"3 Cheers for BART!": Read our favorite BART poems written by riders at SweaterFest

3 cheers for BART! Best time of year, let's spread some cheer! All the trains run far and near. Richmond line is so divine. This'll surely feel so right. You're sure to get to your destination with delight! - Lon
TITLE: Bart and life. Bart is life. And it makes life really nice. Right when I didn't have a car. The train helps me get to the bar. Year after year, it helps me save gas from my car.
Title: Holiday evening. Bright lights illuminate the night sky. As the next train to Antioch rolls by. Revelers crowd the cable cars at Powell. The bus service slowly switches to "night owl" You can't wait to get home and eat pie!
Rockridge to Mission. Barting my way on a crisp winter day. A trip to the city, a blitz through the bay. Rockridge to Mission, how long will i stay? "Taking the train is delightful," i say! Yellow line guide me, a sunny golden ray
Join me on my adventures. Boarding BART at the Civic Center. Riding to new adventures. Try it out. You'll have a blast.
3 cheers for BART! Best time of year, let's spread some cheer! All the trains run far and near. Richmond line is so divine. This'll surely feel so right. You're sure to get to your destination with delight! - Lon
Just a little ditty. Bart brings a smile to my face. Ashby is the closest station to my place. Rolling around the Bay on the Train everyday You too should ride BART
Bart's the Best. Bart. Always. Real &. Timely. Yes
Barty and I. Barty and I are very best friends. And when i need to get to work, Reliable barty gets me there! Tomorrow or the day after You and I will ride together. <3

At SweaterFest '24 this past weekend, we invited attendees to write wintery poems all about BART, and nearly 100 poets stepped up to pen BART odes that would make the Bard proud (had he stuck around long enough to see the invention of mass rail transit). Reading through the works, we were struck by the profound professions of love for transit, which rivaled Shakespeare's finest romances. BARTy is to the Bay as Juliet is to Romeo. Some of the poems even brought tears to BART employees' eyes! 

A group of people

The rules were simple: Start each sentence with the specified letters and include mention of a few transit-y words.

We invite you to read some of our favorite poems in the slideshows. Click and hold on a poem to pause the slideshow.

Happy holidays to all and to all a safe ride!

Didn’t make it to SweaterFest? 

There’s still time to buy a sweater, scarf, and beanie (the sweater vests are sold out). Head to Railgoods.com to get your BART holiday swag! 

 

Title: We are here, We are BART. Stop the train! We have arrived at our De(st) in(ation). Everyone is dripped out, BARTCORE. And the band drops banger after banger. Trees sway to the groove. Ever just ... feel at home? Remember: We are so lucky to be here. Fools would we be to take BART for granted. Ears perk up as we are called to pose. Smile for the camera, Live for the moment. Til next year: Enjoy the journey!
Title: Evening on the Richmond line. Standing on the platform. Waiting for the Richmond train. Excited to hear the friendly beep. All aboard the BART again. Taking us home to the East Bay. Evening lights at the Oakland Port. Rolling on along our way. Fast and frequent runs the BART. Electricity powering the wheels. Sweater weather stall has a chance. Take BART and keep the climate cool!
Title: "BART WILL MOVE YOU" SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT STATION, WINTER TRANSPORT FOR EVERYONE, ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT, TO THE MOST EXCITING PALCES! RIDE BART FOR FUN, FOR ENTERTAINENT, SEE EVERYTHING, ITS BARTABLE! TRAIN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Poem text: BART is my bae. Sweet sweet BART train. Weathering the rain. Each trip getting me where I need to go. At dawn or dusk. Take BART I must. Every morning and night. Rockridge or to a flight. From the valley to the hills. Elevated or. Subterranean. Trains keep me going.
Poem text: Artsy BARTsy. So it is time again / We celebrate our favorite train system / Every time I need to go somewhere / And I don't want to drive / To look for parking / Endless circling of neighborhoods / Really stresses me out / Fear not / Everything will be alright / Skip on down to N. Berkeley BART / To show my sweater to the conductor!
Poem text: Sweaterfest. So this is BART SweaterFest / Where BART lovers and allies can / Earn transit holiday joy / And spend time with friends old and new / This is Sweaterfest / Every train lover is here / Revelling in holiday joy / For today, tomorrow and the holiday season / Ending perhaps at 4pm at Rockridge Station / Still happening every day in our hearts and /Trains that take us around the Bay.
Happy Holidays. Sweet days upon us / Warmth and sweaters we trust / Every BART train sings a tune / As winter evenings grow shorter / Through powell station festive light / each sweater feels just fine / Riders sing, their spirits high / Flying through the bright moonlight / Enjoy the ride, the season glow / Speeding through stations / that mark our home.
A morning commuters gloat. So / what if / everyone is waiting / at / the toll plaza today / everyone knows that the / real ones take / fast commutes / ever so happily / sailing away / on the Red Line.
Untitled. Sweaters sweaters sweaters / were / everywhere / at / Rockridge Sweaterfest! / Everybody's / Ridin' BART trains / from the / East Bay to the north south and west / Sweaterfest, sweaterfest U R / the best!
Opus One. So I was walking on the street / when i heard dancing feet / each time I turned around / All I heard was a happy sound / There were people dancing on the bridge / each one like they did at Rockridge / Remember the day we partied with BART? / For once the station was full of heart / eggs, elephants and lullabies there were not / so many good songs - the band was really hot / Thank you!
You gotta have BART. Sweet as the sound of closing doors / wind at your back / every city / at your fingertips / time doesn't matter / everything else does / riding as your heart desires / following the bay breeze / everlasting love and hope / sure to bring you home / the journey doesn't end here