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BART's innovative Art Program is making a huge difference in the transit experience of our riders.  Since its inception in the 1960s, BART has prioritized bringing art and cultural experiences to stations. On our latest edition of “Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART,” BART Art Program Manager Jennifer Easton discusses the wide range of projects her one-woman department has undertaken – from murals and fashion shows to poetry contests and safety initiatives – and makes the case for the importance of weaving art and culture into the transit experience.  

(TRANSCRIPT BELOW)

ROBERTSON: “Welcome to ‘Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART,’ I’m Michelle Robertson with BART Communications, and today I have the honor of being your host on this edition of Hidden Tracks. I'll be speaking with Jennifer Easton, BART's Art Program Manager. So, it's been a busy few years for Jennifer, who is the sole employee in the art program I'd like to point out. She has led a ton of projects that are hoping to make our stations more welcoming, safer, and let's face it, just nice places to be in while you're waiting for your train. In some ways, our stations are museums, not only for their architectural integrity, but also for many of the striking and historic artworks within and without. And we keep adding more. Jennifer, welcome to Hidden Track. 

EASTON: Thank you, Michelle. I'm so happy to be here. 

ROBERSTON: What prepared you for this role? 

EASTON: I wish I could say I graduated nuclear scientist or something really tricky and try to dovetail from there. But I did start, my degree is in art history and museum studies, so, that's the road I went down. And I had been doing curatorial work for a number of years.  I was a research assistant at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in Los Angeles and then I realized that all my colleagues were moving to very small towns and other places to kind of build their careers. And I was actually really interested in staying in Los Angeles at the time and I had early in college done some work around public art, really early on and kind of dovetailed back into that in Los Angeles and it just kind of went from there. It was a burgeoning field at the time and what was interesting to me and what's always been interesting is I'm a generalist in a lot of ways, right? I love just like the layers that public art is. I have to know construction. I have to know community engagement. I have to know artists. I have to know all these different cool things that I get to, so every day, I mean, maybe it's my ADHD, you know, it's like I get attached to 88 different projects.

I mean at a certain point I moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, and I went to tech and I was doing tech marketing, so I learned marketing when that kind of went downhill. I went into nonprofit management and I was doing PR and marketing and that and fundraising. So, I've learned all these crazy skills and then I was ultimately running the public art program for the City of San Jose, which is a pretty big program. Then this opened up and it was like my dream job, because I'd always been a BART girl and have loved transit, have used transit, and I always felt like the early BART program had art in it, but it never really advanced very far. Grace Crunican, the GM at the time, who had come from Seattle, had seen how positive that program was to the success of their transit system and brought it. We had always had somebody kind of babysitting art projects or doing some of the art projects, some of my colleagues when I started here had been doing like that San Francisco extension, there's art there, but it never really been focal. So, when they decided to do this, I was like, let me please let me and that's how I came to do it. I mean, it's really it is a field for people really interested in like a lot of different things, which is kind of exactly where my brain goes. So, it’s fun!

ROBERTSON: I want to talk about a project that's currently underway at Fruitvale Station that I think is indicative of a lot of the work that you do. You're working with BART's longtime community partner, the Unity Council, to create a street gallery at the station. That's what they're calling it and the Unity Council describes the project as a transformation of the station into a living canvas that reflects the rich culture and diversity of the Fruitvale community. Tell us more about that. 

EASTON: So, I'll go back to Grace stating early one she wanted this art program and I think one of the things that she said to me early on and I will say our current GM, Robert Powers, is right on that page, too, is that our stations really need to be more reflective of our communities, and they need to be better partners with our communities, right? And it's not that just the person who drives in drops their car, comes back, drives away. But it's really like, how are we a better partner to our neighborhoods where we are? Because as we know, our history is not 100% grand in that, and I think we are still thinking about what does that look like? How can we be part of the, if it’s still people are still considering it healing or just like new direction, so how do we be part of that dialog? So, Unity Council, was a partner in the Oscar Grant mural and, that day, I think day two, I was called in and I was asked, can you work with Oscar Grant's family? They really want to do a mural at the Fruitvale Station to honor him. It's interesting because, then I was going out there and I had several people come up to me and, this is not too long after Oscar had been killed, and it's like, is this the station? 

The people didn't really have a sense of the place. There were a lot of people visiting to kind of as part of their healing process, as part of their like learning about it. And so the notion of creating that mural became really important and I thought it was really, kudos to BART for stepping into that space, because I know this has happened in other transit agencies and I wouldn't say this always happens where they go in collaboration with the family. I mean, it's always a tense relationship, understandably. So, the Unity Council, because they are representatives of that neighborhood, very strong representatives of the Fruitvale, they came on as a partner to make sure that everybody felt comfortable. Well, not comfortable, but to make sure everybody was in dialog about, just that they were in support of the family, the mural being there at the station and helping to be in that dialog about how this could be very successful.

So, I really appreciated their voice at the table during that process. But as we were talking and as we were doing that project, the Unity Council and I were talking about these other columns, and they have new housing that they've been building there. So, really kind of start to make that feel more like their vision of the Fruitvale got put on hold. Everybody got busy and then post COVID a lot of neighborhoods have been, challenged, right? Safety, security, businesses closing, things like that and Fruitvale is one of our busiest stations. So, the conversation came back again, and the Unity Council said, we'll raise the money. I supported them on with some funds. But, as a percentage, hardly anything, just to get the project up and running and then they've hired already four amazing artists, including the artists who painted the Oscar Grant mural, Refa One, and we're painting the columns, and it just makes the station come alive because it came from a place of love for the community ,expression of the community and they see it just as like a gateway to all the other beauty that's in the Fruitvale. So, they're seeing the beauty of a place where other people might say, oh, this or that, but they're all in on making the Fruitvale a place for their community. So, it just that just felt like a win for BART as far as what Grace had laid out to me early on and what the community wants to see from BART as a partner. 

ROBERSTON: This is a big question. Why does BART have an art program? And we've had one forever, like you said. Why did the founders make sure we had an art program, which was novel at the time? A lot of agencies didn't have art in the station. Why did they want us to have one and why do we need to continue funding this program, especially as we're in this fiscal crisis? 

EASTON: It's a great and big question. The early stations were, their early thinking about the stations; if you look at them, the system was not designed by one architect. It was designed by many, many architects and I think the notion was to have that sense of uniqueness, that the system was not monolithic, that you had different experiences in different places.

