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August 14, 2024 Update

Starting September 16, 2024, our exciting project to develop the land around Lake Merritt Station to include affordable and market-rate housing, offices, and retail space will officially begin. To accommodate this Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project, the parking lot will be permanently closed starting September 16, 2024. Partial closures will start September 1, and the last day to use the Lake Merritt parking lot is September 15, 2024.

The lot is available for Daily Fee parking on a first-come, first-served basis until September 15. Daily Fee parking payment is required Monday-Friday, 4am-3pm, except on BART holidays. Pay for Daily Fee parking with the BART Official App or remember your stall number and pay inside the station via cash, credit, or debit. 

Reserved parking is available at Fruitvale Station, MacArthur Station and many other BART locations with parking.

Starting in 2024, the area around the Lake Merritt BART station will begin to be developed. New affordable and market-rate housing, office, and retail space will be developed over several phases. Phase 1.1 (Bldg. B on the illustration) is currently scheduled to break ground in mid-2024, with the construction of a 97-unit senior affordable housing building on BART’s existing surface parking lot. 

To accommodate this Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project, BART will no longer offer Reserved Parking starting June 1. Daily Fee parking will still be available on a first-come, first-served basis until construction formally begins, when the parking lot will be permanently closed. Customers can check bart.gov/parking for updates on Daily Fee parking availability, as well as signage at the two entrances to the Lake Merritt parking lot.  

Lake Merritt Station is easily accessible by bicycle and transit. Reserved parking, including Monthly, is available at Fruitvale Station, MacArthur Station, and many other BART locations with parking. 

For more information about the TOD project, visit: bart.gov/about/business/tod/lakemerritt 

*This article was originally posted on March 21, 2024

BART will run extra trains and offer special limited service after midnight for the Ed Sheeran concert at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, September 16, 2023. 

Getting to Levi’s Stadium using transit is easy. Fans will transfer from BART at Milpitas Station to VTA’s Orange Line and ride to VTA’s Great America Station, located on the North side of Levi’s Stadium.

BART will have extra security and station staff to help people get around. 

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What You Need to Know About the Ride Home

BART will run its normal last train of the evening leaving Milpitas at 11:51pm, making all regular stops. This is the last train that will get you to all BART stations in the system. 

BART will run two special event service limited-stop trains that will depart Milpitas Station at around 12:30am serving limited stops after regular BART service ends.

The late-night limited service will pick up riders at Milpitas Station with stops only at the following East Bay stations, the train will skip all other stations without stopping:

• Bay Fair
• MacArthur
• Pleasant Hill
• El Cerrito del Norte

These four East Bay stations have large parking lots located near the freeway. Riders who know they want to stay until the very end of the show, should park their cars or arrange pick-up at one of these four stations. Use the timetable above to share your pick-up time.

These special limited stop trains will be labeled “Limited Stop to El Cerrito” and “Limited Stop to Pleasant Hill.”

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Other Transit Options

Riders coming from San Francisco should take Caltrain home or ensure they take the 11:51pm BART train home. Caltrain is providing one extra local train from Mountain View to San Francisco 75 minutes after the show ends or when the train is full.  BART is not keeping any San Francisco stations open beyond normal closing hours due to the lack of parking lots at SF stations and because Caltrain is providing this special service. 

Capitol Corridor is also offering special train service that departs at 11:59pm from their Great America (GAC) station. Capitol Corridor has stops next to BART's Coliseum and Richmond stations.  

Other Tips

Parking is free at all BART stations except Milpitas and Berryessa (which are operated by VTA) on Saturday, September 16.

Before you leave home put a Clipper card on your cellphone through either Apple Pay or Google Pay. Clipper is waiving the $3 new-card fee for riders who add either of the mobile options. Please ensure you have sufficient funds for a round trip. Plan at the cost of your trip in advance.

Bay Area transit agencies are syncing schedules in a whole new way with a focus on improving transfers between systems and making schedule changes at the same time. 

Most Bay Area transit agencies are rolling out new schedules next week in coordination with each other and are working to align the timing of schedule changes twice each year, once in summer and once in winter. There has been a 250% increase in the number of transit agencies changing their schedule concurrently twice each year, and six of seven major transit providers are syncing their schedule changes at least once a year.  

Agencies convened a meeting in March 2024 to share planned changes for mid-August and to look for opportunities to improve transfers. Advancing schedule change alignment is a key priority for Bay Area transit general managers who meet on a weekly basis to make transit more rider-focused and efficient. The major agencies are already working on another iteration of a coordinated schedule change to go into effect in January 2025. These coordinated schedule changes will benefit current transit riders while attracting new riders. 

