Tips for travel during Labor Day transbay shutdown
3. Tips for Riders with Mobility Challenges
4. Tips for Travel within the East Bay
5. Tips for Travel within San Francisco/West Bay
6. Tips for Paying for Your BART Ride with the free Bus Bridge
7. Tips for Transbay Muni/BART riders
8. Tips for Moving between Embarcadero and the Temporary Transbay Terminal
9. Tips to Understanding the Destination Signs in our stations
10. Tips for travel from West Oakland Station
11. Tips for travel to and from Billy Joel Concert
Tips for travel to and from Billy Joel Concert
Billy Joel fans headed to the singer-songwriter’s concert at AT&T Park on Saturday, September 5th are encouraged to take some time to consider their public transportation options, particularly if they are traveling from the East Bay. 
The 8 pm concert will fall right in the middle of BART’s second transbay closure.
BART will close the West Oakland Station and will not run trains between West Oakland and Embarcadero stations on September 5th, 6th & 7th while we repair a critical section of track near the Transbay Tube.
Although BART won’t be running across the bay, there’s no need to fight traffic gridlock to get to the concert; public transportation can be your convenient, cost effective designated driver.
The most direct route from the East Bay to AT&T Park is aboard a San Francisco Bay Ferry. Special concert ferry service is available from the Alameda Main Street and Oakland Jack London Square terminals on September 5th. You’ll want to leave for the concert from Alameda Main Street at 6:10 pm or from Jack London Square at 6:25 pm. The ferry will get you to AT&T Park at 6:55 pm, plenty of time to get seated and ready for the show. Buying advance ferry tickets is highly recommended. (The special concert ferry is now sold out).
AC Transit provides transbay bus service from locations throughout the East Bay. The buses will drop you off at the Transbay Temporary Terminal in downtown San Francisco. BART will also offer a free bus shuttle between 19th Street in Oakland and the Transbay Temporary Terminal in downtown San Francisco, although this bus is primarily intended for commuters who have no other transit options. The bus trip may add 30 minutes to an hour to your trip each way.
For people with mobility challenges, there will be a special pickup site at the 17th Street elevator entrance to our 19th Street Station (in front of 1750 Broadway) to take you to the elevator at Embarcadero Station (via California Street—you will be dropped off in front of the Wells Fargo bank where there is a path between buildings that connects directly to our station elevator on Market Street). You can board the shuttle on California Street to return to Oakland. If either elevator goes out of service, we’ll have alternate plans in place and let you know what they are.
From the Transbay Temporary Terminal, you can either walk to AT&T Park (see the accompanying map, the walk is about 20 minutes) or you can catch the Muni 10 Townsend bus to the ballpark. BART staff in yellow vests will be positioned at Howard and 2nd Street after the concert to show you where to go.
West Oakland Station will be closed during the shutdown. If West Oakland is your home station, there will be an accessible shuttle available to take you to 19th Street/Oakland station. There will be additional employees available to assist you.
Tips for travel from West Oakland Station
There will be free shuttle buses to/from West Oakland Station, which is closed during the shut down, to/from the 19th Street Station for West Oakland area residents only. These shuttles will pick up and drop off from the "kiss & ride" curb on the Chester street side of the West Oakland station, and will pick up and drop off on Broadway, just before 20th street at the 19th Street Station. Shuttles will run while BART is operating and will leave every 15 minutes (on both ends) on the hour, quarter hours and 1/2 hour. No fares will be collected on this neighborhood shuttle for West Oakland residents.
AC Transit lines that regularly stop at West Oakland Station will continue to do so. For travelers who use the Bolt or Megabus buses that stop at West Oakland Station, every effort will be made to ensure that the shuttle buses between West Oakland and 19th Street stations are available on a timely basis.
The shuttle buses will travel from West Oakland Station via Mandela Parkway, 5th Street and Broadway. From 19th Street Station, they will leave Broadway at 20th Street to West Grand Avenue to Mandela Parkway and enter the station via the Access Road.
Tips for understanding Destination Signs
During the Transbay Shut Down you’ll notice some different information on the red LED signs above our platforms.
If you are travelling from Pittsburg/Bay Point Station, you’ll see a sign that says, “SF/SFO BUS VIA 19TH”. Board that train to begin your trip. If you want to go to Richmond or Fremont, you’ll need to transfer at MacArthur as usual. If you want to go to Dublin, you should stay on the train—no need to transfer. If you want to go to San Francisco or anywhere in the West Bay, you’ll need to get off the train at 19th Street Station and board one of the shuttle buses.