I will say it was a little hodgepodge at first. A rumor I heard from the artist who's since passed away, who did the relief carvings in like Richmond and Lake Merritt and many other stations. He said, yeah, one of the guys came to this concrete conferences I was at in San Francisco and said, you need to work on our BART system? He said, okay. 

ROBERTSON: A concrete conference?

EASTON: Right? However, there was an early arts committee with some very important art critics, curators, and artists on it who were, that's who were grabbing those early artists and looking at the diversity. I mean, they made sure they were from Contra Costa, Alameda, and San Francisco counties. And I think it was really, again, there was no plan to have art in all the stations, but they did want to have these moments, as we still say surprise and delight. They did want, art was really starting to be seen. Public art was starting to come into its own. It was still more that what is now called plop art. The grand sculpture by important artists in a plaza.

ROBERSTON: Did you say plop art?

EASTON: Drop it in one place to drop a big sculpture in a place. Plop it down. 

ROBERSTON: I love that. Why don't love that? Because it's very thoughtless. 

EASTON: Well, sometimes it I mean, there are some places, like the Alexander Calder in Chicago that that become iconic, but for the most part, yes, it typically is really about the artist and not the place. But integrative art was happening and if you look back to like Paris and New York and some of these old systems, you see beautiful tile work, so you see these things you appreciate. And so, it was as we've gone along, I think we're just getting kind of following that breadcrumb trail. But as we've been talking about hopefully, it's kind of starting to make sense of why it makes sense to keep it going.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of hard decisions that will have to be made relative to the fiscal cliff, right? Where does the money come from? I will say that even though my program was authorized at 2% of construction costs, it has never worked on that. We've never implemented that. We are finding, like the key projects where it work and finding like what's the budget we can work within to make an impact.

So, we've been, I mean we the royal we, has been actually doing that since the beginning and it's never changed, and I think there are ways to do this efficiently. There's ways to do it boldly and broadly. New York, L.A., they have good sized programs. They deliver lots of amazing projects. We have never been that. So, how do we blend all those things together to create a result, you know what I mean instead of being formulaic?

ROBERTSON: Safety. I want to push this subject a little more. One of my profound experiences with art and safety has been in 19th Street Station, which is my home station. You were heavily involved in this modernization project. There were so many different pieces to it. We opened up the concourse. We tore down all these pillars and walls and opened up the line of sight. So now when I enter the station, I can see directly across it. So, there's no one lurking in dark corners. We replace the lighting with LED lights, more sustainable but also brighter. I especially want to point out that there are these incredible light boxes. Is that what they're called? They're almost like murals, but they're illuminated light box murals made by three local artists, and they're put in the stairwells. So, when I'm walking down the stairs to go catch my train to San Francisco, there's this lit up thing and again, it's less creepy because sometimes stairwells can be creepy as a woman. It's not only bright and adding light to the space, but it's so much fun. There's the Saunders Daisy, it's a bright yellow daisy, and it just perks me up. 

EASTON: Yeah, when we did that project, when it was planned it was before COVID and the platforms were so crowded, particularly at rush hours, and people weren't using the stairs and in a number of stations. So, this is all part of the station modernization program that has since kind of been been modified. I won't say put on hold, but it's been modified and how we go about it, and I'm glad we got 19th Street done and Powell Street because they were two critical stations.

A lot of the station we were having to look at how do we get extra stairwell capacity in there for emergency egress and things like that. I came upon it and it was like glass in stairwells. However, it has been fine. People are not using them as bathrooms and people are being I mean we were careful how we installed them, how we created them. There's room for the mops to move around bikes, whatever. The glass can withstand certain things. But people are using the stairwells more. They are willing to do it, like you say. How do you create a sense of better sense of comfort in a place through the artwork?

We also have light boxes on the concourse level with changeable art and another thing I will be working on shortly is changing that out with either a local artist or local arts organization, or potentially images from our fashion show, because they're so fun to just bring that out. So, it's another way to kind of create that special uniqueness to a place with artwork. Then the whole theme of the artwork is, of the station is really about Uptown Oakland as being an arts district and the city wanting that as a kind of a thing. First Fridays, music venues, all that sort of stuff as more people are moving into the new apartments, making this a place where people want to be where, where it's exciting and as we're dealing with, the backlash against COVID and just like new workforce, the work-live relationships, things like that. I think we're really, that station is just like people come in, they're like, wow, it really does feel like a place that I feel pretty darn good about moving through and being in, you know? And it doesn't mean it's like perfect. It's not. People still like are people. They're still peeling some of the letters off of my project. But I just have to figure that out. It doesn't mean, it hasn't stopped us from being human and there's humans on the street. We're humans. Humans do human stuff. But I think just having us all feel like we want to be in the space makes us feel like generally safer in the space, because we're all kind of part of it. We're all using it. We're all engaging in it on our own volition and because it feels like a better space.

ROBERTSON: Those light boxes I haven't seen, like graffiti on them. They didn't get broken, no one’s smashed. I think we have a culture in America of not necessarily respecting our public spaces and if you're going into this dark box of a station that looks crappy, it makes you want to defile things because it already looks bad. But when you have art there, I don't think people are prone to like, messing with stuff.

EASTON: Right, that was, which New York mayor, I think it was Giuliani, who did that with the New York subway. Right, and if a train got tagged, it came off the line and BART does that too. If a train gets tagged right, it gets brought off the line. 

So, we want to put our best foot forward for folks. We have a really zero tolerance policy for graffiti. We try and get rid of it as fast as possible because we've brought on more cleaners. We're thinking about our spaces, making sure they look as good as we can. However, that's just part and parcel of it, right? So, if you start with a bar that's bringing light levels up, all that sort of stuff, that's that part of the magic.

ROBERTSON: What BART stations would you consider destinations?

EASTON: Well, I mean, now, Fruitvale. So, that's an interesting question because for me, it's both the physical station, but also where the station is. I also think of it as an extension of the neighborhood. So, I love the Fruitvale neighborhood. There's so many great restaurants and it's just fun. 16th and 24th, I think are really fun stations for different reasons. Do you want to talk about?

