next generation system (click here to upgrade your card).   

Safety Resources

BART will have extra security and staff presence and deploy extra lighting at key station parking lots to enhance safety for fans returning from evening matches. 

Emergencies: 

• Dial 911
• Call BART Police dispatch directly: 510.464.7000
• Use the emergency call button on trains, located near the doors, to speak to the train operator
• Contact a station agent.  

Non-Emergencies: 

• Text with BART Police to report concerns at 510-200-0992 
• Download the free BART Watch App on the App Store and Google Play to discreetly message BART PD dispatch.  
• Use this online link to communicate with police dispatch 

Getting to San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi’s Stadium)

Take BART + VTA to San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi’s Stadium) from the East Bay or downtown San Francisco.

BART serves five Bay Area counties connecting the East Bay and San Francisco to the South Bay.   

For matches at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi’s Stadium), take BART to Milpitas Station, using or transferring to BART's Green or Orange Line labelled "Berryessa" or "OAK/Berryessa" and use the pedestrian bridge to transfer to the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Light Rail Orange Line. Ride to Lick Mill Station to get to the stadium.   

After the match, while exiting the stadium, follow "Gate F" signs to board VTA to get to BART. Gate A goes to Caltrain.  

BART and VTA will be matching 20-minute frequencies so the trains line up for a timed transfer. BART's Operations Control Center and VTA's Operations Control Center will be in constant communication.  

Riders staying in San Francisco can take Muni to connect to BART to complete their trip.  

View Muni's FIFA World Cup information. 

Take BART + Caltrain + VTA to San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi’s Stadium) from San Francisco and San Mateo County:  

BART riders coming from San Francisco or San Mateo County will take BART's Red Line labeled "Millbrae" and connect to Caltrain at Millbrae Station exiting towards West Plaza/El Camino Real to Caltrain Southbound, Platform 5. From Caltrain, connect to VTA’s Orange Line at Mountain View Station.  

After the match, while exiting the stadium, follow "Gate A" signs to board Caltrain.  

View Caltrain’s FIFA World Cup information. 

Special Limited-Express Service After Midnight for Evening Matches

BART will run special limited-express service after midnight for matches that start at 8pm and 9pm. 

BART will run special limited-express service after midnight for matches that start at 8pm and 9pm.  

The last scheduled BART train that stops at all stations systemwide leaves Milpitas at 11:53pm towards the East Bay and San Francisco. The last scheduled BART train to Berryessa Station is 1:47am. 

BART will add the following special event trains after midnight that will be timed with the last VTA trains coming from the stadium. There is not a timetable for these departure times because it depends on how long it takes to clear the stadium and get to BART on VTA. But overall, they will likely depart Milpitas every 30 minutes between 12:30am-1:40am.  

These special event trains WILL NOT STOP AT ALL BART STATIONS. The trains will only serve Bay Fair, Dublin, MacArthur, El Cerrito del Norte, Pleasant Hill and Powell St stations.  

People taking BART to the stadium and driving to park at BART must leave their cars at these key Easy Bay stations for the return trip: Bay Fair, Dublin, MacArthur, El Cerrito del Norte and Pleasant Hill. Note, Powell St Station in downtown San Francisco does not have parking.  

Specific service of the special limited-express trains: 

El Cerrito del Norte- and Dublin-Bound Trains 

Two limited-stop-express Orange Line trains for 8pm matches and three trains for 9pm matches will be bound for El Cerrito del Norte. They will leave Milpitas and will stop at Bay Fair, where riders can exit the station, and Dublin-bound riders can transfer to another train to Dublin. The train will then stop at MacArthur where riders can exit. And then the last stop is El Cerrito del Norte. 

Pleasant Hill- and Dublin-Bound Trains 

Two limited-stop-express Yellow Line trains for 8pm matches and three trains for 9pm matches will be bound for Pleasant Hill. They will leave Milpitas and will stop at Bay Fair, where riders can exit the station and Dublin-bound riders can transfer to another train to Dublin. The train will then stop at MacArthur where riders can exit. And then the last stop is Pleasant Hill.  