If you are travelling from Dublin, you’ll see a sign that says, “SF/DALY CITY BUS VIA 19TH.” Board that train to begin your trip. You’ll transfer as usual at Bay Fair Station if you want go to Fremont or Richmond. If you are going anywhere on the Pitts burg/Bay Point line, you can stay on the train. If you want to go to San Francisco or anywhere in the West Bay, you’ll need to get off the train at 19th Street Station and board one of the shuttle buses.
If you are travelling from Fremont, you’ll see a sign that says, “RICHMOND/SF BUS VIA 19TH”. Board that train to begin your trip. If you want to go anywhere on the Dublin or Pittsburg/Bay Point lines, you will need to transfer at Bay Fair. If you want to go to anywhere on the Richmond line, you should stay on the train—no need to transfer. If you want to go to San Francisco or anywhere in the West Bay, you’ll need to get off the train at 19th Street Station and board one of the shuttle buses.
If you are travelling from Richmond, you’ll see a sign that says, “FREMONT/SF BUS VIA 19TH”. Board that train to begin your trip. If you want to go anywhere on the Dublin or Pittsburg/Bay Point lines, you will need to transfer at MacArthur. If you want to go anywhere on the Fremont line, you should stay on the train—no need to transfer. If you want to go to San Francisco or anywhere in the West Bay, you’ll need to get off the train at 19th Street Station and board one of the shuttle buses.
Tips for Moving between Embarcadero and the Temporary Transbay Terminal
During the Transbay Tube shutdown on September 5-7 (Labor Day weekend), a bus bridge will be in place to provide lifeline service to BART customers who travel between Oakland and San Francisco.
If you are headed into San Francisco from the East Bay, you will board the bus bridge at the 19th Street BART station in Oakland. In the reverse direction, if you are headed into the East Bay from San Francisco, you will board the bus bridge at the Temporary Transbay Terminal located at Howard and Main Streets in downtown San Francisco (see map at right).
There will be accommodations for people with disabilities - click the link in the table of contents for more information.
The bus bridge is designed to replace service between West Oakland (which is closed during those work weekends) and Embarcadero stations. The best and safest place in San Francisco to load and unload bus bridge passengers is the Temporary Transbay Terminal, a short, two-block walk from Embarcadero Station.
If you want to continue on BART in the SFO direction, you’ll simply walk northwest on Main Street to the station entrance on Market Street. In the opposite direction, leaving Embarcadero station and going to the Temporary Transbay Terminal, walk two blocks southeast on Beale Street.
Click on the video image above to watch a guided tour between the Temporary Transbay Terminal and Embarcadero Station. Click here to see the same journey in the opposite direction - from Embacadero to the terminal.
Additionally, there will be a number of BART employees (some multilingual) in bright yellow vests guiding the way to and from Embarcadero station on the closure dates.
Video in Spanish
Como cruzar la bahía durante el cierre del túnel transbay
Tips for Transbay Muni/BART riders
If you must travel across the bay Sep 5-7 and you use Muni to get to BART or from BART as part of your trip, consider the following when planning your trip:
From San Francisco to the East Bay:
Instead of getting off a Muni bus at Civic Center, Powell, or Montgomery Street stations, stay on the bus and go straight to the Temporary Transbay Terminal. Muni routes 5 Fulton, 7 Haight/Noriega, and 38 Geary go all the way to the Terminal, and many other routes get very close. From the Terminal, you can take the bus bridge to 19th St/Oakland station and continue to your final East Bay destination on BART.
Muni will offer free service to customers who board on Muni buses at the Transbay Terminal and on Beale and Market streets at all stops on the following routes:
7 Haight/Noriega
38 Geary
38R Geary Rapid
5 Fulton
Please refer to the following resources to help plan your trip:
Muni System Map
Muni Route descriptions
Muni Stops at or near the Temporary Transbay Terminal
From the East Bay to San Francisco:
The bus bridge will take you from 19th St/Oakland to the Temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, which is about two blocks away from the Embarcadero BART station. If you do not wish to walk, or cannot walk back to BART, you may take one of the following Muni buses back to BART free of charge: 5 Fulton, 7 Haight/Noriega, 38 Geary. Depending on your final destination, you may wish to stay on the Muni bus straight to your destination. For example, you may stay on the 5 Fulton all the way to Powell Street/Union Square. Please use the links above to help plan your trip.
Tips for Paying for Your BART Ride with the free Bus Bridge
If you are traveling in the East Bay and do not need to cross the bay, you will pay as you always do by using a BART ticket or Clipper Card®in the fare gate at your entry and exit stations.
If you are exiting at 19th Street and not boarding the bus bridge, you will process your ticket as usual through the fare gate. The same is true if you are staying in the West Bay and traveling between Embarcadero and Millbrae or SFO stations--just pay for your ride as you always do.