ROBERTSON: I want to talk about 16th and 24th Street very briefly. Jennifer, or actually customer services got an email from a woman saying her mother is this famous public artist who created the tilescapes is what we're calling them, mosaics in 16th and 24th Street. And you don’t necessarily notice them because I used to live there, and I just moved through the station, but there's, like, these beautiful, honestly, murals on the concourse and on the platform. They were created by this woman, Janet Bennett. I want to point out, Janet has never really been recognized. She was tying these, you know, right before the station open. She was an OG BART artist. Meanwhile, there's these William Mitchell concrete reliefs at the station that are in every must-see historic art in the Bay Area. So, we got in touch with Janet Bennett, who is in her 90s and living in New York City and we got to have this amazing conversation with her and bring her story to light. She was interviewed on the news after we spoke to her. And my favorite part of that interview, god I love Janet, we got to get in touch with her. She said, I'm open to work if you're hiring, let me know. Somebody reached out, so we'll have to follow up and see if she actually did that. 

But that's just another great example of how communications and the art program work together, because there's stories to tell about these stations and about the art in these stations and about what, people consider Janet's work decoration, but it is so not that. 

EASTON: No, I mean, it really definitely had a consciousness behind it in the design. What we also learned is she created the mosaics at LAX, which were also very critical to changing those long hallways to make them more….

ROBERTSON: These are in the tunnels. The famous tunnels at LAX, and it was misattributed. 

EASTON: Same thing. Misattributed. Her boss took credit because she did not. She had to move on to another job after she designed them, and the same year I think she moved on to a different job after. No, she was here through the end, I would take that back. Remember because there's a picture of her with them being installed and she worked with Heath Tiles another woman-owned business, Bay Area business. So, that's a really interesting discussion about how many of our artists also work with local artisans, right? Or local fabricators. So again, they're often seeking out the local, the bespoke, the custom and I often will connect them to local fabricators instead of ones from out of the area because we want to try and keep these dollars local as well. So, another kind of layer of that economic dialog too. 

ROBERTSON: So, I don't think most of us know what goes into getting a public art project done. I certainly don't. I'm like, oh, they're like throwing it up there and it's the thing and wow, that was fast. I recently sat on a selection panel for an artist for BART police's new headquarters, which are going to be right in the heart of downtown Oakland at the 20th Street exit of 19th Street Station, like in front of the Paramount, yes, the Paramount. I mixed that up with the Fox sometimes and across from this gorgeous patina building where the coffee shop Tierra Mia is currently located. The old I Magnin, the department store, Yes. It’s a police station. We opened this conversation talking about Oscar Grant and talking about policing and how we're re-envisioning safety, that's been such a key piece of this conversation and BART police headquarters is going to be right there and on this panel, we are having all these conversations about what it means for this police department to be headquartered right there in this historic neighborhood with the history it has, and how do we make it a part of this place? And, you know, make it not just this dark, bureaucratic building, but a beautiful contribution to the space where if something does happen to you, you feel welcome to walk in there. So, this panel was so eye opening, and it just takes so much expertise and work and collaboration. Walk us through the process of ushering a public art project, into existence through the lens of our new, forthcoming headquarters for BART police.

EASTON: No project is rote.  I think that's the whole point of thinking about each project uniquely, in its place, in its community and its function. So, that's where you start is like, what's the basis? What's the building? What’s the built environment. In this case it is to your point, it's an existing building that started out as a bank. It's a very 1980s building. Let's be honest. It's not the world's most attractive building and in our conversations, in our initial conversations and this is what's so funny about my job as I sit next to the person who does environmental clearance for BART and he was doing environmental clearance on this building, and he so he had been doing outreach to some of what we would call, communities of interest. He reached out to the Uptown Downtown Association and they're like, it was a Kaiser building up until recently. We bought it, the building from Kaiser. Their concern was the street presence of the building. When we were in conversation with the police department early on in the project, is this like they don't have a ton of money for this building, right? So again, it's like, what can the art do? It was really critical that we cannot drop something that feels like Fort Knox in the middle of downtown Oakland and expect to be welcome.

ROBERTSON: But you also have to balance that. It is a police station.

EASTON: It is a police station, right. So you have to harden the building and do all those fun things.

ROBERTSON: But what role does art play, it has so many different things it does?

EASTON: “So that's why we want to bring artists on early and so that's one of the things we try and do really often. So, when we are kind of formulating what the project is, it’s like when can when does the artist come in?  I have some projects, I will be honest that I've brought the artists in and say, great, we're going to bring them early. They’re sitting on the shelf as we speak because BART brings projects to a certain point and depending on the finances or whatever, it could go on the shelf for a while. I mean, I was here six years before my first project finished. You know, my first construction project finished.

ROBERTSON: What was that project? 

EASTON: I think it was El Cerrito del Norte, the new mosaics at El Cerrito del Norte, maybe five, but I think the six and then came Powell and the 19th, right? But those all were in process. They had just started when I started here. So, six years later. But this one, it was really critical because it is a design build project. Progressive design, even more aggressive that the artist is part of the design team. So, her voice, Vicki Scurry, she's going to be in that process when they're considering hardening, when they're considering reinforcing the parking lot. So, how do we do it? 

She came and spent, she's from Seattle, she came and spent a week here after she was selected, by our committee of police officers, community members, artists, you know, arts advisors, yourself, the project manager to really get a bunch of different voices in there, to really think about how do we make this something that reflects what I heard from the community as far as making this a place that doesn't feel, like doesn't add to a negative sense of this group, it adds to a positive sense of history? And everybody knows it has to function, there has to be a way in for the police to park their cars or whatever. There has to be secured parking. We understand that there's also a new cafe opening across the street, so I think there's an expectation. It's like, oh great, more employees here. So how do we build on that positive stuff.

The police have been really great about this. Like, no, we don't want to have shields and badges and pledges and that. We want it to reflect our values, but we want to be a good community partner and the police, you remember they were saying that at the meeting is that they want to be a place that the community actually feels like is part of their community.

ROBERTSON: All right. Jennifer, this was such a lovely conversation. Do you have any final thoughts? 

EASTON: We didn't talk a lot about the collection and what it means to maintain a collection and it is like maintaining buildings, right? BART has, for better or worse, a lot of times been hands off with the artwork because there hasn't been somebody in my position to kind of shepherd that along. So, it's just like, how do we bring recognition internally as an organization? And then because I've had people interview me, it's like, oh, this collection's amazing, and why don't you do a map? Because I really need to get out there and get some stuff cleaned, you know what I mean? So, it's just like, as a party of one. I'm so fortunate I now have somebody who's assisting me for a period of time. She's at San Francisco State in a graduate program, and she's really excited about collection management.

