Search

UPDATE December 29, 2023

The next phase of work at Bay Fair will start on January 15th and will last 4 weeks. During construction, all pedestrian detours will be accessible. Construction will take place in two locations (see map below): 

1. In the passenger loading zone, the accessible loading zone will be replaced and the regular pathway to the passenger loading zone will be blocked by fencing. To get to the passenger loading walk through the bus area, towards Bus Bay C1. A temporary crosswalk will be provided from there to the passenger loading zone. 
2. On the pathway towards the Bayfair Center. A segment of sidewalk will be replaced between the station and the first crosswalk. A pedestrian detour will be provided from the station elevator, across a small parking area, and around a landscaped area to connect to the existing crosswalk.  

No construction will take place in the bus area during this phase. 

The Accessibility Improvement Program (AIP) will improve accessibility in and around BART stations to better meet the needs of people with disabilities, including replacement or upgrade of ramps, sidewalks and accessible paths, bus and passenger loading zones, as well as handrails, wall protrusion detection, wheelchair-accessible phones, TTY devices, courtesy phones, and elevator lobby lighting.

The entire project will be done in phases with full completion by Spring 2024. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve access to the BART Station. 

UPDATE December 7, 2023:

Construction for the next phase of the Bay Fair Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Friday, December 8, 2023 and last for approximately 3 weeks. 

During this phase, buses will return to their permanent locations (see list below for locations and map below). Construction will take place on sidewalks in the parking lot just south of the Police substation. All pedestrian detours will be ADA accessible. 

AC Transit buses and shuttles will be located to the following bus bays. 

• Line 10 to Hayward BART: A2
• Line 10 to San Leandro BART: A1
• Line 28 to Hayward BART: A4
• Line 28 to San Leandro BART: B3
• Line 35 to Juvenile Justice Center: C2
• Line 35 to Foothill Square: C3
• Line 40: B2
• Line 93: A3
• Line 97: A6
• Line 706: B1
• Line 801 to Fremont BART: A2
• Line 801 to San Leandro BART: A1
• Alameda County Sustainability Shuttle: C4
• San Leandro Flex Rides: C4

Temporary wayfinding signage will be posted to direct customers.

The Accessibility Improvement Program (AIP) will improve accessibility in and around BART stations to better meet the needs of people with disabilities, including replacement or upgrade of ramps, sidewalks and accessible paths, bus and passenger loading zones, as well as handrails, wall protrusion detection, wheelchair-accessible phones, TTY devices, courtesy phones, and elevator lobby lighting.

The entire project will be done in phases with full completion by Spring 2024. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve access to the BART Station. 

UPDATE November 9, 2023:

Construction for the next phase of work on the Bay Fair Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Thursday, November 16, 2023 and last for approximately 3 weeks. 

During this second phase, bus bays B1, B2, B3, and C4, will be closed. All pedestrian detours will be ADA accessible. AC Transit buses and shuttles will be relocated to Bus Aisle A and Bus Aisle C as follows:

• Line 10 to Hayward BART: A2
• Line 10 to San Leandro BART: A1
• Line 28: A4
• Line 35: C3
• Line 40: B4
• Line 93: A3
• Line 97: C1
• Line 706: A0
• Line 801 to Fremont BART: A2
• Line 801 to San Leandro BART: A1
• Alameda County Sustainability Shuttle: A0
• San Leandro Flex: A0

Temporary wayfinding signage will be posted to direct customers. All pedestrian detours will be accessible.

The Accessibility Improvement Program (AIP) will improve accessibility in and around BART stations to better meet the needs of people with disabilities, including replacement or upgrade of ramps, sidewalks and accessible paths, bus and passenger loading zones, as well as handrails, wall protrusion detection, wheelchair-accessible phones, TTY devices, courtesy phones, and elevator lobby lighting.

The entire project will be done in phases with full completion by Spring 2024. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve access to the BART Station. 

NOTE: The information below was originally posted on October 6, 2023

Construction for the first phase of the Bay Fair Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Monday, October 16, 2023 and last for approximately 5 weeks. 

During this first phase, the first aisle of buses (shown in map as Aisle A), will be closed. Pedestrian access to Elgin Street, south of the station, will be available by walking down Bus Aisle B. The pedestrian detour will be ADA accessible. AC Transit buses will be relocated to the Bus Aisle B and Bus Aisle C as follows:

• Line 10 to Hayward BART: B3
• Line 10 to San Leandro BART: B2
• Line 28: B1
• Line 35: C3
• Line 40: B4
• Line 93: A0
• Line 97: C1
• Line 706: B1
• Line 801 to Fremont BART: B3
• Line 801 to San Leandro BART: B2

The Alameda County Sustainability Shuttle will remain in its current location of Bus Bay C4. Temporary wayfinding signage will be posted to direct customers.

