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Bust out your bicycle and join BART in celebrating Bike to Wherever Day on Thursday, May 16. 

BART is sponsoring the annual celebration of cycling and hosting 24 “energizer stations” throughout the system. If you visit one of the BART stations listed below on Thursday morning, you’ll be greeted by Bike to Wherever Day volunteers handing out thousands of commemorative swag bags.  

Bike to Wherever Day began in 1994 as Bike to Work Day as a way to encourage people to ditch their cars and hop on their bikes. Things have changed since that first Bike to Work Day, and the annual event has transformed into a monthlong celebration of bicycling, called Bike to Wherever Days. The cornerstone of the month is Bike to Wherever Day on Thursday, May 16 – exactly thirty years after that first Bike to Work Day.  

Local organizers of Bike to Wherever Day include BARTable partner Bike East Bay, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and BikeHUb, which operates bike stations at some BART stations (more on bike stations below).  

Energizer stations will be positioned throughout the BART system on the morning of Thursday, May 16. For exact times and to view the full list of energizer stations, visit Bike East Bay’s Bike to Wherever Day webpage. 

Participating BART stations include:   

• Ashby 

• Antioch  

• Concord  

• Downtown Berkeley BART Bike Station  

• Daly City  

• Dublin/Pleasanton  

• El Cerrito del Norte  

• El Cerrito Plaza  

• Fruitvale  

• Hayward  

• Lake Merritt  

• Millbrae  

• Orinda  

• Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Center  

• Richmond  

• San Bruno  

• San Leandro  

• South San Francisco  

• South Hayward  

• Union City  

• Uptown/19th Street Oakland BART Bike Station  

• Warm Springs/South Fremont  

• West Dublin/Pleasanton  

• West Oakland  

This year, Bike to Wherever Days will also include a family-focused and BARTable ride called East Bay Kidical Mass. The group will gather on Saturday, May 11, at 10:30am at Lake Merritt Station for a relaxed and inclusive ride around Lake Merritt. 

Bikes on BART 

Click here to learn everything you need to know about bikes and BART, including rules and the locations of bike storage facilities. 

BART loves bikes, and we even changed our rules recently to allow bicycles on escalators throughout the BART system with the exception of ten narrow escalators (at 19th Street/ Oakland, Antioch and the Oakland Airport Connector).  

Our stations feature high-security bike racks, bike lockers, and both valet and BikeLink self-park Bike Stations. The staffed Bike Stations at Downtown Berkeley, Fruitvale, and 19th Street/Oakland are open for parking weekdays 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. and even have retail and maintenance services, in case your bike needs a tune up.  

Plan your route using BART's Trip Planner, which offers multi-modal, end-to-end itineraries for bike + transit trips. It features customizable bike speed options, including an option for e-bikes (select the settings/tool icon to customize your options). BART's Trip Planner includes results for more than 30 transit systems in the Bay Area and is available on web, mobile, and the official BART app.  

Beneath the city's glow, where BART's lines softly weave, 
A story of us begins, in the twilight of the eve. 

–  Under the Stars of Valencia, Elsy M.E., BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest Winner

<< Watch Fruitvale station agents Steffi and Ebony dispense a winning poem >>

On Friday, April 12, the BART Art Program and BART Communications are thrilled to announce the winners of the BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest 2024! You’ll find the list of winners and their poems when you scroll down this page. The winners were selected by contest judges and partners 826 Valencia and Youth Speaks – two outstanding organizations working to lift youth voices in the Bay Area. 

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The 31 winning poems engage with an enchanting array of forms, meter, topics, and themes. In the collection, you will find villanelles and tankas, botanic gardens and centipedes, sunsets and carrots, and even two crabs destined for a boiling pot. Our winners range in age from 14 to 19 and reside all over the Bay Area, from Foster City to Fremont, Concord to Oakland, and many cities in between.  

The BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest is a celebration of the region’s youth, their expansive imaginations, and their immense capacities for compassion and creativity. And the winning poets’ fantastic work will undoubtedly delight riders passing through stations who are looking for something to do on the train other than look at their phones (sometimes your eyes need a rest from a screen, right?). 

The 31 winning poems, written by local youth ages 13 to 19, are now available in BART’s free Short Edition Story Dispensers (locations below) as well as our Short Edition online story portal. 

We highly recommend getting a printed poem from a story dispenser. To get a contest poem, hover your hand over the “5 Min” button. When the dispenser prints the poem, you’ll find a special image on the bottom of the eco-friendly and recyclable paper.  

These poems are collectibles, and we encourage you to take photos or film yourself getting a poem – tag us on Instagram (@sfbayarearapidtransit) or Twitter (@sfbart) and use the #BARTLines.  

Congratulations to the Winners of the BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest

Winners listed in alphabetical order

Frames of Motion – Aashna S.  

I'm from Union City, where daylight's clouds kiss – Aarzu S. 

I have to think about BART now – Ana T.  

Sequence Across Golden Gate Bridge – Ariel Z.  

Bay Area Rapid Tankas – Bulian Jauer 

Love Letter to the Bay – Carla Araujo 

Haven – Elle Fardella 

Where I'm From – Ellie Liew 

This is the Bay – Eloisa Lin 

Under the Stars of Valencia: A BART Love Story – Elsy M.E.  

station conversation: where the people are – Emily T. 

These Two Crabs On the Green Line are Going to Die – Francis L. 

Sunsets Filled with Orange Rays of Red – Gerardo Castaneda 

My Home – Gian S. 

sandstone – Hunter Stoval 

You see, to me – Juliet S. 

A Familiar Breeze – Kiana G. 

sf pride 2023 – Lia Le-Nguyen 

home, forever and always. – Margaret B. 

Journey Around the Bay – Matthew Guo  

The Bay is Home – Nairobi Williese Barnes  

the bay – Nidhi Nadgir 

souvenir – Nitika Sathiya 

Villanelle for 42nd St. – N.R. 

A paper ticket trip down the richmond line – OG Nguyen 

The Cycle – ORLY 

A Work of Art – Pahal V. 

bart ode – Rose Garcia 

Haibun for lazy weekends in the Sunset District – Sophia T. 

Bay is bae – Soyme 

Where My Parents Lived – Vivian Owens 

 How to Read the Winning Poems

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*BART’s Short Edition Story Dispensers*

The dispensers are free vending machines for creative writing, dispensing stories on eco-friendly recyclable, receipt-like paper. To receive a BART Lines poem, wave your hand over the button on the far right, labeled with either BART Lines sticker or “5 minutes”. Poems are randomly dispensed. The dispensers are currently located at the following stations: 

• Balboa Park   

• Downtown Berkeley   

• Fruitvale  

• Pleasant Hill  

• San Leandro (pending installation) 

   

*BART’s Short Edition website*

Visit bart.short-edition.com to read the poems online. Click the blue “Contest winners” button.  

*Coming Soon: Short Edition Story Discs*

The discs are digital versions of the dispensers that allow you to access unlimited content for free on a smartphone. They will soon be installed at the following stations: 

• Daly City   

• Dublin/Pleasanton   

• Embarcadero 

   

About the BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest 

The contest, which launched in late winter, solicited poetry from local teenagers who live in the five counties where BART operates. We asked that the poems loosely relate to the theme “Bay is Home.”  

By providing a forum for teen voices and creativity with BART Lines, BART is underlining our belief that the words, ideas, and foresight of youth matter. Like public transportation, poetry has the power to take you places, and the winning BART Lines poems are a case in point.  

In addition to their work being published on the Short Edition website and in our dispensers and discs, the winners received a $75 honorarium. Their works will also be collected in a chapbook – stay tuned for more information.  

Winners will also be invited to read their poems at special events, including the upcoming Bay Area Book Festival on June 2 in Downtown Berkeley, and their work will be featured in our stations and trains and on social media (among other venues).  

