BART: Safer Than Ever

View and print our Welcome Back, Safer Than Ever handout. 

If you’ve been away from BART for a while, welcome back to a new customer experience:

Back to Normal Hours and Service

BART is back to full service. We’re open until around midnight every day. Weekday service frequency ranges from every 4 to 15 minutes until about 9pm. Weekend service is better than before for most riders with more trains in service. We’ve increased direct service to SFO for when you want to get away.

During the pandemic we extended service into Santa Clara County by opening two new stations, Berryessa/North San Jose and Milpitas. Berryessa is now the end of the Orange and Green lines and signs have been updated as "Berryessa" bound.

Superior Air Filters & Ventilation

All BART cars have virus-trapping MERV-14 air filters and air in cars is replaced and filtered every 70 seconds. The EPA indicates a filter rating of MERV-13 or higher will filter out virus particles like coronavirus.

Even if your car is stuffy or hot because the HVAC system is experiencing a problem, the air is still being replaced every 70 seconds and is getting filtered. If you are on a hot car, tweet us the car number or email it to customer services and we will reset the unit or send it to the shops. 

Air flow in elevators: Elevators have significant air exchange by design compared to many indoor spaces and are required by code to have openings for ventilation. While riders are in an elevator for a very short duration- one minute or two, it is important to point out that fresh air is introduced every time the elevator door opens, and BART elevators include exhaust fans in the ceiling to increase ventilation.

Increased Safety Staff

BART has a historically high number of uniformed safety staff on platforms and trains, including police officers dedicated to riding trains, new unarmed ambassadors, community service officers and fare inspectors. Crisis intervention specialists help those experiencing homelessness or struggling with mental health or addiction. Increased attention is being paid to keep station entryways clear and safe. BART is working to increase safety for girls and gender expansive youth through our Not One More Girl campaign to end sexual harassment and gender-based violence on transit.

Some safety tips while at BART:

• Know your options to reach BART police quickly:  Text BART Police at 510-200-0992, call police if there is an emergency at 510-464-7000, or use our free BART Watch app.  
• Know your car number so you can help us respond to your car quickly. The car number is displayed inside and outside of all cars.  

• Know where the intercom is located on your car to reach the train operator. On legacy cars they are located by the doors at both ends of the car (the doors that let you move from one car to another). On Fleet of the Future cars they located along the side doors. 

• Protect your cellphone. While our increased safety staff on board trains and platforms has paid off with a huge drop in crime and less theft on the system, we want you to be aware of your surroundings and know that cellphone thefts occur quickly when the doors of the train are about to open and close.

Pay With Your Phone

Avoid lines at ticket vending machines by adding Clipper to your mobile wallet and pay for BART fares with Google Pay and Apple Pay. Load funds in real time and use immediately. Tap your phone at the fare gate instead of a card. For limited time only, Clipper customers can set up a new Clipper card on their phones for free (normally $3). This free Clipper card promotion does not include new plastic cards and will be automatically applied for all new cards that are added to mobile devices (iOS or Android).

Discounts

We also offers the following discounts:

• 20% off to adult riders earning 200% or less of the federal poverty level per trip through the regional Clipper START program.
• Youth 5-18 years old get 50% off with a Youth Clipper card.
• Seniors 65 and over get 62.5% off with a Senior Clipper card.
• The RTC Clipper card is a version of Clipper created for passengers under 65 with qualifying disabilities to provide 62.5% off. 
• BART offers a “High-value Discount.” Adult Clipper cards get a 6.25% discount on cash value rides by buying $48 worth of value for $45 or $64 worth of value for $60 when autoload is set up. 

Getting to Stations is Easier

Parking lots do not fill up. Quickly pay for parking using the official BART app. Our parking payment machines inside stations now take credit cards for the first time ever.

Parking Payment Options:

• Pay inside the station with cash, debit, or credit.
• We've made it easier to pay for parking using the official BART app. Unlike our aged equipment at stations, the app accepts credit, debit, Venmo, or PayPal. The app is a great contactless and fast option for those who use BART from time to time or a few days a week.
• We still offer EZ Rider if you want to tag your Clipper card at our parking validation machines, however you have to set this up in advance and it requires a wallet loaded with funds in advance. If you are using a digital Clipper card in your digital wallet, the parking validation machines work with the new digital Clipper version. Just be sure you have transfered your Clipper card that is registered to your EZ Rider account to your mobile wallet.
• Besides the app or EZ Rider, the only other option is paying for parking by cash at the machines inside the station.

Many riders have given up their monthly parking permit because of remote work and we have transitioned the monthly, daily, or multi-day reserve parking process to our app. 

Taking Transit:

We've coordinated with other agencies to improve transfer times. Caltrain and BART released a helpful timetable to help riders who transfer between systems at Millbrae Station. It shows the wait times of each connecting train, highlighting trips with the most convenient transfer times. 

Our new platform fare gates at Embarcadero and Montgomery speed up transfers between BART and Muni. 

The Bay Area's 27 transit systems launched the website www.AllAboardBayArea.com as a one-stop shop to find the latest information from each agency.

Bikes and Scooters:

Improvements to bike access, including new stair channels are coming soon. We've also improved the bike spaces on board our new trains. We are swapping out the bike racks on the Fleet of the Future trains because they didn't work for all sizes of tires and we are replacing them with lean bars and straps similar to our old cars. 

And we’ve added shared scooters to our trip planner to make leaving your car at home even easier.

Reopening Underground Restrooms

BART has begun reopening underground restrooms which have been closed for more than 20 years. The restrooms are staffed with full-time attendants. All-gender restrooms opened at Powell Street Station and 19th Street Station in February 2022 and Lake Merritt and Montgomery Street stations opened in June 2022. Restrooms at above ground stations have remained open.

Face Masks Strongly Recommended

The BART Board of Directors mask mandate expired on October 2, 2022. We strongly recommend riders wear a well-fitted masks that fully covers a person's nose and mouth. 

All stations have extra masks available at the station agent booths. 

Supporting Art and Culture

During the pandemic we added free short story dispensers at Fruitvale, Richmond, Pleasant Hill, and Balboa Park stations to give you something to read on the train or while waiting. In June 2022, BART did a contest for local authors to submit short stories to load into the dispensers starting in Sept. 2022. We also launched the “Sound Tracks” Music Program for the month of October 2021 featuring local musicians and we plan something similar in 2022.  

BART plans to bring life back to our stations and support our BARTable partners in the arts with a series of live performances in and around BART stations.

Visit bart.gov/partners for information on who we partner with and how we do it, then keep an eye out for exciting events coming to a BART station near you.

This plan was released on May 27, 2020 and was last updated on July 28, 2022.