The Accessibility Improvement Program (AIP) will improve accessibility in and around BART stations to better meet the needs of people with disabilities, including replacement or upgrade of ramps, sidewalks and accessible paths, bus and passenger loading zones, as well as handrails, wall protrusion detection, wheelchair-accessible phones, TTY devices, courtesy phones, and elevator lobby lighting.

The entire project will be done in phases with full completion by Spring 2024. Thank you for your patience as we work to improve access to the BART Station. 

A sea of BART holiday sweaters swarmed the plaza at Rockridge Station for BART’s SweaterFest ‘24 this past Saturday. 

Joy was in abundance as hundreds of people descended upon the station to celebrate the season with a BART twist. And it wasn’t just humans who came to party with the Bay’s biggest transit fans – a spirited snowman, an energetic gingerbread man, and even Chewbacca made appearances.  

Charlie Barreda & Friends played holiday jams for the crowd and Full Belly Bakery served delicious desserts as attendees bought their BART holiday merch from Railgoods and explored the myriad activities stationed around the plaza.  

BART fans young and old crafted wreaths with old paper tickets, took photos in front of a BART holiday wonderland backdrop, got a fresh stamp for their BART Stamp Passports, and wrote odes to BART at the poetry booth.

Didn’t make it to SweaterFest? 

There’s still time to buy a sweater, scarf, and beanie (the sweater vests are sold out). Head to Railgoods.com to get your BART holiday swag! 

On December 28, 2023, BART opened the new fare gates at West Oakland station. 

Installation of the prototypes of BART’s next generation fare gates is scheduled to begin the week of December 11 at West Oakland Station. The installation process is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete and the new fare gates will be open for use before Jan 1, 2024. 

During those two weeks a construction barrier will be built around the existing station gate array. Riders will use two temporary accessible gates to enter and exit West Oakland Station.  During peak hours, riders should expect lines to form. We advise people to arrive a few minutes early.  

Both gates are located next to the Station Agent Booth, one on each side. When facing the booth from the non-paid area of the station, the fare gate to your right is used to enter the station and the fare gate to your left is used to exit. 

Additionally, a carpet has been installed immediately before the entrance to each fare gate, to make these two gates easier to locate for riders with visual impairments. The removal of the old gates and installation of the prototypes will not impact train service. 

The prototypes being installed at West Oakland will help us to test the new gates in a station environment with riders. These are not the final version of the fare gates that will be installed throughout the rest of the system. The development team is researching the latest door-braking technology and will add that enhanced capability to the fare gates in the coming months.

All BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gate project at bart.gov/about/projects/fare-gate. Riders can provide feedback about the new gates at bart.gov/comments.

BART General Manager Bob Powers released a statement on new fare gates: 

“As a transportation system, we take tremendous pride in saying our riders are what runs BART. Among the world’s transit agencies, BART relies the most on rider fares; they are directly responsible for funding our operations. These new, state-of-the-art fare gates will protect against fare evasion, expand access to transit-dependent riders, and reduce system downtime due to maintenance, which helps boost investment in BART’s long-term growth.”

BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin also applauded the unveiling in a statement: 

“We welcome the new fare gates starting at West Oakland and its future expansion to other stations. These stronger, higher gates will limit fare evasions through self-enforced fare payments, keep riders safe and engaged to return to BART, and have police officers focused on more serious situations that require emergency services.”

BART’s Safe and Clean Plan focuses on attracting riders to return to the system by introducing the transit system to the 21st century. BART is making dramatic improvements, from new payment method systems to infrastructure renovations, to guarantee customers a clean, safer ride.

Construction for the next phase of the Hayward Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Monday, March 25, 2024 and last for approximately 3 weeks. 

 During this phase, five bus bays will be closed, and buses will move to new locations within the station area. 

Buses will be located in the bus bays shown in the list below. 

Bus bay numbers are shown in the map below and posted at each stop location. 

Aisle A is closest to the station, Aisle B is the bus island, Aisle C is in the Passenger Loading area. Bus bays are numbered sequentially starting from the bays closest to B Street. 

Cindy and Jeff, who celebrate 41 years of marriage this year after meeting on BART, smile in a recent photo. 

It was 1983. BART was pretty new to the Bay Area and so was 23-year-old Cindy when she stepped onto a BART train that would change her life.  