So, she's helping me be that part of my brain to kind of get the collection into our inventory system and things like that. But it is a critical, part of doing that putting it out there is making sure it looks great for years to come and that it generationally kind of continues on, and then it starts to be part of those layers of the story, of the history of BART, and that we save it and talking about our historic preservation, now that we're 50 years old, we have to have some of those conversations. How are we part of that conversation? And just like continuing to respect our system and make the spaces as amazing as possible and have the best system possible, 

ROBERTSON: Jennifer, we're so lucky to have at BART. I am so lucky. Talk about surprise and delight, you surprise and delight me every day. Thank you for joining us for Hidden Tracks: stories from BART. You can listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and of course on our website at BART.gov/podcasts. Now get out there and check out some BART art, please.”

On Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, BART is launching a call for riders’ BART stories. We want to hear what BART means to you and gain insight into how we can continue to improve.  

Do you have a favorite BART memory? Have you met a dear friend or life partner aboard a train? Did you take BART to a seminal life event? Have you been sitting on a unique idea to improve the system? We’d like to hear it.  

To answer our questions, visit bart.gov/YourStory. We may contact you to learn more about your BART experience for future articles and communications (but only if you give us permission). You have the option to remain anonymous or share select information. Once you've answered the questions, you can enter a drawing to win one of three $100 e-gift cards. We’ll be sharing these stories in the coming months. 

This call for stories is one aspect of our Role in the Region Study, which provides insight into emerging trends and outlines BART’s benefits to the Bay Area through illustrative data, personal narratives, and factsheets, culminating in a comprehensive final report. The final report is anticipated to be completed in Spring 2024. You can keep up to date with the project and explore factsheets at bart.gov/RoleintheRegion.  

These materials highlight BART’s essential role in the region’s success as well as the compelling need for the continued funding and support of this essential transportation system. This study further develops the analyses and values illustrated in BART’s Transit Saves campaign and builds upon the findings from the 2016 Role in the Region Study.  

This Transit Month, ride BART and tell us what it means to you!  

Answer the questions and share your story at bart.gov/YourStory. 

BART’s customer satisfaction rate has hit its highest mark in ten years and surged six percentage points in two years according to the latest comprehensive biannual survey of BART riders.

The 2024 BART Customer Satisfaction Survey found that 73 percent of respondents are “very or somewhat satisfied with BART” compared to 67 percent of those questioned in 2022, the last time BART conducted the survey.  

In addition to general questions, respondents were also asked to rate 24 service attributes on a scale of one to seven. Ratings for 17 of the 24 metrics improved in 2024. Cleanliness of trains and stations, on-time performance, presence of BART police, personal security, enforcement against fare evasion, and addressing homelessness all showed improvement.  

“These results confirm our Safe and Clean Plan is transforming the BART experience and making our system cleaner and safer,” said BART Board President Mark Foley. “We recognize there is still room for improvement; however, our focus on enhancing the customer experience is yielding positive results. It’s encouraging to see the survey responses that echo what I’m hearing from riders as I travel through the system.”  

Some other findings:

• 80 percent of those surveyed said they would recommend BART to a friend or out-of-town guest, up four percentage points from 2022.
• 67 percent agree that BART is a good value for the money, up three percentage points.
• The average rating for train interior cleanliness increased by a whopping 14 percent.
• The average rating for station cleanliness increased by eight percent.

Only the availability of space on trains for luggage, bicycles and strollers and availability of seats on trains declined, unsurprising given the increase in overall ridership since 2022 and BART’s move to run shorter trains to enhance safety and save on energy costs.

BART has surveyed its riders every two years since 1996. More than 4,600 questionnaires in English, Spanish and Chinese were distributed onboard a representative sample of train runs last autumn.  

The survey results were presented to the BART Board of Directors at its annual Board Workshop, Thursday, February 27, 2025. View the full presentation here.  

BART also asks about customer satisfaction in its ongoing Passenger Environment Survey. That survey is about a rider’s specific trip. The latest customer satisfaction rate from that survey is 83%.  

BART will be running special service on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. 

You no longer need a Clipper card to ride BART and other Clipper agencies in the Bay Area! Try out Tap and Ride for the holidays. Tap and Ride gives you the option to pay for BART at the fare gates using contactless credit and debit cards, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay. It's an immense timesaver as you head out for holiday fun as for zero registration or setup is required (though you can still use Clipper, if preferred). Find more info on Tap and Ride below. 

BART Holiday Schedule 

Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24: Regular weekday service (5am-midnight) 

Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25: Sunday service (8am-midnight)  

Day after Christmas, Friday, December 26: Regular weekday service (5am-midnight) 

New Year's Eve, Wednesday, December 31: Regular weekday service (5am opening) with extended late-night service, extra staffing, and additional event trains. BART will be providing extended service until 1am for late-night riders coming back from fireworks shows and celebrations. More on this below.  

New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1: Sunday service (8am-midnight) 

Day after New Year’s Day, Friday, January 2: Regular weekday service (5am-midnight) 

Looking for something to do? We've got a list of BARTable NYE celebrations.

New Year's Eve 1am Extended Service - More Info 

Our 1am extended service will be as follows: 

Three-line special service (Yellow, Blue, and Orange only in both directions, for total of six trains for 1am extended service).  

Yellow Line will be the only line running in San Francisco and Peninsula. Blue Line will run between Bay Fair and Dublin/Pleasanton. 

Trains will be waiting at MacArthur and Bay Fair to complete timed transfers. 

Yellow Line and Orange Line trains in all directions will be timed to meet at MacArthur Station at 1:51am in a "grand meet." This is the transfer point for riders coming from San Francisco heading toward Richmond or Berryessa or riders coming from the East Bay heading toward San Francisco. 

Orange Line and Blue Line trains will be timed to meet at Bay Fair Station at 2:15am. Dublin-bound riders can take the Berryessa-bound Orange Line train and transfer at Bay Fair Station. 

SFO and OAK airport stations will NOT be served. 

Last East Bay-bound train running through downtown San Francisco will be at around 1:30am. 

Last southbound train heading toward Millbrae will run through downtown San Francisco at around 2:10am. 

