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On Thursday, October 24, 2024, California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin announced at the North Berkeley BART Station that BART has been awarded $25 million from the Cycle 7 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for the North Berkeley Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Mobility Enhancements Project. 

“This funding makes possible two plazas plus bike and pedestrian improvements, which will help transform the North Berkeley BART station area into a mixed-use, sustainable community,” says BART Board Director Rebecca Saltzman, who represents the station. “By enhancing access to public transit and improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure, projects like this will reduce dependency on personal vehicles.” 

Key project components include BART rider parking within a TOD garage, publicly accessible open spaces including an intermodal transit plaza, and walking and biking enhancements around the station. The TOD will transform the main North Berkeley Station parking lot into housing and open space. The TIRCP funds are critical to supporting investments that enhance access to BART for current and future BART riders.  

TIRCP funds will be used to enhance walking and biking infrastructure and augment multimodal connections. These enhancements are expected to boost ridership by facilitating safe pedestrian and bike access and promoting non-automotive transportation. The estimated total cost for the Mobility Enhancements Project is $37 million. Remaining funding sources are from local and state contributions.

The overall North Berkeley Station TOD project prioritizes affordable housing, aligns with BART’s TOD Policy goals and meets the strategic objectives of the TIRCP program.  The project will consist of five residential buildings that will be built in phases. 

BART estimates that the 739 new homes in the TOD, with approximately half affordable for households at or below 80% of Area Median Income, would generate roughly 750 new trips per day by 2031. 

On Friday, March 1, BART and the Oakland Ballers, the Town’s newest professional baseball team, announced a partnership ahead of the team’s inaugural season.  

The iconic BART logo will grace the right sleeve of the Ballers’ 2024 season jerseys along with the logo of AAA, the 2024 jersey sponsors. The backs of the jerseys will also prominently feature the word “Oakland," which the team said is a symbol of their “commitment to always carry Oakland on its back." 

“BART has a long history of carrying fans to their favorite Bay Area sporting events, and we’re looking forward to welcoming the Ballers to Oakland,” said David Martindale, BART Director of Marketing and Research. “We at BART are proud to provide safe, clean and reliable train service to the Bay Area and can’t wait to see the Ballers take the field with the BART logo on their sleeves. I’m sure these jerseys will be the hottest selling merch of the summer, and I’m looking forward to buying my own as soon as I can.” 

The Ballers will be the first West Coast franchise in the historic Pioneer League. The season will kick off this spring. The team will play their inaugural season at Raimondi Park, a historic Oakland ballpark that is easily accessible by BART! The park is about 0.8 miles from the station and accessible by multiple AC Transit routes.  

The official Oakland Ballers jerseys were designed by Dustin O. Canalin, who also designed the Ballers’ logo.  

The jerseys will be available for purchase at oaklandish.com. Tickets are available now for the Ballers’ forthcoming season at oaklandballers.com.