A few months before this BART ride, Cindy’s company had transferred her from Phoenix to their offices in San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid. Everything was different and new and exciting in the glittering city by the bay. Nonetheless, Cindy quickly realized Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City was rooted more in reality than fiction when it came to the local dating game. 

“I dated some interesting people when I got here,” Cindy said, laughing.  

It was the Friday before Memorial Day and a sunny spring day in the city – a refreshing reprieve from that winter’s record-setting rains – and Cindy was out with coworkers at a bar on the Embarcadero.  

“Back then, they’d let you go early on Friday afternoons before a holiday weekend,” she said. “And that meant happy hour.”  

After some cocktails and gossip, Cindy bid her coworkers farewell and walked to Embarcadero Station, catching an eastbound Yellow Line train.  

The train car was packed that evening, and Cindy – her feet aching from too many hours squished into heels – couldn't find a seat.  

“Why didn’t I bring flat shoes today?” she said aloud, speaking more to the universe than any person in particular.  

But then a human voice responded: “Why don’t you just take your shoes off?” 

The voice belonged to a young man hanging onto the strap beside Cindy. The two struck up a casual conversation as the train began its underwater journey through the Transbay Tube: “Where are you headed? Are you from here? What do you do for work?” 

“He told me he grew up in the Bay Area and had just moved back, and I told him how I’d just been transferred to work in the Transamerica Pyramid,” Cindy said.   

After chatting the entire way, the man got off at Lafayette, and Cindy continued her journey to Walnut Creek, where she was meeting coworkers for a “continuation of happy hour.”  

At that second bar, Cindy offhandedly mentioned she met a nice guy on BART. Her colleagues – most of whom were married and eager to set up the new girl in town – pestered her with questions. “Did you get his name? His number? Anything?” 

“Nope,” Cindy said. And that was that.  

Actually, that wasn’t that. Fast forward to the following Wednesday, and Cindy gets a call from the Transamerica receptionist on her floor.  

“Did you meet someone on BART last Friday?” she asked.  

“Uh why?” Cindy replied.  

According to the receptionist, a man had just stopped by with a bouquet of flowers and a note with his phone number, signed “Jeff.” He told the receptionist to deliver the flowers to “the girl who just moved to San Francisco from Phoenix.” He provided no further identifying information.  

After picking up the bouquet, Cindy returned to her desk, picked up her landline and called the man named Jeff.  

The two set a date for that Friday night.  They started out at the Washington Square Bar and Grill and then went to dinner at St. Pierre’s in North Beach. They were the first patrons at the restaurant and the last to leave. At the end of the night, they walked together to the BART station.  

“After that first date, I thought the guy definitely had potential,” Cindy said.  

Cindy’s early intuition was spot on. She and Jeff were engaged that April, less than a year after meeting, and married that October. Seven years later, they welcomed a baby girl, and three years after that, a baby boy. 

This fall, Cindy and Jeff celebrate their 41st anniversary. Four decades later, they’re still head over heels. 

So many people have found love on BART! Read some of our past BART meet cute stories:

BART attorney met the love of her life on San Francisco-bound train

BART Connects: A transit wedding happened naturally for these newlyweds 

Couple who met on BART tie the knot with whimsical BART-themed wedding at Fairyland  

"Good vibes on the train": BART employee takes BART to wedding ceremony at San Francisco City Hall 

“BART Guy” and “BART Girl” finds love on an empty Embarcadero platform  

Construction for the next phase of the Hayward Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Thursday, May 2, 2024 and last for approximately 3 weeks. 

During this phase, the following changes will occur: 

• About half of the passenger loading zone will close – the remaining portion will stay open with an accessible pedestrian path to the station entrance. 
• Most bus bays will change locations within the station area. 

Buses will be located in the bus bays shown in the list below. 

Bus bay numbers are shown in the map below and posted at each stop location. 

Aisle A is closest to the station, Aisle B is the bus island. Bus bays are numbered sequentially starting from the bays closest to B Street. 

More than 219,000 of you rode BART this long weekend – to barbecues, to hikes, to watering holes, and perhaps to check off some sites for the Transit Month BART Scavenger Hunt (hosted by YPT SF Bay). 

Speaking of Transit Month, the celebration of regional transportation is fast underway. Keep with Transit Month events -- and hit the ground running on the Ride Contest – to keep your calendar booked in the waning weeks of summer.  

Around BART, some exciting changes are afoot, including our new-and-improved schedule, launching next Monday, Sept. 11. To learn more, watch our explanatory (and entertaining) video and reference this article. We’re think you’re going to like the changes, which emphasize weekend and weeknight service.  

