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BART will close at 9 pm Monday-Sunday and open at 8 am Saturday-Sunday

BART is taking swift action to reduce operating costs as ridership levels have significantly declined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter in place orders.  BART has done an exhaustive review of ridership and train car loads this week and will make the following changes to service until further notice:

Starting Monday, March 23, 2020, BART will provide service Monday-Friday from 5am-9pm (currently service is 5am-midnight). Current weekday train frequency will remain.

Starting Saturday March 28, 2020, Saturday and Sunday service will be from 8am-9pm (currently Saturday service is 6am-midnight and Sunday is 8am-midnight). Current weekend train frequency will remain.

Note that while we communicate that BART closes at 9pm, the closure time varies station by station depending on where you are going. Some trains run well beyond 9pm. Check your specific trip using the Trip Planner.

Alternatives during closures

BART staff continues has updated the Trip Planner www.bart.gov/planner to cancel trains after 9pm and before 8am on Saturday. 

On the Trip Planner, riders can plug in their home address, work address or their next destination to find the most transit-friendly route. Riders have ability to combine other modes such as walking, bicycling and driving into their itinerary. Riders can plan hours and days ahead of their planned trip using the BART Trip Planner.

SFO is offering a free shuttle between some of our stations and the airport after 9pm.  Read the flyer for full details.

AC Transit has created a special page outlining station by station bus options after 9pm. The page provides alternative routes from inner East Bay BART stations to and from San Francisco, downtown Oakland, and downtown Berkeley between 9:00 p.m. and midnight: http://www.actransit.org/bus-alternatives-for-inner-east-bay-bart-stations-between-900-p-m-and-midnight/ 

AC Transit currently offers late night transbay bus service.

Other systems the currently offer some level of service around BART's service area after 9pm:

Other agencies may be modifying service as well during the Shelter in Place order. Once you plan your alternative trip, please check the agency's website as their planned trip information may have changed as well.

Need help planning alternative trips during hours BART is closed? Call the BART Transit Information Center.

8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday - Friday excluding most holidays

Phone Number:510-465-2278

Si desea recibir ayuda para planificar su recorrido en tiempo real, sírvase poner en contacto con el Centro de Información sobre el Transporte de BART llamando al 510-465-2278, de lunes a viernes, de 8:00 a.m. a 6:00 p.m. (cerrado los fines de semana y principales días festivos). Hable con el Agente de la Estación si requiere ayuda durante horas hábiles de BART.

如欲獲得即時協助以規劃行程,請聯絡 BART 的交通資訊中心,電話為 510-465-2278,服務時間是平日上午 8:00 至晚上 6:00(週末及主要假日休息)。在 BART 正常行車時間內,請見站務人員,尋求現場協助

Data based decision

Ridership after 9pm has dropped substantially and now represents only 3% of total daily ridership.  Closing early is a better option than running less frequently or running shorter trains after 9pm because BART will realize immediate costs savings to its operating budget by being able to reassign a significant number of operating staff to capital projects.  These are projects that will accelerate our system reinvestment work.  

“This decision is being made now because all 9 counties in the Bay Area have shelter in place orders and our ridership has plummeted 90%,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers.  “We are taking a data-driven approach to these decisions to ensure as few people as possible are impacted.  These are extraordinary times and we did not take this decision lightly.  Our system operates using public dollars and we have an obligation to make financially sound decisions about service levels.” 

Other steps taken to reduce operating costs

General Manager Bob Powers is closely monitoring revenues and expenses daily, adjusting while also balancing our obligation to provide public transit to essential workers in the region.  The immediate loss of fare revenue has a devastating impact on BART’s operating budget as 60% of our budget to provide service is from fare dollars.  

BART’s General Manager has implemented the following cost reduction measures:

  • An immediate District-wide hiring freeze except for BART Police.  All other vacancies funded through the operating budget will remain vacant until further notice.
  • All overtime funded by the operating budget has been cancelled unless required for critical operating and maintenance functions, staffing requirements outlined in our Collective Bargaining Agreements, or legal requirements such as employee rest laws.  Overtime funded by the Capital budget is being approved on a case by case basis.
  • Some positions funded by the operating budget have been shifted to capital funded work. For example, as BART runs fewer trains on the yellow line in response to lower ridership, train mechanics have been shifted to Fleet of the Future related work.
  • All employee travel for conferences and other work-related travel has been suspended until further notice.

BART is seeking emergency funds from all levels of government during this crisis.  A sustained ridership loss of 90% and a 50% reduction of economic activity impacting other revenue sources could reduce BART's monthly revenues by approximately $60M. 


If you need language assistance services, please call 510-464-6752. 若您需要语言帮助服务,请拨电: 510-464-6752。Si usted necesita algún servicio de asistencia de lenguaje, por favor llame al 510-464-6752.