BART

A newly rebuilt escalator opened to the public this afternoon at Embarcadero Station, just in time for the busy Fleet Week activities. The new escalator connects the concourse in the middle of the station to Market Street between Davis and California Streets. It’s the first street-to-concourse escalator at Embarcadero to be completely rebuilt, joining two platform level escalators at the station that were finished earlier. Work continues on another platform escalator at Embarcadero as well as platform units at each of the other three downtown San Francisco stations. A new platform escalator at Montgomery Street Station is expected to open in the coming weeks. The Market Street Escalators Renovation Project is installing new 41 new escalators at downtown San Francisco stations in conjunction with the Market Street Canopy Project.

Do you feel the need ... the need for transit to Fleet Week?! BART will be running longer trains Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13. Here's how to reach the various air show viewing areas with BART + Muni ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/g-vHHyJc

This Hispanic Heritage Month BART is celebrating employees with Hispanic and Latino heritage who enrich our organization and the community at large. Meet Aileen Hernandez, BART's Interim Manager for Grants & Funding Advocacy Division, Funding Strategy Department. She has spent her career — in Sacramento, New York, and Bay Area— running complex programs to ensure the ladder of opportunity extends to those who need it most. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gkuAVThJ

The latest numbers from the BART Police Department show through the end of August overall crime in the system is down 15% compared with the same period in 2023. The trend includes a 10% drop in violent crime. The decline in the crime rate comes as BART has been experiencing an increase in ridership. All of BART’s top 10 post-pandemic ridership days were in September, driven by special events including the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco and the final Oakland A’s homestand. “The drop in criminal activity on BART is happening as we have been going all out to implement our Safe and Clean Plan,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “Our riders have been loud and clear that they want us to step our game up when it comes to their safety and the cleanliness of our system. We have more work to do on behalf of our riders, but these numbers indicate our commitment to maximizing our visible safety presence is paying off.” BART’s Safe and Clean Plan is a commitment to riders to maximize resources to boost their safety and provide clean service. BART’s stepped up safety efforts include sworn officers, non-sworn Crisis Intervention Specialists and Transit Ambassadors, as well as the implementation of Next Generation Fare Gates, which have now been installed successfully at seven stations. All 50 of BART’s stations will have Next Generation Fare Gates by the end of 2025. A focal point of the plan has been a major boost in BART PD’s visible safety presence on trains and in stations supported by devoting additional resources to hire and retain more officers. “Since I became BART Police Chief one year ago, it has been my top priority to maximize the number of officers walking trains and patrolling our stations,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “Our officers are more visible than ever. Their efforts are containing relatively small concerns before they grow into big problems that harm service.” BART PD patrols a system that spans five counties and includes 50 stations with 131 route miles of track. Keep up with all BART’s safety trends: https://lnkd.in/gaKuuUJb

Transit coordination is happening in the Bay Area: On Thursday the BART Board will be asked to approve free and discounted transfers across agencies. This amazing incentive to take transit and save money will become available with the launch of the Next Generation of Bay Area Clipper next year. Other transit coordination efforts underway: - Collaborating on schedules to improve transfers and aligning schedule changes - Expanding the Clipper START discount for limited income riders - Launching the regional Clipper BayPass BART is also doing its part to increase ridership: - Deploying new fare gates on schedule - Increasing police presence and diverting calls to crisis team when appropriate - Marketing initiatives to drive non-peak and weekend ridership - New trains and clean service View the full presentation: https://t.co/YpCm6cs8Jq

The vibes, the memes, the trains!!! Cal fans took over BART just after 4am Saturday to support University of California, Berkeley hosting ESPN College GameDay for the first time. The #Calgorithm asked for these special early weekend service and we were happy to deliver trains - and memes of our own! There were 8,600 exits at Downtown Berkeley station, compared to about 4,300 the previous Saturday. See you at Memorial Stadium October 17 for Homecoming against North Carolina State. Thanks for riding BART.

A Next Generation Fare Gates update: • Antioch station got new fare gates this week! They are up and running. • 16th Street Mission station is next. Work has begun and will take about two weeks. • SFO station comes after that. Work begins next Friday, October 11. During construction at 16th Street Mission Station, there will be a barrier around the existing station gate array. Riders will use two temporary accessible gates to enter and exit the station. Both gates are located next to the Station Agent Booth, one on each side. SFO Station has a total of four sets of fare gates, two on the upper level and two on the lower level. Workers will replace one set on each level of the station simultaneously. While this work is being done, a set of the old gates will remain open for riders on each level. This work comes after the successful installation of Next Generation Fare Gates at 24th Street Mission, Civic Center, Fruitvale, Oakland International Airport, Richmond, and West Oakland stations. Funding for the new gates comes from local, state, and federal sources. We thank the San Francisco County Transportation Authority for providing $12.5 million to cover 50% of the 8 San Francisco County stations. All BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gate project here. https://lnkd.in/d_W92RVD

Earlier today Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool rode BART with Board President Bevan Dufty and staff including Chief of Police Kevin Franklin and Assistant General Manager of External Affairs Rodd Lee. We introduced her to our Crisis Intervention Specialists who are doing amazing work connecting vulnerable populations to services and we briefed her on our efforts to install new fare gates systemwide. She noted how great it was to see so many people back on transit!

BART is launching an early morning service blitz to help University of California, Berkeley fans get to the first ever appearance of ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show in Berkeley this Saturday, October 5. BART will offer five trains with limited stops before our regular Saturday service begins at 6am. The special early service will get fans to Downtown Berkeley Station around 5am, before the start of the pregame show. The special early morning event trains will only serve the following stations: Daly City, 16th Street Mission, Powell, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Orinda, Fremont, Dublin/Pleasanton, Bay Fair, Fruitvale, El Cerrito del Norte, and MacArthur. These 12 stations in addition to Downtown Berkeley will be the only ones opened for the special early service. Full details on our added early morning service are available in the Trip Planner at BART.gov and on the official BART app. Once on the platform, the added trains will be labelled as: “Limited Stops to Downtown Berkeley.” BART parking is free on Saturdays. People driving to BART to take the early trains should park at one of the stations being served. There is no BART parking available at 16th Street Mission and Powell stations. The added early morning trains will go out of service once they complete their trips. Riders cannot board a train at Downtown Berkeley before regular Saturday service begins at 6am. The game against Miami kicks off at 7:30pm. BART will run longer 8-car trains on the Red and Orange lines as well as add several event trains to its normal service that night to accommodate the anticipated crowds. Read more here Cal Athletics fans and GO BEARS: https://lnkd.in/gbNYyzbu

The latest numbers from the BART Police Department show as enforcement activity has increased, the number of trains impacted by unwanted behavior has declined. In the first six months of this year, BART PD reported 10,359 enforcement contacts, which is nearly double from the 5,490 enforcement contacts reported for the first half of 2023. The increase in activity comes as BART continues to implement its Safe and Clean Plan. A focal point of the plan has been a major boost in BART PD’s visible safety presence on trains and in stations supported by devoting additional resources to hire and retain more officers.