The regular last trains of the evening (Yellow, Blue, and Orange lines) will be dispatched from the end of their lines at midnight and then at 1:00am. We will run another set of last trains of the evening to serve 48 out of our 50 stations. The 1am trains will not serve SFO and OAK airport stations. 

Pay with Tap and Ride 

BART riders now have the option to pay for BART at the fare gates using contactless credit and debit cards, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.  

Tap and Ride is an immense timesaver for riders because zero registration or setup process is required, and riders will no longer need to add fare to their Clipper cards. All Bay Area transit agencies now offer Tap and Ride as of December 10, 2025.  

If you want to continue using a Clipper card, take it out of your wallet or purse when you pay. To continue using Clipper on your Apple Wallet, make sure Express Mode is turned on for Clipper card. Android devices will automatically present the digital Clipper card if the user has one in Google Wallet. 

Find Tap and Ride FAQs at bart.gov/tapandride. 

Parking at BART on holidays 

Parking is always free after 3pm and on weekends. Parking will also be free on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. This applies to all BART stations except for Milpitas and Berryessa/North San Jose, which are operated by VTA. 

All other parking rules will be enforced. 

Parking at BART for Holiday Travel 

Airport parking can be a hassle and is always expensive, except at BART stations. We offer inexpensive multi-day parking (see options below) at most stations with easy online reservations. Purchase parking on the Official BART App or pay by website.  

Single/Multi-Day Reserved parking is for consecutive overnight stays of up to 20 weekdays at a time. You will need to provide the license plate of the car you plan to drive and a phone number. Please purchase in advance to ensure availability. Reference our guide for paying for Single/Multi-Day Reserved parking here. 

Monthly Reserved parking is for stays of up to 24 hours at a time, charged on a recurring monthly basis, and provides a guaranteed space until 10am. This is not to be used while travelling for several days in a row. 

During the holidays we experience a higher demand in Reserved Parking at stations near the airport. To accommodate, Reserved Parking is allowed in any Reserved or Daily Fee spot at Millbrae Station and San Bruno Station. Reserved parking signs are blue + white or yellow. Daily Fee parking is only allowed in the Daily Fee area. 

Find an overview of parking at BART at bart.gov/parking.  

Taking BART to SFO or OAK  

Traveling by plane for the holiday? It’s easy to ride BART to the airport. You can take the train directly to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Oakland International Airport (OAK). Plan your trip and find fares by using BART’s online Trip Planner and read our comprehensive guide on riding BART to the airport. 

Another option for travel to SFO via BART is to purchase Multi-Day Reserved parking on the Official BART App or  website and drive to Millbrae Station or San Bruno Station, then take a quick ride to SFO Airport.  

Stay Safe 

Save these numbers in your phone: 

510-200-0992 to text BART Police dispatch to discreetly report criminal activity 

510-464-7000 to call BART Police in an emergency (It’s faster than calling 911) 

We also offer the BART Watch App--a free mobile app available on the App Store and Google Play that allows you to quickly and discreetly report criminal or suspicious activity directly to BART Police. 

You can reach the Train Operator using the emergency call button in each car located by the side doors on the new trains. 

Note your train car number when contacting police or the Train Operator. The train number is located above the doors on the inside of each end of the train car. 

BART will have extra safety staff working on New Year’s Eve. 

Holiday Fun 

BART Kwanzaa Coloring Sheet 

BART Hanukkah Coloring Sheet 

BART Christmas Coloring Sheet 

BART is releasing video of the officer-involved shooting that took place on Monday, November 18, 2024, in the Union City Station parking lot at around 9pm. Two BART Police officers stopped a vehicle driven by 32-year-old Jasmine Gao after receiving a report of reckless driving. Before contacting Ms. Gao, officers learned the vehicle’s registration was expired. During the stop, Ms. Gao displayed erratic behavior. When the officers asked her multiple times to exit her vehicle she did not comply. While an officer was reaching inside the car, Ms. Gao rolled up the window and accelerated forward. An officer fired three shots, striking Ms. Gao in the upper torso. Ms. Gao received immediate first aid and was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was treated and later discharged. 

The case has been referred to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. 

The officer who discharged his weapon is Nicholas Poblete. He has 6.5 years of service for BART Police and is assigned to the Operations Bureau. He has been placed on administrative leave.

BART’s Chief of Police Kevin Franklin made the following statement about the video and the investigation:

“BART is releasing the full, unedited body camera video from both responding officers, with only statutorily mandated redactions to provide full transparency and accountability in this unfortunate incident. I want to assure the public that all aspects of this incident will be thoroughly investigated. Due to the seriousness of this incident, we have retained an experienced third-party investigator to conduct the internal administrative investigation to ensure an unbiased and objective review. BART remains committed to continuous improvement and ensuring the actions of our police officers meet the highest of standards.”

BART’s Civilian Oversight Model

BART’s Civilian Oversight Model, adopted by the BART Board of Directors, offers additional layers of independent oversight of the BART Police Department. The Office of the Independent Police Auditor (OIPA) may accept and investigate any complaint of misconduct and may monitor and review investigations.

Watch the video.

A photo of a scrapbook showing Atsushi Goto on a BART train in 2001. The text reads, "Me riding the BART subway. The vibe inside the cars reminded me of an office with sofa chairs." Photos courtesy of Atsushi Goto. 

On Friday, April 19, at 3pm, Atsushi Goto’s plane touched down at San Francisco International Airport. He hastily collected his carry on, went through customs, and dashed toward the SFO BART station. A train was waiting for him on the platform.  

The last time Atsushi rode BART, the trains still had yellow carpets and fabric seats. The Fleet of the Future trains were just an idea, and the legacy fleet didn’t have that adjective attached to its name yet. Actually, at the time, the legacy fleet was only a few years older than Atsushi, then a 21-year-old university student in Japan touring the U.S. 

That was 2001. This past April marked 23 years since Atsushi last set foot on a BART train. And the trains that met him at SFO in April were not the ones he knew.  

The 24 hours that followed his touchdown were a whirlwind of a trains, buses, cable cars, and one big party for a bunch of old trains at MacArthur Station – BART’s retirement celebration for the legacy trains. On the night of Saturday, April 20, just over a day after arriving, Atsushi was on a plane again, headed back home to Japan. Atsushi is an automobile designer, and on Monday, he had work. 

Atsushi poses with the train cab cutout at the legacy retirement ceremony on Saturday, April, 20, 2024. Photo courtesy of Atsushi Goto. 

