BART

The lifeblood of the region. A conduit for romance. A gateway to independence. BART means so many things to so many different people. Hear from them in their own words in our latest BART Connects video. Find all the BART Connects stories on bart.gov/bartconnects

Affordable housing near BART just got a huge boost! Today, three affordable housing projects in partnership with BART were approved for Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) awards by the California Strategic Growth Council. BART will get over $14M and the housing developments will receive up to: -$35M for North Berkeley TOD on BART property -$25M for El Cerrito Plaza TOD on BART property -$25M for 699 Ygnacio Valley Rd near Walnut Creek Station These housing allocations are expected to help the BART TOD projects complete their subsidy plans and start construction within the next 1-2 years. The approved grants will directly invest in BART infrastructure benefiting many riders: -Traction power substation renovation at both Powell Station ($7M) and Daly City Station ($6M) -Lighting efficiency upgrades, new platform displays, new wayfinding signage, and license plate readers at Walnut Creek station ($1.25M) BART’s ongoing success w/ the AHSC program reflects our efforts to be a more proactive partner w/ the affordable housing community.

Wednesday was our 4th busiest ridership day since the pandemic started, thanks in part to a Back-to-School bump. It was also the first time this year that ridership topped 190,000 across the system! Take a look at the numbers: ~ Downtown Berkeley Station, near Berkeley City College and UC Berkeley, passed 12th Street/Oakland as the busiest East Bay station. Berkeley had 6,200 exits, which is about 1,000 additional exits compared to two weeks ago while school was still out. ~ Balboa Station, also near several schools, had 1,000 more exists than two weeks ago. ~ Embarcadero was our top ridership station yesterday at 21,000 exits. Montgomery was 2nd with 16,000 exits. Thanks for riding and cheers to the new school year 🍎

We had a FANTASTIC ridership weekend. The numbers show lots of people are taking BART on the weekend especially for fun! Let’s break it down… • Saturday saw the third 3rd highest ridership for a Saturday post-pandemic (114K exits). Sunday ranked 5th (89K exits)! • On Saturday and Sunday combined, Coliseum Station had 16K more exits compared to the weekend before during the Bay Bridge series. Perhaps people are not feeling compelled to pay for parking at the stadium these days… • On Sunday, Milpitas Station saw nearly 800 more exits compared to the previous Sunday thanks to the 49ers pre-season game. • This weekend (Sat/Sun), there were 28K more exits compared to the previous weekend, which was Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. This shows the power of events within walking distance from BART! This upcoming weekend, get in on the BARTable fun and find something cool to eat, do, and see by BART at bart.gov/bartable.

Sherri Young is the Executive Director and Founder of the African-American Shakespeare Company. The African-American Shakespeare Company, a longtime BARTable partner. She says BART and her thirty-year-old company “help each other grow and succeed.” In September, the African-American Shakespeare Company celebrates 30 years of classical theater produced and performed by artists as diverse as their audiences. They perform at three theatres that are just a short walk from BART: the Herbst Theatre, the Taube Wilsey Atrium, and the Marines Memorial Theatre. Sherri and BART have a co-marketing agreement -- the two organizations promote each other with no exchange of money. “Small organizations like ours can’t afford to pay much into marketing,” Sherri said. She prefers those dollars go to people and program expenses. “BART helps us get the word out and make connections.” In turn, African-American Shakespeare Company “gives BART access to our community,” Sherri said. BART and arts organizations like Sherri’s company enrich and uplift one another. One gives people a place to go, the other gets people there. If patrons can’t find a way to the theater, the show won’t go on. "BART is going to be a lifelong partner of the company,” she added. Read more about Sherri and the African-American Shakespeare Company’s relationship with BART at https://lnkd.in/gj-3UKpd When the new season starts later this year, follow our rider guide to get to the shows!

