BART

Take BART to Dublin's 41st St. Patrick's Day Parade this Saturday, March 15, beginning at 9:30 a.m. See the BARTmobile in action and visit the BART Police Department booth Saturday! Take BART to West Dublin/ Pleasanton station and walk approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to the parade route. Headed to the Festival? Use free Wheels 30R buses. Organized by the Dublin Rotary Club, the parade will kick off at Dublin Boulevard and Amador Plaza Road, traveling east on Dublin Boulevard, north on Village Parkway, and west on Amador Valley Boulevard, ending near the Dublin Senior Center. Guests are encouraged to bring their chairs and blankets to watch from along the parade route.

BART legacy car 1234 is on its last journey, heading from our Hayward Shop and to the Sierra Foothills, where it will become a short term rental. Follow along at https://lnkd.in/gzaKfVVB

BART’s monthly ridership snapshot report for February is here! •Ridership was 2.9% higher than a year ago, with significant Saturday and Sunday growth (10.% and 14.8%, respectively). •February 15 saw the highest Saturday ridership since the pandemic with nearly 140K trips. It was driven by SF Chinese New Year Parade & Festival as well as several NBA All-Star Game events in San Francisco and Oakland. And good weather! •February ridership ended 3.4% above budget, driven in part by strong weekend ridership. •Weather influences ridership, with rainy weekdays coming in ~11% lower than non-rainy counterparts. This report (you can read it here: https://lnkd.in/gvU9kbrg ) includes ridership by station compared to last month and one year ago, ridership by fare type, growth trends for recently introduced fare products (Clipper START and Clipper Bay Pass). This month, we have included a chart analyzing the impact of rain on certain market areas. Not surprisingly, more rain equaled less discretionary trips. Find more ridership reports here: https://lnkd.in/ggnMFvFw

One Book One BART is back! Our book club pick is Bay Area Wildlife: An Irreverent Guide by local conservationist Jeff Miller! The highly entertaining wildlife guide will serve as a jumping off point for exploration of the great outdoors by BART! BART's book club invites members of the public to read the same book at the same time and participate in themed events in BART trains and stations. It’s all about connecting people IRL and getting out together to explore the places, sights, and experiences by BART stations. We planned three outdoorsy events for people of all ages. 1. Guided Lake Merritt nature walk with the author from 19th St (April 19) 2. Bike and birdwatching ride from N. Berkeley Station (April 26) 3. First-of-its-kind BART Train Expedition along the Yellow Line with local celeb poet/illustrator/naturalist Obi Kaufmann! (May 3) Rsvp here: https://lnkd.in/ghhY24rQ Stay up to date on One Book One BART at bart.gov/bookclub Kaufmann, who illustrated Bay Area Wildlife, also created three original paintings that feature wildlife found by BART. The works will soon be displayed in ad spaces across the BART system. As BART faces a significant financial crisis, we are experimenting with new and creative ways to engage community members and get people riding – and excited about – BART. BART doesn’t just take you to urban centers. Did you know there are more than 900 parks within a mile of a BART station? It’s true! Plus - BART is one of the greenest ways to get around. The bunnies and egrets are grateful when you take the train! Bay Area Wildlife is available for purchase at many local bookstores, including our One Book One BART indie bookstore partners – all BARTable! -- who are offering 20% off the title when customers show their Clipper cards. All of our partners are within a mile of a BART station. Banter Bookshop - Fremont Station Bird and Beckett – Glen Park Station Books on B - Hayward Station Mrs. Dalloway’s - Rockridge Station Orinda Books - Orinda Station Spectator Books - MacArthur Station Tally Ho! Books – MacArthur Station We’ll see you on BART! Stay up to date on One Book One BART at bart.gov/bookclub

BART plans to install 100 level 2 EV chargers at the Daly City Station and 72 level 2 EV chargers at the Colma Station. Join us at an upcoming Pop-Up Event to share your ideas, ask questions, and provide your input about EV charging at BART. • Colma Station Pop-Up: Wednesday, March 12 from 4-7pm • Daly City Station Pop-Up: Saturday, March 22 from 10am-1pm • Daly City Farmer’s Market Pop-Up: Thursday, March 27 from 9am-1pm at Serramonte Center Whether or not you drive an EV or ride BART regularly, your input matters. Get involved and help shape the future of EV charging at BART. Your ideas will make a difference! To ask questions, provide feedback, or receive updates on EV charging at the Daly City and Colma stations, please send an email to sustainability@bart.gov.