“I feared this was my last chance to see these trains. I could not wait any longer,” Atsushi said, speaking on a videocall from Japan. He’d never intended for his return to the Bay Area to take so many years, but between work and his other adult responsibilities, it just happened that way. 

Atsushi had heard rumblings of a BART legacy fleet retirement party and final ride from rail fans online, so every single day, he checked BART’s X account to see if the event information had been posted. He immediately started looking for plane tickets. A few weeks before, it finally appeared on his feed. Just a few days later Atsushi booked his ticket. Due to his work schedule, he could only get away for the weekend.  

He has no regrets. His final ride on the legacy fleet was everything he dreamed it would be.  

“It was unforgettable, a wish come true,” he said.  

On his last ride, Atsushi took tons of photos, celebrated with fellow rail fans, and reflected on the 23-year-long ride that took him from his first spin on an original BART train to his final one that day. Before the train returned to the yard from Fremont Station, Atsushi said, “I touched the train to thank it for its many years of service.”  

Atsushi Goto pictured with one of his legacy car number plates back home in Japan. Photo courtesy of Atsushi Goto. 

BART Communications learned about Atsushi and his love of BART from Customer Services Assistant Nathan Nguyen. Nathan’s the kind of guy who’ll go out of his way to help a customer, even if that customer lives in a different time zone halfway around the world.  

Before he learned about the legacy retirement event, Atsushi was desperate to get his hands on some legacy car number plates. There’s no international shipping option on Railgoods.com, where you purchase the quick-to-sellout plates, but Nathan made it happen just for him. The cost of shipping was as much as the plates themselves, but Atsushi wanted them nonetheless.  

“As I got to know Atsushi communicating through email and learning the love he has for BART, I made it my mission to get these plates to him in Japan," said Nathan. "Atsushi is a very genuine guy, and the love he has for BART is overwhelming!” 

A photo of the full scrapbook page with photos Atsushi took in 2001 and the BART ticket he used. Courtesy Atsushi Goto. 

Atsushi has a page in an old scrapbook commemorating his first BART ride. There’s a photo of himself at 16th St. Mission Station. He’s 21, and the ends of his hair are bleached like a true 90s kid. Below the photo, Atsushi pasted his first BART ticket. The text reads on the page reads: “I took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). The interior of the train felt like an office sofa. It was luxurious and modern.” 

Atsushi had wanted to visit San Francisco since he was a child. His mother used to read to him from the 1950s-era children’s book “Maybelle the Cable Car” by Virginia Lee Burton, translated into Japanese from the original English.  

A snapshot of the opening lines of “Maybelle the Cable Car” (Copyright Houghton Mifflin).  

“Maybelle was a cable car / a San Francisco cable car / Cling clang . . . clingety clang / Up and down and around she went,” the the classic story begins.  

“I was really surprised by the angle of that hill,” Atsushi said.  

When he finally made it to the U.S. in 2001, Atsushi felt like he was on a movie set.  

“I really like America because as a child, I’d often see American movies on tv, like “Speed” and “Top Gun” with Tom Cruise,” he said. He’s also a big fan of American hard rock, including Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith. 

Atsushi on a Muni bus in 2001. The 8042 bus was retired in 2016. Photo courtesy of Atsushi Goto. 

During his visit, he traveled west to east, stopping in cities along the way, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., New York City, and Dallas. The Bay Area was one of his favorite places, and he spent lots of time riding its many forms of transit.  

“The great thing about the Bay Area’s transportation system is that it combines modern and traditional elements and together, they function as a means of daily transportation,” he said. “For example, on the one hand there are advanced systems like BART and Muni, on the other hand, there are cable cars and the Muni F line. It’s fascinating and wonderful.” 

A Tokyo Metro Series 6000 train. Photo by Atsushi Goto. 

BART’s “sofa-like spacious seats and seamless exterior” made him feel as if he were riding in a vehicle from the future. The cars’ exterior design was quite unlike the trains in Japan, where most of the trains are square and boxy, Atsushi said. He noted that the BART trains influenced the design of the cab on the Tokyo Metro Series 6000 trains, which he used to ride to get to school in Tokyo. He felt a strong sense of familiarity, communion even, with the BART trains off the bat.  

“The legacy train’s design is so simple and iconic a child can easily draw it. With its round headlights and large windows, the design is still fresh even 50 years after its introduction,” he added.  

He also thought the stations were cool thanks to their modern architecture, red electronic display boards, and the hip BART logo and color scheme.  

Atsushi eats clam chowder at a stand in San Francisco during his visit in 2001. Photo courtesy Atsushi Goto.

On his second visit to the Bay Area so many years later, Atsushi said his heart leapt when he came face to face with a BART train at SFO Station. He said his first ride on the new trains was “very comfortable,” and he appreciated the “sloping cross section and color scheme of the cars," which reminded him of the original cars. He also liked how the colors of the train “really match the beautiful Bay Area scenery.” 

After dropping his bag at his hotel in downtown San Francisco, Atsushi hopped on a cable car on Market Street and rode it to Fisherman’s Wharf. After dining on some clam chowder on the waterfront, Atsushi rode back to his hotel on the F Market and Wharves Line, a heritage streetcar service that uses legacy equipment from retired fleets from San Francisco and abroad.  

Scenes from the legacy train retirement event on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Photo by Atsushi Goto.

Saturday morning, he rode BART to Fruitvale Station because he got a tip that the legacy trains would be passing through the station on their way to MacArthur for the ceremony. He met another rail fan waiting for the train, too, and so they hung out and chatted while they waited.  

Then, at last, he rode to MacArthur and basked in the atmosphere generated by thousands of rail fans celebrating BART and its historic trains.  

A legacy train on the tracks during the legacy train retirement event on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Photo by Atsushi Goto.

On the train, he said the scene on the train was very lively and fun.  

“It was a wonderful experience to sit in a spacious seat and ride while looking out at the Bay Area,” he added.  

After the train pulled into its final stop – Fremont Station – Atsushi waited on the platform with dozens of other rail fans to see the trains off to the yard.  

Once the train sailed away, Atsushi had one more rail system to ride. His rail fan friend at Fruitvale told him about Caltrain’s Nippon Sharyo cars, which are being retired. So, Atsushi dashed back to San Francisco, caught one of the double-decker, Japanese-made beauties, and rode it a few stops. Then, it was back on BART to SFO and a long plane ride back home.  