The above trains will run back-to-back. If you accidently board the wrong train, there will be chance at MacArthur Station to transfer to the other train for El Cerrito del Norte or Pleasant Hill. There will be signs and staff at Milpitas to help you board the right train.  

Express Trains to San Francisco (Primarily Powell St Station) 

BART will offer limited-stop-express trains from Milpitas into San Francisco for the 8pm and 9pm matches. Specifically: 

8pm matches (June 19 and 22nd) 

One special event train will depart Milpitas and run without stopping until Bay Fair (where riders can exit or transfer to a Dublin train), then run without stopping until Powell Street Station (the last stop). This train will depart Milpitas after the final VTA train connects riders to BART (this may be as late as 1:40am). 

9pm match (June 16th) 

One Green Line train will depart Milpitas and run without stopping until Bay Fair (where riders can exit at Bay Fair or transfer to a Dublin train), then run without stopping until West Oakland where it will then make all stops between West Oakland and Daly City. This train will be in front of the final regularly scheduled Yellow Line train to Millbrae (this train does not stop at SFO). Anyone needing to reach stops between Daly City and Millbrae (except SFO) can transfer to that Millbrae train.    

A second and final special event train will depart Milpitas after the final VTA train connects riders to BART (this may be as late as 1:40am) and will run without stopping to Powell St Station.    

Muni in San Francisco will be providing supplemental service after normal transit operating hours to ensure reliable transportation options for the late-night matches. The Muni special bus shuttle service will circulate between Union Square, SoMA, BART and Caltrain. 

San Mateo County riders should take Caltrain home. 

BART Resources 

System Map 

Trip Planner 

Real Time Departures from each station 

Tap and Ride contactless payment

Download the BART Watch App 

Text BART Police to report concerns at 510-200-0992 

*This article was posted on May 5th and is being updated.

Let’s all ride BART to the movies... 

Buy tickets on Railgoods.com

• Single tickets
• Discounted family pack (4 tickets)

BART invites you to join us beneath the big Bay Area sky for a family movie night on Saturday, August 16, at Concord Station. 

We’re transforming the station parking lot into a camp-themed movie theatre, where we'll screen the beloved film Madagascar once the sun sets and stars emerge. The king of the lemurs likes to “move it move it” almost as much as BART likes to move the Bay Area. 

Before that iconic song gets stuck in our heads, BART will be screening never-before-seen footage filmed from a Train Operator’s point of view along all 131 miles of the BART System. The virtual ride offers a sped-up and mesmerizing perspective of the Bay Area from the five BART lines end to end.  

While we wait for the sky to darken, attendees can enjoy a series of family-friendly activities, including crafts and lanyard making, face painting, a BART uniform try-on station, photo ops, and Under the Stars stickers and giveaways. 

Bring your BART Stamp Passport (or pick one up at the event) to get the Under the Stars stamp. Fill up the pages of your passport to redeem a cool prize. Stamps are available at select BART events.  

On Railgoods, you can purchase single tickets (click here) or a discounted family pack of 4 (click here). Your Railgoods receipt will act as your ticket. Everyone must have their own ticket. The price includes admission to the event, a bag of popcorn, a small disposable water, and fruit snacks.    

We will be selling tickets at the door (credit/debit/Apple Pay/Google Pay only). 

Railgoods will also sell a selection of BART merchandise, including a new BART System Map fleece blanket to be unveiled at the event. 

The station parking lot will be covered with turf, but attendees should bring their own low chairs, blankets, pillows, and whatever else they might need to be comfortable for the duration of the screening, expected to be just under two hours. We will have ADA-accessible bathrooms, misters to keep people cool, and hydration stations onsite – bring a water bottle. 

BART hosts events throughout the year to encourage people to ride BART and gather with their community. Learn more about fun stuff happening at BART at bart.gov/fun 

Under the Stars BART Family Movie Night 

Where: Concord Station parking lot 

When: Saturday, August 16. Doors open at 7pm for 8pm showtime 

The latest BART Sustainability Report, presented to the BART Board of Directors in June, outlines our agency’s ongoing implementation of sustainability initiatives that improve the rider experience while reinforcing our commitment to environmental stewardship, community investment, and regional resiliency. Find the full report here.  