🚨Next Generation Fare Gates news: BART has now installed new fare gates at *23* stations! Pittsburg Center, Rockridge, and Lafayette are the latest to be outfitted. In the next week we will begin installing new gates at Concord, Glen Park, and San Leandro stations. Work is also scheduled to begin early next week at El Cerrito Plaza Station. The work will not impact train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours. The installation process at Glen Park and San Leandro stations is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete. Riders will use two temporary accessible gates to enter and exit the stations. The gates are located next to the Station Agent Booth. The installation work at Concord and El Cerrito Plaza stations will happen in stages so riders can continue to use the remaining gates while new ones are being installed. There will be additional BART staff as well as signage to direct riders to the open gates. The installation of each new set of gates is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. The work to replace all the gates at Concord Station and El Cerrito Plaza Station is expected to continue into April. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. Find out more info at https://lnkd.in/gGJDUg8V

At nine years old, Ben Lawson from Walnut Creek is the youngest person to ever speedrun BART (that we know of!). We love seeing Ben and the route he took featured in the New York Times for Kids. The article encourages other kids to plan a trip. Late last year we hosted Ben and his family, including his older sister Kate Lawson who took Ben on the speedrun, at our headquarters. We love getting know our riders and especially young people who are encouraging their generation to learn how to ride transit. Our General Manager Robert M. Powers, PE sent Ben a special card to recognize Ben's accomplishment as being the youngest person to speedrun BART. BART is the only transit agency to officially recognize and encourage speedrunning through our webpage bart.gov/speedrun Ben's mom Kristina Lawson tells us they are exploring putting together a new group of young Bay Area people who love to ride transit (let's us know how we can help!). And the family started a YouTube page where we can follow Ben's adventures: https://lnkd.in/gSrPB_mi The future is bright!

🎙️🔊🎼 This is your reminder to sign up to play live music at BART stations for Bach in the Subways, March 21-31! You are welcome to register as a solo artist or with a group. ⬇️Find more info and the sign up link here ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gnMKexCh

Susan Lynch was one of just a handful of female train operators working at BART in 1973, one year after the system opened for service. After graduating from Mills College, Susan decided to apply for the role because “it sounded super sci-fi and a great job for someone who loved to travel." After years working in the film industry and administration, Susan, now retired and living in Venice Beach, said she’ll never forget her experiences as a BART train operator and later as a station agent. Reflecting on the experience five decades later during Women's History Month, she said, “I am proud of myself for going after something I wanted, and I really believe that the future of our society is tied to the future of mass transit. I remember when I rode BART all the time what a feeling of freedom I felt – to be able to travel so far, in comfort and in style.” Below, Susan shares some of her BART memories – the triumphs and the challenges – in her own words: I spent my junior year in college abroad in Stockholm, Sweden. The highlight of that six-month period, in addition to playing in a rock band (and learning how to smoke hash mixed with tobacco in a chillum pipe) was my growing fascination with trains. I lived in a suburb of Stockholm in a small studio apartment, which I rented for sixty dollars a month. I experienced the joys of commuting by Tunnelbana, or the subway. My twenty-minute excursion each way was mind-boggling because about half of the subway drivers were women! Who would have imagined that in 1970, women could be allowed to drive trains! When I returned home, I finished my education at Mills College, then a women’s college, where I had learned that I had as much right to a meaningful job as a man did. I was floundering, working mindlessly as a waitress at the St. Francis Hotel in Downtown San Francisco. Then I managed to join a film-acting workshop taught by a group of socialist filmmakers. They were part of a political collective called “Cine Manifest.” I was already politically sensitized – a card-carrying protester against the war in Vietnam and a bra-burning feminist. But after joining the group I was more determined not to stay in a dead-end, “ok-for-chicks” job. I totally embraced “workers of the world unite” and wanted to impress my sexy comrades. I’d been reading about the new Bay Area Rapid Transit System that was building a railway in the Bay Area. I remembered how joyful I had felt in Sweden with the female subway drivers, so in 1973, I applied for a job as a train operator. Part of my desire to drive a train was my genuine love of trains and travel, but a much greater stimulus was to rebel against my parents and my upper middle-class upbringing. I wanted to smash my good girl mold and remake myself into Rosie the Riveter! Read Susan's full story here: https://lnkd.in/gdq8Qg3y

BART has now installed the new Next Generation Fare Gates at 20 stations! Orinda and Downtown Berkeley are the latest stations to get the new gates. Pittsburg Center Station will be closed this weekend March 8 and March 9 to allow work crews to install the new fare gates at the station. Pittsburg Center must be closed to facilitate this work because it’s typically unstaffed and is smaller compared with typical BART stations. During the temporary station closure, Yellow Line service will continue to run between Pittsburg/Bay Point and Antioch stations. Riders who typically use Pittsburg Center are advised to instead use Antioch or Pittsburg/Bay Point stations during the temporary closure. A free shuttle will replace train service between Pittsburg Center and Pittsburg/Bay Point. The free shuttle will take about 10 minutes to travel between stations and will depart every 20 minutes. Riders who still need to get to or from Pittsburg Center can take the free shuttle provided by Tri Delta Transit. Antioch riders who need to get to Pittsburg Center should take BART from Antioch to Pittsburg/Bay Point and then take a free shuttle bus back to Pittsburg Center. Meanwhile, installation work continues at Rockridge and Lafayette stations. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. Find out more info at https://lnkd.in/gGJDUg8V