Some key examples of improved coordination from the mid-August schedule changes:  

• In the North Bay, a series of coordinated changes between SMART, Golden Gate Transit, and Marin Transit will improve service and connections along the congested Highway 101 corridor. 
• The Napa Valley Transportation Authority is making changes to Route 29 from Redwood Park and Ride to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station to enhance the bus-to-train transfer timing. 71% of the trips will now have a 5- to 10-minute transfer time at El Cerrito del Norte, as opposed to 23% with the current schedule. The change will positively impact as many as 16,465 riders annually. 
• AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit have improved schedules to be more coordinated at El Cerrito del Norte Station and along Cutting Boulevard west of the BART station. This alignment enhances reliability for riders traveling between Marin and West Contra Costa counties via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge 
• In San Francisco, Muni is making changes to improve regional connections, specifically, the 28 19th Avenue bus schedule serving Daly City BART station is changing to ensure East Bay riders can catch the last BART train to Oakland late at night. 
• VTA is making changes to match upcoming BART and Caltrain schedule changes to ensure timed transfers are maintained at various locations across the South Bay and Peninsula. 
• SamTrans is improving several bus routes that serve BART stations. One noteworthy change is to bus route 292, serving both Millbrae and SFO BART stations, with frequency (the time between bus arrivals) to be every 20 minutes from 6am- 6pm to match BART’s frequency. 
• Both BART and Caltrain will make changes to improve some of the rail transfers at Millbrae Station that will go into effect when Caltrain launches its electric service on September 21. With BART’s schedule change on August 12 and Caltrain’s schedule change on September 21, ~85% of all weekday trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes at Millbrae Station. On the weekend, ~90% of trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes, allowing for both systems to be off schedule a bit but still provide a reliable connection. If trains were scheduled with less than a 5-minute wait, delays would frequently break the transfer and result in a longer wait.  

Balancing Service Complexities  

While all transit agencies are working to improve transfer timing for Bay Area transit riders, several challenges continue to exist making transfer timing difficult: 

• A better transfer for one end of a route may create a worse transfer for other areas of the route. 
• Adding service to allow frequencies to match each system requires new funding at a time transit agencies are facing significant budget challenges. 
• Transfers between BART and Caltrain at Millbrae Station don’t always line up perfectly because Caltrain has four trains per peak hour and two trains per off-peak hour/weekends. BART has three trains per hour at all times. Both systems are also limited in flexibility due to key system timing points elsewhere. 

Other Coordinated Improvements to Come 

In addition to schedule coordination, Bay Area transit agencies are working together, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, on significant regional projects that will transform the rider experience, such as unified transit maps and directional signs and fare integration and affordability programs such as the implementation of free and discounted transfers. 

View details about BART's August 12, 2024 schedule change. 

UPDATE: August 28

On Aug 29th, construction in the bus area for the Fruitvale Accessibility Improvement Project will be complete, and buses will return to their normal locations, as shown in the table and first map below using bus stop numbers. Bus stop numbers will also be posted at the bus stops. 

Bus stops A1 to A7 are located along the west side of the station, with A1 closest to 35th Ave and A7 closest to the BART garage. Bus stops B1 to B3 are located on the bus island. Signs will be posted at each stop showing the Bus Stop number.

UPDATE: August 8

On Aug 9th, the final construction phase of the Fruitvale Accessibility Improvement Project will begin and last for approximately 3 weeks. 

Please note: There are two other projects that will take place at the same time at Fruitvale Station: 

• New faregates will be installed, for more information see the following news item: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2024/news20240801
• And murals will be painted on trackway columns. 

During this construction phase the following changes will occur: 

The passenger loading zone will move to the left side taxi area, and taxis will move back in the same lane. The diagonal parking to the north of the passenger loading zone will be reserved for 15 Minute Waiting. 

Buses will move back into the station area from E. 12th Street and the bus island will remain closed for construction. Temporary bus locations for this phase are shown by Bus Stop number in the second map and table below. 

Bus stops A1 to A7 are located along the west side of the station, with A1 closest to 35th Ave and A7 closest to the BART garage. Bus stops B1 to B3 are located on the bus island. Signs will be posted at each stop showing the Bus Stop number.

Note: the information below was originally published on July 3

Construction for the next phase of the Fruitvale Station Accessibility Improvements Project will begin on Monday, July 8, 2024 and last for approximately six weeks. The first phase will take place from July 8th to July 14th, and the second phase will take place from July 15th to August 9th.