Atsushi said he won’t let so much time pass between now and his next visit to the Bay. He admits he should have come back sooner, but when he started working after graduation, it became difficult to take long holidays.  

“I would definitely like to visit again,” he said. But he’s going to wait until the Western Railway Museum opens it BART museum with its three legacy train cars.  

A Timeline of Atsushi’s Whirlwind Visit to the Bay Area 

9pm JST, Friday, April 19: Atsushi Goto’s plane departs Narita Airport in Tokyo. 

3pm PDT, Friday, April 19: Atsushi touches down at San Francisco International Airport.  

5pm PDT, Friday, April 19: Atsushi takes BART from SFO to Downtown San Francisco and walks to his hotel by Civic Center/ UN Plaza. 

7pm PDT, Friday, April 19: Atsushi catches the cable car on Market Street to Fisherman’s Wharf.  

9pm PDT, Friday, April 19: Atsushi rides the Muni F train back to downtown. 

11am PDT, Saturday, April 20: Atsushi photographs a legacy train passing through Fruitvale Station as it heads to MacArthur for the celebration. 

1pm PDT, Saturday, April 20: Atsushi attends the legacy train retirement ceremony at MacArthur Station and queues to board the last train. 

2pm PDT, Saturday, April 20: Atsushi rides the last legacy train to depart MacArthur, then sees it off as it returns to the yard.  

7pm PDT, Saturday, April 20: Atsushi arrives at Caltrain station and boards the Nippon Sharyo double-decker train. 

 9pm PDT, Saturday, April 20: Atsushi takes BART from Civic Center to SFO.  

1am PDT, Sunday, April 22: Atsushi’s flight to Tokyo departs San Francisco. 

5am JST, Sunday, April 22: Atsushi’s flight lands at Tokyo Haneda International Airport. 

BART carried more than a million riders during Super Bowl LX week, the highest ridership week for BART since the pandemic. Thursday, Feb. 5, was also the highest ridership day since the pandemic with 225,832 trips, per BART’s February Ridership Snapshot.  

Preliminary ridership numbers for March are strong. Over February and into March, Saturday ridership reached 85% of pre-pandemic levels, and March to date is 14% higher compared to the same period a year ago. Tuesday, March 24, is now the third-highest post-pandemic ridership day with more than 221,000 trips.  

The surge in February ridership was driven largely by fans and visitors traveling to destinations across San Francisco for Super Bowl-related events and celebrations. The strong performance highlights BART’s ability to move large crowds quickly and efficiently, connecting the region during moments of peak demand. 

With global events like the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, BART will continue to play a key role in transporting residents and visitors to major destinations throughout the Bay Area. 

February ridership highlights: 

• Total trips: 4.5 million (+13% year-over-year) 

• Average weekday ridership: 191,099 (+11% year-over-year) 

• Average Saturday: 129,183 (+27% year-over-year) 

• Average Sunday: 77,296 (+15% year-over-year) 

Saturdays saw particularly impressive growth, reflecting increased demand for events, entertainment, and weekend travel across the region. 

In February, more than 685,000 trips were taken using Tap and Ride, up 7% compared to the previous month, reflecting continued adoption of contactless payment options that speed up station entry and improve the rider experience. 

Ridership alone cannot close the funding gap 

Even with continued growth, fare revenue has not returned to pre-pandemic levels and is not enough on its own to fully fund operations. Like transit agencies nationwide, BART faces a structural budget deficit as remote and hybrid work patterns reduce traditional commute trips. Read more about BART’s funding deficit here.

Find comprehensive BART ridership reports here and daily ridership numbers here.  

The BART Board of Directors during its meeting today unanimously elected Melissa Hernandez to serve as its president for the 2026 term. Hernandez served as Board Vice President for the 2025 term. She is the first Latina to serve on the BART Board of Directors and now becomes the first Latina to serve as Board President. 

Hernandez will lead the BART Board during what’s expected to be a defining year for the future of the agency. BART faces a budget deficit of up to $400 million now that state and federal emergency funds have been exhausted and an uncertain future if a new source of reliable long-term funding can’t be secured.  

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your president,” President Hernandez said following her election. “I truly believe this year will define BART for decades to come if we continue to put riders first and work together as a team to face the challenges ahead of us. I am confident people will look back on 2026 as the year we secured BART’s future as the essential backbone of the Bay Area transit network.” 

First appointed to the Board on May 23, 2024, to fill the vacancy for District 5, Hernandez was elected in November 2024.  

District 5 is in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and includes a portion of the City of Hayward, ranging from Castro Valley Station in the north to Hayward Station in the south. It also includes the City of Pleasanton (except for a portion near Kilkare Woods), the City of Livermore, the City of Dublin, the southeastern part of San Ramon, and rural areas in east Alameda County. 

Previously, Hernandez served as a City of Dublin councilmember for eight years and also served as the city’s mayor for four years until June 2024. She has chaired three regional transit boards: the Livermore-Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA), Tri Valley/San Joaquin Valley Regional Transportation Authority (Valley Link), and the Finance Committee of the Alameda County Transportation Commission.  

Director Edward Wright elected as BART Board Vice President 

The Board of Directors also unanimously elected District 9 Director Edward Wright as Board Vice President. Wright was elected to serve on the board in November 2024.  

District 9 is in San Francisco and includes the following stations: 16th St Mission, 24th St. Mission, Embarcadero (shared with District 8), Civic Center/UN Plaza, Glen Park (shared with District 8), Montgomery (shared with District 8), and Powell St. (shared with District 8). 

Prior to joining the BART Board, Edward led transportation policy and communications for three local legislators; served as a Transit Strategy and Communications Advisor for the SFMTA and as President of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club; and organized a range of political campaigns, civic and community events, marches, and direct actions.  

“I believe this will be the most consequential year since BART was created, and I take this role and the responsibility that comes with it very seriously,” Vice President Wright said during the board meeting. “I came here to try to do something and will do so by working together collaboratively with my colleagues. Let’s go!” 

Dewayne Deams (left) with his great-grandfather Curtis E. Green at the dedication ceremony for the Curtis E. Green Light Rail Center on May 12, 1987. Photo courtesy of SFMTA Photo | SFMTA.com/Photo

BART Train Operator Dewayne Deams has digital version of an old photo stashed on his phone. The grainy, sepia-toned image shows a boy, smiling and shaking hands with a gentleman in a suit and tie. There's a plaque behind them that reads: “Curtis E. Green Light Rail Center, Dedicated May 12, 1987." 