We're also proud to announce that last week BART, community partners, and local youth launched Phase II of our groundbreaking Not One More Girl initiative that addresses sexual harassment and gender-based violence on BART with new strategies to build a culture of supporting girls and gender-expansive youth when riding transit. The second phase of the award-winning initiative places emphasis on enabling people to have a greater sense of empowerment in a harassment situation and exhibits tools that fellow riders can use to provide support when harassment occurs. Read more about the initiative here and scroll to the bottom of this article to view the new art by local artist and muralist Safi Kolozsvari Regalado. 

For an in-depth listing of local events, visit the BARTable website. We publish a weekly event roundup, BARTable This Weekend, that highlights happenings around the region as well as cool contests and sweepstakes from our partners.      

Sunday, Sept. 10: Oakland Pride and Pridefest Oakland 

Oakland Pride and Pridefest Oakland have joined forces for a joyous celebration of the LGBTQ+ community on Sunday, Sept. 10 from 12pm to 6pm in Uptown Oakland. The festivities commence with a parade celebrating LGBTQ+ lives and resilience from 11am to 12pm. Keep an eye out for the BARTmobile during the parade in its special Pride hat.  

September through October 16: Explore the Bay Area on BART, Win Prizes with Agents of Discovery 

From September through October 16, BART has partnered with Bay Area Explorer 4.0. a campaign that uses AR gaming to help kids engage in free outdoor learning experiences using their phones or their parents’ phones. Think Pokémon Go, but for parks and education.  

Anyone can join by downloading the free Agents of Discovery mobile app and completing “missions” made up of educational “challenges” that teaches children about local history, culture, ecosystems, and safety.  

BART launched four missions for riders that will take them on a fun and educational journey from Warm Springs to San Leandro, Millbrae to Daly City, North Concord to Rockridge and Richmond to Ashby.  

Players, or “agents,” who complete missions will receive rewards as they play and earn the chance for big prizes like a $250 Clipper Card. 

Learn more on BARTable.  

Share Your BART Story at bart.gov/YourStory

This week, we launched a call for riders' BART stories. We want to hear what BART means to you and gain insight into how we can continue to improve.

Do you have a favorite BART memory? Have you met a dear friend or life partner aboard a train? Did you take BART to a seminal life event? Have you been sitting on a unique idea to improve the system? We’d like to hear it.

To answer our questions, visit bart.gov/YourStory. Once you've completed the questions, you can enter to win one of three $100 e-gift cards. Respondents have the option to remain anonymous.

Weekend Listen: All About the Schedule Change with BART’s Manager of Scheduling and Planning 

In lieu of our typical Weekend Read we’ve got a Weekend Listen for you. BART’s podcast series, "Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART,” recently released a new episode all about the reimagined new schedule, featuring an interview with BART’s charismatic Manager of Scheduling and Planning, John FitzGibbon. Listen and/or read the transcript here.   

Nosh on Ice Cream at BARTable Creameries 

Summer officially ends Friday, Sept. 22, so you might want to seize the high temps while they're here and get yourself some ice cream from the Bay Area’s BARTable creameries. From Italian-style gelato to Japanese green tea soft serve, head to a BARTable ice cream shop this weekend and reference our curated roundup here.  

Sweepstakes Spotlight: Win Glasses and Tickets to the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival  

Enter to win two glasses and drink tickets to the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival that will take over the streets of downtown Lafayette on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23 and 24.  

Enter to win by Sunday, Sept. 10 on the BARTable Contests and Deals page.  

Read BART’s Safe & Clean Plan 

Happy Riding this Weekend!   

We hope you enjoy your weekend adventures aboard our trains.      
 
Stay in touch by signing up for the BARTable This Weekend 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. 

Some of the leaders of Not One More Girl Phase II pose with the project’s new art posters (Art by Safi Kolozvari Regalado). From left to right: Malkia Chionesu, development and purpose alignment consulting with M.CHIO; Gaby Guzman, Latinx Mentoring and Achievement Coordinator of Youth Services with The Unity Council; and Franchesca Rodriguez, Betti Ono Transit Justice Community Engagement Facilitator and graduate student at UC Berkeley’s Department of City & Regional Planning. 

Bystander intervention cards that were launched as part of Not One More Girl Phase II. The two distinct wallet-size cards are now available to riders to discreetly hand to people to signal they need help or support, or to notify someone being harassed that you are there to help and support them. They are available for pickup at Station Agent booths.