However, if you use the bus bridge to get from Oakland (19th Street Station) to San Francisco or from San Francisco back to Oakland, you have the following options:
- If you are continuing on BART once you get across the bay, use the emergency exit next to the Station Agent Booth to exit the 19th Street Station before boarding the bus to San Francisco (do not process your ticket/Clipper Card).
- Once you reach the Temporary Transbay Terminal, walk to Embarcadero station and re-enter the system using the emergency exit.
- Process your ticket/Clipper Card through the fare gate as usual once you reach your final destination.
- If your destination is the Temporary Transbay Terminal or nearby, or you'll be using Muni or some other transportation in San Francisco, you’ll need to process your ticket/Clipper Card through the fare gate at 19th Street Station before boarding the bus in Oakland.
- When you are ready to go back to Oakland/the East Bay, go to the Temporary Transbay Terminal and board a bus (look for the signs identifying "BART bus bridge" buses). Remember, the bus is free.
- Once you get back to 19th Street Station in Oakland, you can use your BART ticket or Clipper Card to enter the station through the fare gate and then process your ticket as usual through the fare gate at your destination station.
Be sure to pay attention to the signs, public address announcements and BART employees instructions. There will be plenty of extra people to help.
Tips for Travel within the East Bay
While transbay travel will be delayed during the shutdown, travel within the East Bay is scheduled to be more frequent than a regular weekend. BART will offer more of a show up and go experience than what riders usually get on a weekend.
Trains will run in the East Bay on each line every 10-20 minutes so that means a 10 minute wait for customers North of MacArthur and South/East of Bay Fair and every 5 minutes in between Bay Fair and MacArthur.
There will also be more rides that don’t require a transfer than normally exist for East Bay riders. For example: traveling from Contra Costa County or Downtown Oakland to the Tri-Valley will not require a transfer.
Trains will travel the following routes: Pittsburg/Bay Point to Dublin/Pleasanton and Richmond to Fremont. Key transfer stations are MacArthur, 19th Street, and Bay Fair. Check out our modified map for a visual of the routes. There will be no timed transfers since service is more frequent.
Since BART is urging people to avoid unnecessary transbay travel and because service within the East Bay is expected to be more frequent for a weekend, residents are encouraged to “stay local” and hang out in the East Bay.
It’s the perfect opportunity to check out our new feature BARTable which is a cool site to explore fun destinations, events and restaurants around BART stations.
Tips for Travel within San Francisco/West Bay
While travel transbay will be delayed during the shutdown, travel within San Francisco and the West Bay will be more frequent than a regular weekend: south of Daly City on Saturday and at all stations on Saturday night and all day Sunday. Trains will run in the West Bay on each line every 15 minutes so that means a 7-8 minute wait for most customers in the West Bay in each direction. There will be higher frequency service to SFO from within San Francisco.
There will be no direct service between Millbrae and SFO and customers will have to transfer at San Bruno just like on weekdays. Check out our modified map for a visual of the routes.
Tips for Transbay Travel for Riders with Mobility Challenges
It is important to us that BART is accessible to everyone. During the shutdown of our Transbay service on 9/5-7 (Labor Day weekend) we will provide options to help customers with disabilities get to where you need to go.
If you are travelling within the East Bay or within the West Bay, service will be slightly better than usual. Trains will run to and from all destinations within the East Bay a little more frequently than usual. We will have elevator and escalator repair technicians on standby to fix any problems that may occur.
We will be running a Bus Bridge between our 19th Street Station in Oakland and the Temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, so please plan on your transbay trip taking and hour or more longer to complete. The following options will be available for transbay travel, all free of charge:
- Bus Bridge service provided by AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit, Muni and Samtrans. Most buses will be ADA-compliant.
- Muni Buses from the Temporary Transbay Terminal to the Embarcadero Station. You will also be able to travel further down Market Street and to some destinations in San Francisco if you wish.
- Elevator to Elevator Shuttle service. There will be a special pickup site at the 17th Street elevator entrance to our 19th Street Station (in front of 1750 Broadway) to take you to the elevator at Embarcadero Station (via California Street—you will be dropped off in front of the Wells Fargo bank where there is a path between buildings that connects directly to our station elevator on Market Street). You can board the shuttle on California Street to return to Oakland. If either elevator goes out of service, we’ll have alternate plans in place and let you know what they are.
- West Oakland Station will be closed during the shutdown. If West Oakland is your home station, there will be an accessible shuttle available to take you to 19th Street/Oakland station. There will be additional employees available to assist you.
