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(November 3, 3:20pm update)

BART Police have arrested the suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing that occurred Saturday morning aboard an Antioch-bound train as it approached 24th Street/Mission Station. 34-year-old Jovany Portades was spotted by an alert Station Agent at Fruitvale Station Sunday at around 2pm. The Station Agent contacted BART Police who arrested the suspect without incident.

(November 3, 11am update)

BART Police investigators have identified the suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing that occured aboard an Antioch-bound train Saturday morning as it approached 24th Street/Mission Station. The suspect is 34-year-old Jovany Portades. One of BART's more than 4,000 surveillance cameras caught an initial iamge of suspect, which helped investigators to identify Portades. 

Anyone with information can call the BART Police Investigations anonymous tip line at (510) 464-7011. For urgent matters, call (510) 464-7000 or 9-1-1. Portades should be considered dangerous and members of the public should not approach him.

BART Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in an assault on a train this morning.

The suspect is described as a possible Asian male, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with black braided hair wrapped in a knot on top of his head, a mustache, wearing a plain black jacket with orange liner, a black shirt with a large white logo, gray and black cargo style pants, brown and black boots, and carrying a black duffle bag. Investigators have released photos captured by one of BART’s more than 4,000 surveillance cameras.

The man is suspected of stabbing a 54-year-old woman in an unprovoked attack at about 8:10 a.m. aboard an Antioch-bound train as it approached 24th St./Mission Station.

The victim offboarded the train at 24th St./Mission Station and was assisted by a Station Agent until BART Police Officers arrived on the scene. The victim was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

BART closed the 24th St/Mission Station from about 8:40 to 9:25 am to collect evidence.

Anyone with information can call the BART Police Investigations anonymous tip line at (510) 464-7011. For urgent matters, call (510) 464-7000 or 9-1-1. 

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, One Book One BART hosted an author talk with Hua Hsu, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the first BART book club selection, Stay True, moderated by award-winning writer, historian, and thinker Jeff Chang. Watch a recording of the talk below. 

To keep up with all things BART book club, visit bart.gov/bookclub, and sign up for the mailing list at the top of that page. 

Stay tuned for the launch of our next book club on Monday, September 18, 2023

The next book selection is Oakland-based author Margaret Sexton Wilkerson's "On the Rooftop." Reese Witherspoon called the novel, set in San Francisco's Fillmore District, "an utterly original and brilliant story."

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Email [email protected]. 

We look forward to reading with you! 

One Book One BART – the official BART book club – invites members of the public to a free, virtual author talk with Hua Hsu, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir and official book club selection, Stay True. The event, which marks the culmination of the Spring/Summer ‘23 One Book, One BART club, will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, August 2, at 4pm. A Q&A will follow the discussion.

The talk will be moderated by Jeff Chang, author of acclaimed book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, which was named one of the best U.S. nonfiction books of the last quarter century. His other books include Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post Civil Rights America and We Gon' Be Alright: Notes On Race and Resegregation. Chang has received the American Book Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the USA Ford Fellowship in Literature.

When: Wednesday, August 2, 4pm to 5pm

Join the meeting online via Zoom (no registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84824326758

For updates about upcoming One Book One BART events, including the launch of the Fall/Winter ’23 book club, visit bart.gov/bookclub.

Sign up for the One Book, One BART mailing list by visiting BART’s Profile Center and adding your information. On step 3 – “Manage Subscriptions” – click the caret next to “Other” and check the One Book, One BART box.   

Questions? Email [email protected].

BART’s reimagined schedule, which was rolled out on Monday, will be a boon for riders who want to travel around the Bay this weekend. The new service plan is designed to work for everyone, every day and means no BART rider will have to wait more than 20 minutes for a scheduled train no matter what hour of the day or what day of the week. 30-minute wait times between scheduled trains are now a thing of the past for BART on nights and weekends.

This Saturday and Sunday riders will notice the difference as they see more trains at their stations. Weekend service now has 20-minute service on all 5 lines until 9pm. And after 9pm 20-minute service on 3 lines will arrive at the same time every day of the week.

Examples of our boosted weekend service include:

*Richmond-MacArthur riders will now see 6 trains per hour instead of 4. 
*West Oakland-Daly City riders will get 12 trains per hour instead of 10 on Saturdays and 8 on Sundays. 
*Bay Fair-Berryessa riders will see their trains per hour increase from 4 to 6.
*Trains per hour are also increasing for our evening 3-line service, which begins every night at 9pm.

This Saturday is All Aboard Transit Day in celebration of Transit Month when everyone in the Bay Area is encouraged to try transit. Take as many transit trips as your heart desires this Saturday to help us beat the Saturday September 2022 ridership record. We will add up the total ridership for the day and report out to the public if we exceed the Saturday, September 2022 ridership, which was the highest ridership for a Saturday in September during Transit Month 2022.

On Saturday, BART will host "Meet the BART Anime Mascots" event at Powell Street Station from 2-6 pm. Take photos with the mascots, make buttons with staff, grab a prize from the BART capsule ball machine, and more! Come in cosplay and get a rare BART anime charm. The Link21 outreach team will also be there to talk about our project to build a second train crossing connecting Oakland and San Francisco. 

