Ride BART to your holiday shopping destinations

Black Friday Safety Escorts at West Oakland Station

BART Partners with Westfield SF Centre to Sponsor Shopping Spree Sweepstakes

Beat the Black Friday traffic jam by taking BART to do your holiday shopping. BART will operate longer trains from 6 am to close of service, almost doubling the number of seats available for bargain hunters compared to a typical weekday schedule.

In an effort to better protect our passengers during the hectic holiday season on Friday, November 29, 2013, from 5 pm to 8 pm BART Police and Oakland Police Department (OPD) will provide safety escorts for riders parked at BART’s busy West Oakland Station. Officers will also give out materials with safety travel tips to help empower passengers to better protect themselves while traveling the BART system and within their community.   

“This service is part of both departments’ Community Policing outreach efforts,” BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey said. “"The escorts provide an additional layer of service for our customers on ‘Black Friday’--the biggest shopping day of the year. Those who want to be escorted to their car need only to look for officers in uniform or PD Cadets and Explorers, Problem Solving Officers, Police Service Technicians or City of Oakland volunteers wearing yellow safety vests.”

The safety escorts will be available to accompany BART customers to their cars parked within a three block radius of the West Oakland Station. There will also be two designated patrol vehicles to provide rides to those who do not want to walk in the dark.

This event highlights the collaborative work between the community, OPD and BART PD and their shared goal of keeping our communities safe. Oakland and BART PD would like to remind people that the holidays can be a distracting time and it’s important to always remain alert and aware of your belongings and surroundings.

Win a $1,000 Westfield Shopping Spree

The chance to win a shopping spree is a mere click away. Go to bart.gov/shop for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree provided by Westfield San Francisco Centre, located next to the Powell Street BART Station, or one of ten $100 Clipper cards. A $1,000 shopping spree at Westfield can get you a goodie from Abercrombie to Zara’s!

Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, December 18, 2013. Shopping spree is courtesy of Westfield San Francisco Centre.