We are recommending that all our customers avoid transbay travel on these weekends, but if you must make the trip, we are committed to making it work for you. There will be additional BART employees available at both 19th Street and Embarcadero stations as well as at the Temporary Transbay Terminal to assist you.
Does your trip to/from OAK or SFO airports require crossing the bay on 9/5-7, when the Transbay Tube will be shut down? If so, here are some tips that may make your trip easier. First and foremost is to allow a generous amount of extra time when traveling to an airport. Whether you travel by BART or another method, plan for unexpected delays and heavier-than-normal traffic. Again, allow for extra time. As inconvenient as this is, you don’t want the frustration and costs of a missed flight.
Oakland International Airport (OAK)
If you're going to/from OAK from the East Bay you can take BART to/from OAK to any East Bay BART station except West Oakland, which will be closed. Allow extra time even if not crossing the bay, for unforeseen delays.
If you're going to/from OAK from San Francisco or the Peninsula, you should plan to use another option than BART. BART will have a limited lifeline bus service in operation for people with no other transportation options. However, delays of 30 minutes to one hour are expected. And the bus service going east picks you up by the temporary Transbay Terminal, which means a two-block walk from Embarcadero Station, or a connection from Muni.
For alternative public transit options go to 511.org for trip planning. Other transbay options include AC Transit, Ferries, ride-sharing or shuttle services. Remember that roads will likely be more congested without BART service, especially on Labor Day weekend.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
If you're going to/from SFO from San Francisco or the Peninsula, you can travel on BART, or using your regular connections if you combine BART with CalTrain or Muni. In fact, travel from within San Francisco to SFO will be more frequent than a tyipcal weekend. There will be no direct service between Millbrae to SFO and customers will have to transfer at San Bruno just like on weekdays.
If you're going to/from SFO from the East Bay, you should plan to use another option than BART. BART will have a limited lifeline bus service in operation for people with no other transportation options. However, delays of at least 30 minutes to one hour are expected. And the bus service going west drops you off by the temporary Transbay Terminal, leaving a two-block walk to Embarcadero Station.
For alternative public transit options go to 511.org for trip planning. Other transbay options include AC Transit, Ferries, ride-sharing or shuttle services. Remember that roads will likely be more congested without BART service, especially on Labor Day weekend.
We understand that this is a tremendous inconvenience to our passengers, and appreciate your patience while we complete critical maintenance work. The result will be a safer, more reliable ride for everyone.
Over the past year, we have relaxed our rules on bringing bikes onboard BART trains. Many passengers have taken advantage of the opportunity to bring their bikes along on their BART trip. However, on the weekend (9/5-7) that our Transbay Tube service is shut down, we recommend that you don’t try to bring your bike on the buses that will provide lifeline service for passengers crossing the San Francisco Bay. SF Bay Ferry is offering additional ferry service on their Alameda/Oakland/San Francisco and Vallejo/San Francisco routes during the shutdown. Bikes are allowed onboard the boat. AC Transit also has its regular weekend transbay bus service where bikes are allowed.
While many of the buses provided by our local transit partners for our bus bridge can accommodate some bikes using racks on the front and/or back of the bus, those racks will fill up fast. Having to load bikes on the racks could delay an already long trip for other passengers. The buses will be crowded and there will not be room onboard for bikes.
Not to worry! If you want to ride your bike to BART, we have lots of options for bike parking. Most stations have racks and many stations have electronic lockers that open with a special BikeLink card that you can purchase in advance. There is a small fee (3 to 5 cents per hour) while you park in these lockers, but your bike will be more secure. There are also Bike Stations, some of which have 24hr self-serve access, again, using a BikeLink card. Please note, the 19th Street Bike Station is closed during Labor Day.
If you want or need a bike when you get to your destination, consider using one of the many Bay Area bike rental services. Just Google “San Francisco or East Bay bike rentals” and you will find a number of businesses to choose from. To be sure of getting a bike, contact the companies and reserve a bike in advance. If you need a bike for a short trip in San Francisco, consider signing up in advance for Bay Area Bike Share, the new bike sharing service.
If you do choose to leave your bike in one of the outside racks at our stations, be sure to read all our safety tips. You can even get a discount coupon to purchase a new U-Lock and cable to make your bike more secure.
Remember, bikes are never allowed in the first car of our trains, and should not be brought aboard crowded cars. Bikes are not allowed on escalators. Please be kind to other passengers—don’t block aisles or doors. Be sure you know all of our bike rules before bringing your bike onto the train.
We understand that this is a tremendous inconvenience to our passengers, and appreciate your patience while we complete this important work. The result will be a faster, safe ride for everyone.