BART Night at the Oakland Ballers was a big hit ⚾ Over 250 BART employees and family members were a part of the lively crowd at Raimondi Park cheering on the team. It was a memorable and fun-filled night highlighted by slick-fielding, several no-doubt home runs by the Ballers, and of course, the night’s special BART theme. BART General Manager Robert M. Powers, PE threw a strike from the mound for the game’s ceremonial first pitch, followed by BART Board Vice President Mark Foley rapping out a sharp infield first hit. BART Police posted the colors, and Lieutenant Joshua Perez sang a rousing and riff-filled National Anthem. And we can't forget to shout out the children of BART employees who kicked things off with a fierce “Play ball!” and served as Ball Kids and Bat Kids. A great time was had by all! Go Ballers!

Friday, August 9, was a thrilling and long-awaited day for the Western Railway Museum as the railroad history museum received the first of three decommissioned legacy BART cars for its forthcoming Rapid Transit History Center. As you can imagine, moving a 64,000-pound BART car is not something that can be accomplished with your average trailer hitch. It requires a flatbed truck with a yellow “OVERSIZE” banner as well as a crane for getting the car off the bed. Western Railway Museum staff found that out firsthand on August 9 when they showed up to the Hayward shops with a flatbed truck and helping hands. BART employees prepared for their visit by transferring the car – #1164 – from its holding track to the shop bay with a crane. When the truck arrived from Salazar Heavy Haul, BART staff hooked the car up to the crane and attempted to load it on the bed. There was an unforeseen problem: The undercar equipment was just a few inches too big for the truck bed, so BART staff had to improvise by removing the battery box and HVAC underneath it. Most decommissioned cars won’t have this problem as they’ll be picked up with the wheels and mounts removed. That wouldn’t do for Western Railway Museum, however. “They want everything on the cars so they are as authentic as possible,” explained Brian Tsukamoto, BART Manager of Special Projects – Decommissioning. “They’ll be coming back to pick up the battery box and HVAC.” Once the temporarily modified car was loaded and secured by the highly skilled driver, it was on its way from Hayward to Suisun City up north. A sign in its front window read: “I’m going to the Western Railway Museum.” Read more about car #1164's big move at https://lnkd.in/gHjbkUxB

BART Night with the Oakland Ballers is THIS Wednesday. Join us for what will certainly be a memorable night of baseball (with a transit twist)! Get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/gH7ReNwr Reminder: West Oakland Station is about a 15- to 20-minute walk from Raimondi Park. Shuttles buses run between the ballpark and station every 20 minutes starting 3 hours before game time and 30 min after the game ends.

The track shutdown that had been planned for Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18 between Rockridge, MacArthur, and 19th Street stations has been postponed until September. The next shutdown weekend for the replacement of track switches in the core of the system in Oakland will be Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22. On the weekend of August 17 and 18, BART will now work on trackway improvements in the Berkeley Hills Tunnel. Service will be reduced from two tracks to one near Orinda Station which will result in delays of up to 10 minutes on both days. The postponement of the Oakland work will allow BART to further evaluate lessons learned from the first shutdown weekend in June. The goal remains to minimize short term impacts on riders by maximizing work efficiency. Temporary shutdowns of sections of the trackway are necessary for large projects to create a safe workspace for crews while providing a massive boost in productivity thanks to uninterrupted 24/7 work. It's still anticipated the rebuilding work in Oakland will happen on 18 non-consecutive weekends over the next three years. The project is part of the Measure RR rebuilding program, which is revitalizing the system’s core infrastructure. This work will benefit riders for decades to come by improving the reliability of the core of BART.

BART Night with the Oakland Ballers is THIS Wednesday. Join us for what will certainly be a memorable night of baseball (with a transit twist)! Get your tickets: https://lnkd.in/gH7ReNwr Reminder: West Oakland Station is about a 15- to 20-minute walk from Raimondi Park. Shuttles buses run between the ballpark and station every 20 minutes starting 3 hours before game time and 30 min after the game ends.