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PHOTOS: More than a thousand people celebrate BART and the holiday season at SweaterFest '23

Photos from SweaterFest '23

Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023
Scenes from SweaterFest 2023

On Sunday, Dec. 10, BART rang in the holiday season with our riders during our inaugural SweaterFest ‘23. More than a thousand of you showed up to Rockridge Station to celebrate with us – a reminder of just how much the Bay Area loves BART.  

We encouraged attendees to wear their BART holiday sweaters – from 2023, 2022, or 2021 (the first year we launched the sweaters) – and pose for a group photo on the steps to the station. You can view the photo and more snapshots from the joyous event in the above slideshow.  

Some BART fans showed up as early as 11am – three hours before the start of the event – to be the first in line to buy a 2023 holiday sweater. By 2pm, the line to purchase BART merch snaked around the Rockridge sign and the plaza. 

“I didn’t know BART had a fashion line,” said one rider passing through the station.  

In addition to selling tons of BART-themed gifts, including the last-remaining 2023 holiday sweaters and beanies, we also launched our BART Stamp Rally with official BART passports, and handed out lots of free BART merch, including number plates and the new BART train plushie.  

Thanks for coming out, Bay Area. Happy Holidays!  

 

This year, BART sold 3,500 holiday sweaters in total. To help meet the strong demand, we pre-sold 2,370 sweaters earlier in the year. We ordered more than 1,000 additional sweaters to sell during the holiday season and were thrilled when they sold out quickly.  

If you weren’t able to get a sweater before they sold out this year, we encourage you to stay up to date on all things BART by following us on social media (click the icons at the bottom of this page), signing up here for our BART News email subscription, and downloading the official BART app.  

BART posts 23% drop in violent crime as Congressmember Simon visits Oakland stations

Congressmember Lateefah Simon tours Fruitvale Station.

BART’s efforts to put rider safety first are paying off with another drop in violent crime. For the first three months of the year violent crime on BART fell by 23% compared to last year. The latest drop comes on top of a 17% decline in overall crime on BART in 2024. 

BART’s efforts to enhance rider safety were a focus of a tour by East Bay Congressmember Lateefah Simon (CA-12) who visited the 19th Street and Fruitvale stations in Oakland. Congressmember Simon recently met with BART in Washington, D.C., and this visit was an opportunity to get an in-person update on the progress BART has made in recent months on rider-focused safety, cleanliness, and accessibility improvements. Congressmember Simon previously served as BART Board President and BART District 7 Board Member. 

“I believe that BART will be the nation’s safest transit institution,” said Congressmember Simon. “You know why? There are [transit-dependent] folks like me who don’t have a choice, who aren’t jiggling car keys. They are riding BART because unfortunately, mobility in many parts of the Bay Area is still a privilege. We’ve made it a right here at BART.”  

The implementation of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan has been at the forefront of putting rider safety first. The plan includes boosting visible train patrols, installing Next Generation Fare Gates, right-sizing trains to create safer spaces, improving station lighting, and other rider-focused initiatives.

“This steep decline in our violent crime rate would not be possible without the hard work of the people of the BART Police Department,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “We will continue to deploy sworn officers as well as non-sworn unarmed Crisis Intervention Specialists, Transit Ambassadors, Fare Inspectors, and Community Service Officers to maximize our presence in the system and ensure BART is welcoming for all.”

BART has already installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 29 stations and remains on track to have the new, more durable gates in place at all 50 stations by the end of this year. The new gates are improving the station environment by serving as a deterrent against many instances of fare evasion and reducing the amount of unwanted activity in the system. A recent survey found the number of riders who have reported seeing fare evasion on BART has dropped by almost 1/3 since installation work began for the new gates.