“Taking BART even once a month is a small gift you can give to the environment and your community,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “Despite the financial challenges that lie ahead, BART is approaching the coming decades with optimism and excitement. We can’t afford to lose transit—it is essential for a sustainable, connected Bay Area.” 

The report finds that 86% of BART’s contracted electricity in 2024 came from greenhouse gas–free sources, sourced primarily from renewable energy. On average, taking BART instead of driving saves 25.1 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.  

Highlights from the report include: 

• Green Energy & Infrastructure: BART installed more LED lighting at stations and parking lots and continued escalator modernization projects that use sustainable materials and energy-efficient designs.
• Seismic Safety: BART completed its multi-year Earthquake Safety Program, retrofitting core infrastructure like the Transbay Tube to ensure the system can withstand and recover quickly from major quakes.
• EV Expansion: BART secured more than $24 million in grants to expand electric vehicle charging across its stations, making EV access easier for riders and nearby residents.
• Transit-Oriented Development: Casa Sueños, a new Transit-Oriented Development at Fruitvale Station, added 179 units and 6,000 square feet of retail space, reinforcing BART’s mission to connect residents to jobs, schools, and services while reducing car dependency.
• Community Engagement: Employees launched the BART Green Team, which organizes tree plantings and shoreline cleanups, and hosted a fashion show featuring creations by local students using retired BART paper tickets. 

The full 2024 Sustainability Report, including performance metrics and case studies, is available at bart.gov/sustainability. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation is providing BART $14.1 million to install Level 2 EV charging ports at all BART-managed parking facilities. These charging stations will be available for BART riders as well as community members who live nearby stations and have been hesitant to buy an electric vehicle because of a lack of convenient charging options.

“BART already strongly encourages riders to walk, bike or take other public transit to our stations,” said BART Sustainability Group Manager Monica Meagher. “This grant will allow us to jumpstart our efforts to expand the availability of EV chargers at all of our stations, which will provide our riders another environmentally friendly way to get to BART.”

BART is issuing a request for proposals to find a third-party partner to design, install, own, and operate the chargers. Construction is expected to begin in late 2025.

BART plans to prioritize EV deployment at stations in or near disadvantaged communities. Expanding EV charging at BART will support robust electric vehicle adoption across a wide range of socioeconomic groups. Providing EV charging at stations is consistent with BART’s sustainability goals and commitment to improving the Bay Area environment. Every weekday, BART riders save nearly 31,000 gallons of gas and directly reduce CO2e emissions by more than 600,000 pounds.

The award to BART is part of nearly $150 million the U.S. Department of Transportation is providing to five California projects to build zero-emission vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure. The funding comes through the Federal Highway Administration’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program.

Corner seat, headphones on, notebook out. Eyes drift between the window and the page. Pen scratches paper as the train slides beneath the bay and into San Francisco.  

By the time the train hums into 16th St. Station, high school senior Sehinne has scribbled some solid one-liners. Nothing's concrete, but she’s got the first rumblings of a concept or idea or phrase that could blossom from a wisp on the page into a poem. 

the Bay is my siren 

it pulls me in towards murky waters of Lake Merritt 

and tells me I am in a spring 

how can I leave the Bay when every good idea I've come up with was made on BART?  

i jot down one-liners whispered to me upon my train stopping at 19th St. 

Sehinne wrote these lines on BART. The poem that grew from them, titled “BART,” was the first to “break the nine barrier” at the 2025 Brave New Voices slam poetry festival, meaning every judge scored Sehinne's piece a nine or above. Sehinne’s group, Team Youth Speaks Bay Area, took home first place. 

BART takes Sehinne from San Leandro to 16th St. Mission every week for her internship at Youth Speaks, a nonprofit in the Mission that gives young people space to unearth, develop, and amplify their voices. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey, and for Sehinne, the journey is where much of the work happens.  

“Transit became something I started writing about when I realized I was always writing on it," she said. "BART has always given me a safe space to write and be inspired and be creative." 

BART has been part of Sehinne’s life since she was young, riding into San Francisco to see family or to wander around the big Macy’s store downtown. In time, her BART trips became avenues to something more than a physical location. 