The boy is Deams as a five-year-old. The gentleman is Curtis E. Green, Deams’ great-grandfather and the first Black person to lead a big-city transit agency in the U.S. Green’s impact on public transportation is immeasurable. For Deams, its personal.  

“I don’t have a vocabulary big enough to describe how much his legacy means to me,” Deams said of his great-grandfather. “He’s a trailblazer. In my time with him, I never saw him that way. I didn’t realize he's literally in the history books until I was older.”  

Deams started asking questions about the man he knew simply as “granddaddy” after his funeral, at which Willie Brown spoke and a letter by Dianne Feinstein was read. Green died in 2002 at 78 after a long illness. Deams, then 21, had seen Brown and Feinstein on tv. He knew they were famous, but why were they speaking at great-grandpa’s memorial service?  

Dianne Feinstein, then the Mayor of San Francisco, and Curtis E. Green at the dedication of the Muni Metro Light Rail System on July 11, 1979. Photo courtesy of SFMTA Photo | SFMTA.com/Photo 

Deams said his great-grandfather wasn’t the name-dropping type, and he certainly didn’t know him as “the Muni guy.” Rather, he remembers Green as gregarious and easygoing with a hearty laugh. The two talked about football a lot.  

After Green died, Deams started researching, and he quickly came to realize his great-granddaddy was a “big deal.” At the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Deams found a section all about Green and his legacy.  

“I had him for a good while,” Deams said. “But when you’re a kid, you don’t always understand the magnitude of things. It’s like, okay, grandpa, whatever you say. I’m grateful I eventually came to learn the importance of what he accomplished.”  

Before he fully understood his great-grandfather’s legacy, Deams said he would sometimes brag to friends and classmates when passing the Curtis E. Green Light Rail Center in Balboa Park.  

“I’d say, ‘Look at that name! That’s my grandfather,’” Deams remembers. “That was always a claim to fame for me.”  

Transit obviously runs in Deams’ blood, and not only on behalf his great-grandfather. Both of Deams' parents drove buses and light rail for Muni. His mother, Denise Green, is now a supervisor at the agency, where she’s worked for more than 30 years. Twice she’s won the distinguished Driver of the Month award, including when she worked in Green’s namesake division. He attended every one of her awards ceremonies.  

“The second time she won, while she was working in the Green Division, he came and spoke about how proud he was,” Deams said. “I get choked up thinking about it. That was one of the last times I saw him before he died.” 

Curtis E. Green pictured with his family on July 23, 1974. Photo courtesy of SFMTA Photo | SFMTA.com/Photo 

Green settled in San Francisco after serving in the Marines during WWII. Before the war, it could be challenging to find a job if you were Black -- hiring practices were often blatantly discriminatory. The war opened things up a bit, and in 1945, when Green was seeking a job in San Francisco, many employers suddenly had a shortage of workers on their hands. That year, Green was hired as a bus driver, making 90 cents an hour.  

Over his 37-year career at Muni, Green slowly rose in the ranks. He knew he wanted to pursue management, and so he did, earning his degree after years of night classes. In 1974, he became deputy general manager of Muni. A year later, he was promoted to the top spot.  

Things were not always easy for Green, his great-grandson said. Back in the day, drivers carried change – riders didn’t have to give exact fare – which sometimes made them targets. Green was once robbed and beat up for his change purse.  

He faced challenges because of his race, too, especially as he moved up in the ranks. “’You’re affirmative action. You’re only getting this because they needed to hire a Black guy,’” Deams said, parroting colleagues’ racist remarks. Those words stung his great-grandfather, Deams said, but he always rose above it, touting the importance of hard work above all else.  

Green loved his job, the city, working with people, Deams said. When he reached the top of Muni's ranks, he treated everyone the same, whether a janitor or mayor of San Francisco.  

Deams carries on his great-grandfather’s legacy in his own way, waking up each morning, hopping in his cab, and striving to give BART riders the best service possible. He describes himself as “a major transit nerd” -- one of the lucky few whose passion is also his job.  

Deams said his conduct at work is influenced by his great-grandfather and the example he set. Green believed in killing ‘em with kindness and told his great-grandson that there was nothing wrong with being nice. Deams took that to heart, applying it in scenarios as basic as “seeing someone running to the train doors when I’m operating.” 

“I could just take off, but I’m a sucker and hold the doors most of the time,” he said. “People appreciate it. You don’t have to be cutthroat. You can be kind and still get the job done.”  

A recent photo of Dewayne Deams with his daughter. 

One of his favorite parts of the job, like his great-grandfather, is interacting with people. Deams currently works on the Yellow Line, and he loves “walking the platform to my train, answering questions as I go, and seeing people ride from all over the world.” Typical topics of conversation include baseball and how to get to Fisherman’s Wharf. Once, Deams met a woman boarding the train with her father, who had helped build BART back in the 1960s. Deams was honored to take them for a ride.  

Having grown up as a “latchkey kid” in the Bayview District of San Francisco, Deams said public transit was a lifeline for him and his little brother. They took it to school, to baseball practice, to appointments. His favorite spot to take the train growing up was Blondie’s Pizza at Powell Street Station. He and his friends would grab a slice and try to scarf it down before the pigeons beat them to it.  

As a teenager one evening, while spending the night at his grandmother’s house, Deams remembered convincing her to give him a $20 bill. He grabbed the cash, took the bus to Colma Station, and rode BART to the Coliseum to watch a Warriors game.  

“For $20 at the time – it was the 90s – I was able to get there and back, buy a ticket to the game, and get some nachos,” he said. “My mom was pretty furious when I got back though.” 

Now, Deams takes his three daughters around the Bay Area on BART, including to sports games. They’re proud of their dad and his career. BART trains aren’t just BART trains to them, Deams said, but Daddy’s BART trains. Just like his great-grandfather did for him so many years before, Deams is now sharing the joys of transit with his children, teaching them how to use it and why it matters.  

“They’re in love with trains,” he said. “Especially BART trains.” Nothing could make him prouder.  

Curtis E. Green at the wheel of a new AM General diesel coach on May 5, 1975. Photo courtesy of SFMTA Photo | SFMTA.com/Photo