During the first phase, the following temporary changes will occur: 

• AC Transit Route 51A and 851 will move to the Passenger Loading Zone
• Passenger Loading will move to the taxi zone on the left side of Oscar Grant Way
• Taxis will move to the southern portion of the zone

During the second phase, the following temporary changes will occur:

• All buses will move to E. 12th Street. Bus lines will be located as follows (see third map below): 

Parking: BART parking is typically reserved for riders parking and using BART. However, since parking along E. 12th Street will be removed for buses during this phase, BART is offering non BART riders the ability to park at BART during the closure. Parking is only available in the Daily Fee area on Garage levels 3-5, and the surface lot north of Fruitvale Avenue. Daily Fee parking payment must be made via the BART Official App; payment should be made when the customer parks. . A Clipper Card number is required to buy Daily Fee parking on the app; learn more about how to obtain a free clipper card here: Clipper and Pay by Phone | Bay Area Rapid Transit (bart.gov). Daily Fee parking at Fruitvale is $3.55/day on weekdays and includes the City of Oakland parking tax. Customers who do not pay for parking may be subject to citation. Daily Fee parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis and at your own risk.

Map of Fruitvale parking locations:https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/BART%20Parking%20Fruitvale.pdf

How to pay for parking on the BART Official App: https://www.bart.gov/guide/parking/payment

As shown in the second map below, to get to the Phase 2 temporary bus locations, exit the station and turn right. Walk through the pedestrian street to E. 12th St. 

Bus stops C1 to C3 will be on E. 12th St to the left, C4 and C5 will be on the right. 

Bus stops D1 and D2 will be on the opposite side of E.12th St to the left, and D3 to D5 will be to the right. 

This construction is part of the Accessibility Improvement Program (AIP), which improves 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.

On October 28, BART will begin the installation Next Generation Fare Gates on the concourse level of Montgomery Station. The installation work will happen in stages so riders can continue to use the remaining current gates while new ones are installed. There will be additional BART staff as well as signage to direct riders to the open gates. Installing each new array is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. BART will eventually replace all seven fare gate arrays at Montgomery. The work is expected to continue into December.

A temporary barrier will be installed to provide a safe workspace for the installation team as well as to protect riders from construction. The work will not impact train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours.

The latest work comes after BART has successfully installed Next Generation Fare Gates at eight other stations across the system. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gate project here.

In late May / early June, the entrance to Montgomery Street Station at Sansome and Sutter Streets will be closed for the construction of a new canopy. The entrance is expected to remain closed until early 2025.

Six other entrances to Montgomery St. will remain open (please see the map below).

BART plans to construct a total of 21 street-level canopies over downtown station entrances.  BART has completed construction of 10 units (including 2 pilot canopies) with 4 more canopies currently under construction and 7 additional canopies to be constructed through 2026.  These entrance canopies will protect the new escalator equipment and reduce maintenance costs.  In addition, canopies will include wayfinding, lighting, real-time information, and security cameras on Market Street.  

Simultaneously, BART is replacing escalator units in the four downtown stations.   These escalators are original to the BART system and have outlived their expected mechanical life, frequently requiring repairs.  In 2020, BART began the escalator renovation project to replace 41 escalators at the four downtown stations on both platform and street levels.  To date, BART has completed installation of 10 units, 4 are currently under construction, and there are 27 remaining escalator units to be completed through 2026.  

BART plans to move forward with the planned sunsetting of the EZ Rider Parking program. Existing EZ Rider customers may not be able to tap their Clipper card at the Parking Validation Machines (PVMs) as soon as July 1, 2024. Customers are encouraged to transition to Tap and Go Parking on the BART Official App, a new feature that allows for parking payment with one tap on the app. No hangtags or stall numbers needed. 

The software and machines supporting the EZ Rider parking program have reached the end of their useful life and are not compatible with the next generation of Clipper, necessitating the end of the program. 

EZ Rider customers can transition in two easy steps: 

1. Close your EZ Rider account. Log into ezrider.bart.gov, make sure your credit/debit card information is up-to-date, and close your account. A refund will be issued to the credit/debit card on file. A step-by-step EZ Rider account closure guide is available here. 
2. Register for Tap and Go on the BART Official App. Download the BART Official App, create an account, and register for Tap and Go under Daily Fee parking. No hangtags and no stall numbers needed. Pay for parking with one tap on the app.  

Riders who use Tap and Go have a smaller purse requirement compared to EZ Rider ($25 on Tap and Go, compared the $60+ on EZ Rider). Riders have more payment options on our app, including Paypal or Venmo.  

Existing EZ Rider customers may also choose to pay for Daily Fee parking as needed on the BART Official App without enrolling in Tap and Go, or pay for Daily Fee parking using credit, debit, or cash at the machines in the station (stall number required). 

For more information and FAQs, visit bart.gov/ezrider. 

This article was originally posted on April 9, 2024.