BART marks 40th with free tickets, field trip rides and ice cream giveaways

BART is celebrating 40 years of service by giving back to the Bay Area in a variety of ways, thanks to some generous donations by corporate sponsors. The givebacks will include 1,000 free $40 BART tickets and, perhaps most exciting, free BART rides for field trips to make sure teachers and students are able to visit dozens of fun and educational spots near BART stations.

“BART may be middle aged, but we still have a soft spot in our hearts for our youngest riders,” said Board President John McPartland. “These free field trips will give thousands of kids an opportunity to learn outside the classroom that they might not otherwise have. Of course, we hope they learn about BART along the way too.”

BART is giving away rides for educational field trips to 40,000 students (up to age 18), teachers and chaperones on a first-come, first-served basis. More info is at www.bart.gov/fieldtrips.

We’re also hosting ice cream giveaways as a fun way to get to know our riders better and spread the word about our free field trip program.  The ice cream giveaways will be held at six stations – at least one in each of the four counties BART serves– featuring Dreyer’s Ice Cream and cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes.

BART riders will want to be sure to grab one of our celebratory stickers when passing through our stations on Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22.  That’s when our “BART 40th Anniversary Squad” will be on the lookout for customers wearing the sticker.  If you’re spotted, you’ll win one of 1,000 free $40 BART tickets.

Finally, BART will be distributing its popular 2012 BART art poster series “Journeys in Literature” to public libraries and schools in the Bay Area.

“We’ve carried 2.7 billion passengers since the day we opened for service four decades ago,” said BART General Manager Grace Crunican.  “This is all part of our expression of gratitude to the Bay Area for helping BART achieve 40 years of reliable service.”

The programs would not be possible without generous donations from Titan Outdoor, Bombardier Transportation and Dreyer’s Ice Cream.

Complete details about these events and how BART is celebrating 40 years of service, along with fun retro pictures and a commemorative video highlighting riders can be found on our website at: www.bart.gov/40years.