Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a heavy rail rapid transit system in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. With average weekday ridership around 165,000 passengers in June 2024, BART is the fifth busiest rapid transit system in the United States.[1][2] BART is administered by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a special district government agency formed by Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties.
BART has 50 stations: 19 on the surface, 15 elevated, and 16 underground (i.e. subway).[3] 22 stations are in Alameda County, 12 are in Contra Costa, and 8 are in San Francisco. 6 stations are in San Mateo County and 2 are in Santa Clara County; those counties are not part of the BART special district, but contribute to operations funding. As of June 2024[update], Montgomery Street has the highest ridership and Oakland International Airport has the lowest.[1] Every day before 9 pm, BART trains run on five principal routes; four are transbay routes connecting San Francisco to Oakland and various destinations in the East Bay, while the Orange Line runs exclusively in the East Bay. The Green and Red lines do not run after 9 pm, but all stations remain accessible by transfers via other routes.
BART's first route between Fremont and MacArthur, the Orange Line, opened in September 1972; it was extended to Richmond in January 1973. Service began between Concord and MacArthur on the Yellow Line in May 1973, and between Montgomery Street and Daly City in November 1973. The original system was completed in September 1974 when the underwater Transbay Tube and West Oakland opened. BART's three routes then were the Orange, Yellow, and Green lines. Embarcadero opened as an infill station in 1976, and direct Richmond–Daly City service began operating that year.[4]
The Yellow Line was extended to North Concord/Martinez in 1995, and to Colma and Pittsburg/Bay Point in 1996. BART's fifth route, the Blue Line, began service with a new branch to Dublin/Pleasanton in 1997. The San Mateo County line was extended south from Colma to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae in 2003.[4] A second infill station, West Dublin/Pleasanton, opened in 2011. The automated guideway transit (AGT) Oakland Airport Connector opened in 2014 to serve Oakland International Airport.[5] BART service was extended south from Fremont to Warm Springs/South Fremont in 2017, then to Berryessa/North San José in 2020. A diesel multiple unit feeder service, eBART, opened from Pittsburg/Bay Point to Antioch in 2018. Several additional stations, including a subway through San Jose to Santa Clara, are planned or proposed.
Services
editBART operates five named and interlined heavy rail services plus one separate automated guideway line. All of the heavy rail services run through Oakland, and all but the Orange Line run through the Transbay Tube to San Francisco. All five services run until 9 pm; only three services operate evenings after 9 pm, as well as some Sundays during maintenance work. All stations are served during all service hours.[6] The eastern segment of the Yellow Line, between Antioch and the transfer platform east of Pittsburg/Bay Point, uses different rolling stock and is separated from the rest of the line.
Unlike most other rapid transit and rail systems around the world, BART lines were not primarily referred to by shorthand designations or their color names (although the colors used on maps have been constant since 1980). The services were mainly identified on maps, schedules, and station signage by the names of their termini. However, the new fleet displays line colors more prominently, and BART has begun to use color names in press releases and GTFS data.[7][8] In 2022, BART formally announced on Twitter they were using colors on the line map and officially.[9]
Route name | First service | Termini | Service times | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
O | Orange Line | September 11, 1972 | Berryessa/North San José | Richmond | Operates during all service hours. |
Y | Yellow Line | May 21, 1973 | San Francisco International Airport or Millbrae (after 9pm) | Antioch | Operates during all service hours. Daytime service terminates at SFO, while evening (after 9 pm) service terminates at Millbrae. |
G | Green Line | November 16, 1974 | Daly City | Berryessa/North San José | No evening (after 9 pm) service. |
R | Red Line | April 19, 1976 | Millbrae | Richmond | No evening (after 9 pm) service. |
B | Blue Line | May 10, 1997 | Daly City | Dublin/Pleasanton | Operates during all service hours. |
OAK | Oakland Airport Connector | November 22, 2014 | Oakland International Airport | Coliseum | Operates during all service hours. |
Stations
editBART has 50 passenger stations, of which 47 are high-platform rapid transit stations. Oakland International Airport is served by the Oakland Airport Connector, which uses cable-hauled automated guideway transit (AGT) rolling stock; Coliseum has separate platforms for rapid transit trains and AGT trains. Antioch and Pittsburg Center have low platforms for use with the diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains used on that section of the line. A transfer platform east of Pittsburg/Bay Point, which does not have street access and is not designated as a unique station, provides cross-platform transfers between the rapid transit and DMU sections of the line.
Seven stations are designated as transfer points between services; timed cross-platform transfers are available between the Orange and Yellow lines at MacArthur (southbound) and 19th Street Oakland (northbound). Nine stations are the terminal of one or more services; Coliseum is also a transfer station. Ten stations have connections available to other rail services – Amtrak, Caltrain, Muni Metro, and VTA light rail. All stations are served during all operating hours.
^ | Transfer stations within the BART system |
^† | Transfer stations that are also line termini |
† | Line termini |
Stations with connections to other rail systems |
Future stations
editThe four-station Phase II of the Silicon Valley BART extension will add underground stations at 28th Street/Little Portugal, Downtown San José, and Diridon in San José, plus the surface-level Santa Clara station; it is planned to open in 2036.[10] An infill station on the Warm Springs extension at Irvington is planned to open in 2031. Two additional infill stations–the surface-level Calaveras on the Silicon Valley extension and the elevated Doolittle on the Oakland Airport Connector–are proposed but not yet funded or scheduled. Several of these future stations connect with other rail services in the South Bay region, including Altamont Corridor Express, which does not yet have a connection with BART.
Station | Line(s) | Connections | Location | Planned opening |
---|---|---|---|---|
Irvington | G Green Line O Orange Line |
— | Fremont | 2031 |
28th Street/Little Portugal | G Green Line O Orange Line |
— | San José | 2036[10] |
Downtown San José | G Green Line O Orange Line |
VTA light rail: | San José | 2036[10] |
Diridon | G Green Line O Orange Line |
Amtrak: Coast Starlight, Capitol Corridor Caltrain Altamont Corridor Express VTA light rail: |
San José | 2036[10] |
Santa Clara † | G Green Line † O Orange Line † |
Amtrak: Capitol Corridor Caltrain Altamont Corridor Express |
Santa Clara | 2036[10] |
Doolittle | OAK Oakland Airport Connector | — | Oakland | |
Calaveras | G Green Line O Orange Line |
— | Milpitas |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 2024.
- ^ "Transit Ridership Report: Fourth Quarter 2019" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. February 27, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via Ridership Report page.
{{cite web}}
: External link in
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- ^ "System Facts". Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). 2021. Archived from the original on 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ a b c "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
- ^ "BART to OAK service opens in time for Thanksgiving travel" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 21, 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
- ^ "Schedules". Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
- ^ "New Train Car Project". Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ "February 11 schedule change impacts weekdays and Sundays" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. January 15, 2019. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "BART's New Map Uses Colorful Names for Its Lines". Funcheap. Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
- ^ a b c d e Greschler, Gabriel (October 4, 2023). "San Jose BART extension will take 10 years longer than expected — at more than double the cost". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
External links
edit- BART – Stations Archived 2018-06-09 at the Wayback Machine