Keep up to date with events and future contests at bart.gov/bartlines and by following BART’s social media channels. 

Judges+Partners 

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826 Valencia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students ages six to eighteen with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with individualized attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. 

Youth Speaks is a leading presenter of Spoken Word performance, education, and youth development programs that was founded in San Francisco in 1996. Trailblazers of local and national youth poetry slams, festivals, and more, Youth Speaks offers a comprehensive slate of literary arts education programs and provides numerous opportunities for youth to be published and heard.  

The latest numbers from the BART Police Department show as enforcement activity has increased, the number of trains impacted by unwanted behavior has declined. In the first six months of this year, BART PD reported 10,359 enforcement contacts, which is nearly double from the 5,490 enforcement contacts reported for the first half of 2023. The increase in activity comes as BART continues to implement its Safe and Clean Plan. A focal point of the plan has been a major boost in BART PD’s visible safety presence on trains and in stations supported by devoting additional resources to hire and retain more officers.

As enforcement contacts have increased, the number of trains impacted by unwanted activity has been trending downward since mid-2023. The number of BART PD incidents causing delays has dropped from a high of 374 in May 2023 to 255 in August (see chart below).

“Our presence deters crime and allows us to address problems before they turn into incidents that cause train delays,” said BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin. “I think this is very encouraging because it shows that our presence is a positive thing for on-time service and the safe and clean customer experience.”

More riders have been telling BART they notice the difference in safety since implementation of the new deployment strategy that emphasizes presence on trains and in stations. The last four consecutive quarters have been the first in BART’s history where the percentage of riders who reported seeing BART PD on their trips exceeded the department’s official goal of 12%. In the most recent quarter (Q4 2024), more than 19% of riders reported seeing BART PD’s safety presence.

BART PD is continuing to recruit more officers to boost its visible safety presence to bring more safety gains to our riders. The department currently has 17 openings for sworn officers. BART PD offers competitive pay including a hiring bonus of $15,000 for lateral transfers and academy graduates. To learn more, go to JoinBARTPD.com.

Friday, Aug. 18, 2023 – It was yet another high ridership weekend on Saturday, Aug. 5, and Sunday, Aug. 6, as Outside Lands Music Festival, the Pistahan Parade and Festival, and other exciting events unfurled across the Bay Area. Saturday and Sunday saw 101,100 and 79,300 exits respectively meaning more than 180,000 people rode BART last weekend (that’s roughly the populations of Berkeley, Benicia, and El Cerrito combined).  

Looking for something to do this weekend? Keep reading and visit our BARTable website. We publish a weekly event roundup, BARTable This Weekend, which highlights happenings around the region as well as contests and sweepstakes.  

This weekend, BART will be running extra trains for these big events: the Star Wars Drone Show following the A’s game on Saturday, and the Zach Bryan concert at the Oakland Arena on Monday.  

Fri/Sat/Sun: Athletics vs. Orioles at the Oakland Coliseum (plus a Star Wars Drone Show!) 

The Oakland Athletics face the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and each game offers a special themed promotion. For the Star Wars Drone Show on Saturday night, BART will be running extra trains to accommodate the anticipated crowds.  

Here’s the lowdown on this weekend’s games: Friday, Aug. 18 (6:40pm start time) is Jerry Garcia Night, a tribute to the legendary Bay Area musician. Saturday, Aug. 19 (6:07pm start time) is the Star Wars Drone Show (with a special Mark Kotsay Mandalorian Bobblehead on offer). And Sunday, Aug. 20 (1:07pm start time), will see a “t-shirt hoodie” giveaway for early arriving fans, presented by Cal State East Bay. 

It’s also First Responders Weekend at the Coliseum, with special prices, tailgates, jerseys, and more for first responders. (Promo info here.) 

Use our guide to taking BART to the game here. 

Sat/Sun: Take BART to the FOG India Day Parade and Fair in Fremont 

On Saturday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 20, the City of Fremont will host the largest India Day parade on the West Coast with more than 130 booths and 50,000 attendees. To get there, take BART to Fremont Station and travel about 0.6 miles to the event site – 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont.  

