BART sets ridership record

BART carried 2.1 million riders while meeting or beating its 94% passenger on-time standard

BART carried more passengers last week during the MacArthur Maze meltdown than it's ever carried since trains took to the tracks on September 11, 1972 – all while meeting or beating its 94% passenger on-time performance standard (April 30 – May 5, 2007).

During the seven day period from Monday, April 30 to Sunday, May 6, BART carried 2,133,000 passengers – the highest ridership week in BART's nearly 35 year history. The previous record high week was from October 2 thru October 8, 2006 when BART carried 2,112,000 passengers during Fleet Week.

"Whether it's a massive earthquake like the 1989 Loma Prieta temblor that closed the Bay Bridge for a month resulting in BART being the only game in town to get across the Bay, or whether it's the day-to-day commute, BART is always there for Bay Area commuters," said BART Board President Lynette Sweet. "We're not at all surprised that the public turned to BART during the MacArthur Maze mess. We truly appreciate and treasure their trust in us. We're also grateful to Governor Schwarzenegger for seeing transit as a primary means of keeping our economy moving by making BART and other transit free on the first day after the incident. We're hopeful this experience has affirmed the Governor's confidence in transit when he puts together his upcoming revised budget."

You can watch BARTtv News story on lawmaker reaction to BARTs role in MacArthur Maze mess at www.BART.gov/BARTtvNews.

A WEEK OF RECORDS
On Tuesday, May 1, BART set its single day record. 375,200 people rode BART that day to avoid the complications from the freeway repairs. On Thursday, May 3, 374,200 people rode BART - the third highest total in BART history. BART's average weekday ridership is 340,000.