BART will also have special late-night service for the Ed Sheeran concert at Levi’s Stadium this Saturday. 

The new schedule, which began Monday, is already serving record numbers of riders. On Wednesday, BART carried 192,961 passengers – the most since the pandemic shelter-in-place orders were enacted in March 2020. Just a day before, Tuesday, September 12th, BART served 192,081 riders. The new schedule is responsive to post-pandemic commute patterns and ridership growth opportunities, with a new emphasis on weeknight and weekend service. 

Beginning November 30, 2023, paper tickets will no longer be accepted at BART as fare payment and for use at the fare gates. This change is occurring as BART begins to roll out new state of the art fare gates which will not accept paper tickets and as Clipper prepares for the launch of the next generation of Clipper. 

Paper tickets balances cannot be transferred onto a Clipper card. BART offers paper ticket refunds for tickets with a remaining value greater than $1.00. It can be multiple tickets that add up to $1 or more. Click here for directions to request a refund. 

There is no deadline for requesting a refund. Refund requests do not need to be submitted by November 30th. 

Pay By Phone

Clipper is now available through Apple Pay and Google Pay. Riders can get a new Clipper card on their phones for free (normally $3). Funds added using Apple Pay and Google Pay are immediately available for use.

Set up is easy and can be done on the spot or in advance while you are at home. Every rider needs their own digital card. For families travelling together, multiple cards can be added to an Apple phone, but users must turn off Express Transit mode to toggle between each card when tagging at the fare gate.   

Next Generation Clipper

BART has moved to a Clipper-only fare payment system because the region has prioritized the use of Clipper as the Bay Area’s all-in-one transit card administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In calendar year 2024, the next generation of Clipper will be rolled out including open payment which provides the option to tag a credit/debit card at a BART fare gate, including Apple Pay or Google Pay, without setting up a card on your phone in advance. The next generation of Clipper also opens the door for new discount programs, promotions, and potentially fare capping for BART riders. 

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September 11, 2023 Update:

Beginning Saturday, September 30, 2023, BART will no longer sell magstripe paper tickets at SFO. Only Clipper cards will be available at SFO vending machines and riders will continue to be encouraged to add a Clipper card to their phone for a card-free option. 

BART began offering paper tickets at SFO in October 2022 in response to global supply chain issues impacting the region’s plastic card inventory. The region now has an adequate supply of cards and BART will eliminate the sale of all paper tickets. This includes the sale of red paper tickets at the Customer Service window at Lake Merritt Station for RTC applicants waiting for their Clipper card to arrive and paper tickets for group sales.  

Riders are still able to use the paper tickets they already have on hand, including weekend promotion tickets, to enter and exit through most fare gates until November 30, 2023. 

(Tuesday, 11/19 11:45am update)

Statement from BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin on the incident at Union City Station:

"On Monday, November 19, at 8:57pm BART PD officers responded to a report of reckless driving in the parking lot of Union City Station. As part of the overall investigation, the two responding officers conducted a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, the driver is alleged to have assaulted a police officer which led to one of the officers discharging their firearm. 

The suspect, 32-year-old Jasmine Gao of Union City, was shot in the upper body. Gao was provided with immediate first aid and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Once medically cleared, she will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon on police, reckless evading, failure to follow a court order, and resisting arrest with an enhancement of committing a felony while out on her own recognizance. She also had two outstanding arrest warrants. The suspect is reported to be in serious, but stable condition.

Pursuant to standard department protocol, drug and alcohol testing was conducted for the officer who fired their service weapon. Per policy, both officers had their body-worn cameras activated. 

Union City Station was closed Monday night as part of the investigation and was reopened in time for the start of BART service Tuesday morning. Union City Police also responded to the incident and provided support including securing the scene. Anybody who may have additional information should contact BART PD detectives at 510-464-7040."

(Tuesday, 11/19 9am update)

Here's the entry for this incident in BART PD's daily log:

245 (c) PC / 2800.2 CVC / 166(a)(4) PC / 148(a)(1) PC / Warrant (x2) Arrest (Prohibition Order will be issued) – Union City Station

11/18/2024 2057 hours Officers conducted a traffic stop and contacted the driver Jasmine Gao (05/03/1992, Union City). During the incident, an officer involved shooting occurred. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to hospital for treatment. Once medically cleared, Gao will be booked into the Alameda County jail in Dublin on the above listed charges. 2411-1355 L26 

Additional info:

The listed charges include assault with a deadly weapon on police, reckless evading, failure to follow a court order, and resisting arrest with an enhancement of committing a felony while on your own recognizance. 

BART Police confirms an officer-involved shooting took place approximately 9:30pm on Monday, November 18, 2024 in the parking lot of the Union City BART Station. One suspect was shot by police and transported to the hospital. Their condition at this time is unknown. BART Police closed the station on Monday night for the investigation. More details will be released as information is confirmed.

Per policy, BART’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor has been notified and has responded to the scene for their investigation.