The fair takes over the parkway on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm, and the parade runs Sunday from 11am to 1pm. Bollywood superstar Mahima Chaudhry will serve as the grand marshal. Keep your eyes out for the BART booth, where BART directors, staff, and officers will be on hand with free swag and information about the system and our programs. More info here. 

Mon: Singer-Songwriter Zach Bryan at the Oakland Arena on Monday  

Singer-songwriter Zach Bryan touches down in Oakland this Monday, Aug. 21, for a stop on his Burn, Burn, Burn tour at the Oakland Arena (take BART to Coliseum Station) with Trampled by Turtles and Levi Turner. The show starts at 8pm and doors open at 6:30pm.  

BART will be running extra trains Monday night to take concertgoers home. 

Explore BARTable Pools, Coves, and Lagoons 

Did you know you can take BART to swim? Cool off this weekend by visiting a BARTable swimming hole. We rounded them up (with directions) in this article.  

Win Tickets to the “Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical” World Premiere  

Win two tickets for you and your guest to the world premiere of "Hippest Trip -The Soul Train Musical" at A.C.T.'s Toni Rembe Theater in San Francisco on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8pm. Five lucky winners will take the prize! Learn more about the Broadway-bound musical and enter the sweepstakes by clicking here.  

Weekend Read: The Couple Who Hosted a BART Wedding at Fairyland 

On May 27, 2023, Armin Samii and Marylee Williams married in a BART-themed wedding at Oakland’s Fairyland.  

The couple, who met on BART, said, “We wanted a venue that was easily accessible to our guests, and accessibility to us looks like BART. BART was where we had our first taste of not being bound by a car.”   

Read more about the wedding and see the colorful photos on bart.gov/news.  

Happy Riding this Weekend! 

We hope you enjoy your weekend adventures aboard our trains.    
 
Stay in touch by signing up for the BARTable This Week newsletter on the BARTable website – your one-stop shop for all things accessible by BART. You can also keep up with BARTable on Facebook and  Instagram. 

Sound Tracks, BART’s free summer concert series, returns for three shows in August and September.  The outdoor series, presented by the BART Art Program, is part of BART’s rider engagement strategy to activate stations, show appreciation for riders and neighbors, and support local artists – all for the love of music. 

Performances will be held in the unpaid areas of stations, and attendees are encouraged to take BART. Dance bands have been so successful at past events that for this series, we’re bringing out musicians that know how to get a crowd on their feet. 

Said Jennifer Easton, BART Art Program Manager: “The BART Art Program centers supporting local artists and delivering arts and cultural programming to enhance rider and community experience. Sound Tracks encourages riders to take a minute to celebrate with station neighbors, support local businesses, and enables BART to show our appreciation for all the people who ride the system and to those that make the station areas vibrant.”  

Up next on the schedule:

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Wednesday, Sept. 4, 5 pm to 630pm, Balboa Park: Kiazi Malonga (Congolese drummer performing with full percussion band) 

Previously:

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Wednesday, August 21, 5pm to 630pm, El Cerrito del Norte Station: Patron Latin Rhythms (Latin jazz, Latin rock, Mambo). Special reading by winners of the BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest.  

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Wednesday, Aug. 28, 5pm to 630pm, Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre: Chris Trinidad y Con Todo featuring Mestiza (Cuban Timba, Puerto Rican Bomba, and Afro-Caribbean genres mixed with Latin jazz, soul, and R&B)  

It's the most BARTable time of the year! 

Celebrate our third year of the immensely popular BART holiday sweater at SweaterFest '23! Wear your BART holiday sweater from any year and join BART staff and fellow riders for a group photo at Rockridge Station on Sunday, December 10 from 2-3:30pm.