Once she started high school, Sehinne began riding BART almost every day – to school, to thrifting in Berkeley, to her favorite museums in Oakland and San Francisco. Riding BART solo is a rite of passage for Bay Area kids like her, she said.  

“The first time I took BART by myself was when I really knew I was starting to grow up,” she explained. “There are so many good life lessons you can learn just traveling around your region by yourself. It’s almost like a sense of pride you’re able to figure it all out.”  

Besides, "Do you want all your plans to happen on your parents’ time, or do you want to get places on your own?” Sehinne chooses the latter. Always.  

It wasn't until sophomore year that Sehinne began writing poetry, spurred by a class assignment asking: what does social justice mean to you? Her pen didn’t stop until the page was filled.  

“My teacher was like, ‘Dang, you’re a poet,’ and I was like, meeee?” she recalled.  

The many poems that followed this first piece consistently explores activism and social justice. It turns out writing is one of the best ways to release your frustration with the state of the world, Sehinne discovered.  

The “BART” poem expresses some of those frustrations, centering her experience as a “lower middle class” kid in a region with staggering income inequality: 

we are the protectors of a misrepresented region 

BART is my protector 

he picks me up at almost any type of night because he knows I am broker than a joker 

and that $16 Uber is $15 above my price range 

BART is misrepresented  

people who claim they’re from the Bay but have never gone further east into Oakland than Los Pericos 

and don't even imagine what the streets of the hundreds look like  

try to tell me BART is dirty, BART is dangerous. ‘My son is 16 and hasn't rode on BART once.’  

first of all, mmm, f--- you, do you think that your son is better than me because I've been riding BART since the 6th grade?  

i'm sorry that my mother of four and nurse to 400,000 of Oakland does not have time to be my chauffeur 

In the poem, Sehinne personifies BART as her “second uncle twice removed on my city’s side.” He’s reliable, a little eccentric, and always there for her.  

“BART was made for people like me who were raised by their city,” she writes. “...he shows up late and he shows up loud, but he shows up for me always, and that just might be the most Bay thing about him.” 

Bijou McDaniel, Youth Speaks Director of Narrative Change and Communications, said many Youth Speaks poets rely on public transit and, like Sehinne, have a strong emotional attachment to the transit systems that carry them.  

“BART is such a literal connecting vehicle for our young people, especially as we’ve seen the demographics of San Francisco change and young people being pushed out to the different corners and edges of the Bay Area,” she said. “They’re still able to attend our programs and events...and I know without BART that wouldn’t be possible.”  

Many Bay Area arts organizations believe it is critical to locate near public transit to ensure their spaces are accessible to artists and regionwide audiences, and many partner with BART through our BARTable program to co-promote riding transit to their venues. 

In 2024, Youth Speaks served as a partner and judge for the BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest, which solicited works from local youth to appear in BART’s free Short Edition Story Dispensers. Through arts programming, BART’s Art Program and Communications department are working to amplify the voices of Bay Area young people. We understand that the words and ideas of young artists like Sehinne are building a roadmap for the future, one that is informed by lived experiences and culturally specific histories.  

The “BART” poem came to Sehinne when she was in the planning stages for Brave New Voices, which was held this year in Wisconsin. She wanted to bring the Bay with her, and writing about her “second home” BART just made sense.  

One of her favorite moments from the trip was finding out Team Bay Area made it to the finals while the group was eating in a local restaurant.  

“We were screaming, and people were looking at us like we were crazy, you know, bringing that hyphy to Wisconsin,” she remembered. “They’re not used to it out there.”  

Now in her last year of high school, Sehinne’s starting to think about life beyond the Bay. She’s found herself paying closer attention to those everyday scenes that stream by in the train windows.  

“It being my senior year and all and not really knowing where I’ll end up, whenever I ride BART now it’s really just trying to capture a memory of everything see so I can take it with me everywhere I go,” she said.  

"I hope you all start riding BART more often,” she said, addressing the region. “Maybe you’ll get inspired, too.”  

Read more BART poems by young writers in BART’s short story dispensers and online at bart.gov/bartlines.