For riders who did not pre-order the 2023 BART holiday staff but would like to purchase one, staff will be selling the 2023 holiday sweater at SweaterFest '23. We will have contests, prizes, other BART merch for sale, music, and more to make it a true holiday event! Winners of our SweaterFest '23 Raffle can win exclusive BART prizes. (Raffle contestants must be present to win prizes)

Extra 2023 BART holiday sweaters will go on sale at railgoods.com after Thanksgiving. 

For pre-orders who selected the pick-up option, your holiday sweater is available for pick-up at BART HQ, 2150 Webster Street in Oakland (walkable distance from 19th St Oakland Station) on weekdays from November 22 until December 7. The hours for pick-up are between 8:30am until 4pm. November 23 and November 24 will not be open due to Thanksgiving. 

Starting December 11, pre-order pick-ups will be moved to the Customer Services Center at Lake Merritt Station on the concourse level.

Don’t be left out in the cold…grab your sweater and join us for a family-friendly, holiday-celebrating SweaterFest ’23!

We plan to introduce our new stamp rally passport at SweaterFest. If you attend the Meet the Anime Mascots event at Powell Street, be sure to bring your stamp from that event and we will add it to our passport.

At its national conference the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) reaffirmed the BART Police Department continues to meet the standard of the group’s Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation. BART PD – which is in the process of filling 29 sworn officer vacancies this fiscal year - was already among the fewer than 6% of law enforcement agencies across the country that has earned accreditation from CALEA. This advanced accreditation places BART PD in an even smaller pool of departments and acknowledges the department’s commitment to following industry best practices, building community trust, and engaging in more than decade long commitment to reform.

“BART PD is working around the clock to ensure every rider feels safe from the moment they step into a station to the moment they arrive at their destination,” said interim BART PD Chief Kevin Franklin. “Our accreditation from CALEA wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of everyone in the department. Certification from CALEA is the gold standard for law enforcement. It shows the confidence of outside experts in the work being done by our department to continue improving, while ensuring we are keeping BART riders and workers safe across the Bay Area.”

BART PD first earned CALEA accreditation in 2019 and had to demonstrate at the conference the department has been meeting or exceeding CALEA’s standards. “We recognize that accreditation is a process, not a destination,” continued Franklin. “We are committed to continuing with the hard work to measure up to CALEA’s high standards as well as the demands of our riders who expect us to do everything we can to keep them safe every time they ride.”

BART PD earned its original CALEA accreditation as part of its more than decade long commitment to police reforms. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) recommended in its final report issued in 2010 that BPD seek this accreditation. NOBLE conducted a top-to-bottom review of BPD after the tragic shooting death of Oscar Grant in 2009.

BART PD must prove compliance with nearly 400 standards annually as part of the Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The comprehensive process included an on-site review by CALEA which focused on facility inspections, staff interviews, and gathering public input.

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BART Director Bevan Dufty said he was “extremely hopeful” about the upcoming year following a vote today that elected him president of the BART Board. Dufty said he will work hard to support and collaborate with the BART team to solve problems and to anticipate the challenges ahead.

“I am so proud of the work this agency does to support the Bay Area community,” President Dufty said. “I look forward to working hand in hand with the rest of the Board in 2024.”   

President Dufty was first elected to the BART Board of Directors in November 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. He represents District 9, which includes portions of San Francisco. Dufty served as president in 2019.

Director Mark Foley, who was elected vice president, said 2024 will be an exciting, but challenging year. 

“There are a lot of great things happening at the agency we should celebrate,” Vice President Foley said. “People in the Bay Area love BART and what we do. We mean so much to people and provide a crucial lifeline for people traveling to school, to doctors’ appointments, and to work.” 

Vice President Foley was first elected to the BART Board in November 2018 and was re-elected in 2022. Vice President Foley represents District 2, which includes Antioch, Brentwood, Concord (partial), and other cities and unincorporated communities in Contra Costa County. 

Vice President Foley served as board president in 2021 and vice president in 2020 and 2022. 

Watch Janice Li’s outgoing remarks as Board President, during which she highlights BART’s top accomplishments of 2023.

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