2021 was the first full year we spent living in the midst of the pandemic. Despite the challenges, we accomplished many things to help serve the Bay Area.

Improvements to the Rider Experience:

• We returned to near pre-pandemic levels of service and hours Monday through Saturday in August, with a commitment to improve Sunday service in February 2022.
• We installed MERV-14 air filters on all trains to filter out virus particles like coronavirus.
• Train interior and station interior cleanliness metrics improved year over year based on rider surveys.
• We rolled out pay by phone options with Clipper now available in Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• We made it easier to reserve monthly, single day and airport/long term-reserved parking.
• We produced new BART & Caltrain transfer timetables to increase transparency about connection times at Millbrae.

Improvements to Personal Safety:

• We launched our groundbreaking Progressive Policing Bureau that includes deploying Ambassadors and Crisis Intervention Specialists.
• Our efforts to increase safety staff visibility is paying off with a 37% drop in violent crime in 2021 and 21% drop in crime overall- this comes as ridership has been increasing.
• We launched the Not One More Girl campaign and changed our code of conduct policy to send a clear message that sexual harassment and gender-based violence has no place on BART.

Investments in Infrastructure:

• We replaced 7.5 miles of track, 2 major interlockings, and 66 miles of power cables.

Improvements at Stations:

• At Antioch station we added full-time station agents during all service hours, and expanded parking while improving bike and pedestrian access.
• We finished our modernization of El Cerrito del Norte Station.
• We unveiled three new escalators in downtown San Francisco.
• 12 parking garages got brighter LED lights to improve safety and sustainability.
• We brought art and culture into our stations with free short story kiosks and an outdoor music series.

Leadership in the Region:

• We offered our stations and parking lots for COVID-19 vaccinations and testing sites, and we made it easy for residents to take transit to get vaccinated.
• We launched our Link21 Program to transform Northern California’s rail network with an eye on equity and how best to serve the mega-region.
• Our Transit-Oriented Development program advanced with new homes at Pleasant Hill and MacArthur leasing up. Construction at Millbrae and Walnut Creek stayed on track for 2022 completion.  Projects at Lake Merritt and West Dublin were entitled.
• Our electric power supply was certified as 100% greenhouse gas free.
• We contracted $73.2 million dollars to a diverse group of small, minority, and women owned businesses.
• We implemented a COVID vaccine mandate for all employees to help keep our workforce and riders healthy.

For more information visit BART.gov.

Discount will apply to all fares on Clipper and will be stackable with Youth, Senior, RTC, Clipper Start and Gator Pass Clipper discounts.

BART will offer a special promotion of 50% off all fares on Clipper for the entire month of September 2021.

The discount will apply to all fares on Clipper and will be stackable with other Clipper discounts. That means 50% off will be given on top of already discounted Clipper cards such as Youth, Senior, RTC, Clipper Start, and the Gator Pass.

The reduced fare will be automatically deducted when using Clipper at the fare gates. Our online Trip Planner and Fare Calculator have been updated to show discounted fares during the month of September. While BART will share discounted fares with other apps and websites , we can’t guarantee that non-BART sources will display them.

Printed fare charts at vending machines in each station will not be changed for the month of September but a large decal will be posted noting there is 50% off the published fares.

BART is extending the discount to welcome riders back to the system and to thank those who have continued to ride throughout the pandemic. BART’s ridership continues to grow each week. Current weekday ridership is at 100,000 trips, representing 25% of pre-COVID weekday ridership. Weekends are recovering at a faster rate. Weekend ridership is at 45K-65K trips, representing 40% of pre-COVID weekend ridership.

As of September 1, the various transit agencies that connect with BART will have new schedules in place that offer improved connections between systems. Many agencies are also offering discounts and other special promotions during the month of September.

Visit www.AllAboardBayArea.com for details on how all 27 Bay Area agencies are collaborating to deliver services that will restart our region and get people where they need to go.

Get Clipper

The discount is only available when using Clipper. It is not available on magstripe paper tickets. 98.6% of our riders use Clipper cards. There is a one-time $3 fee to purchase a new Clipper card from a BART station vending machine. Clipper is currently offering free Clipper cards when setting up a new Clipper card using the new Clipper app. The card is also free if you  order it online and set up automatic reloading.

Clipper Discount Cards

BART’s 50% off in September promotion is stackable with other Clipper discounts available for youth, seniors, riders with disabilities, and low-income adult riders. Proof of eligibility is required for discount Clipper cards and therefore are not available at station vending machines.

• Youth 5-18 years old get 50% off BART with a youth Clipper card.
• Seniors 65 and over get 62.5% off BART with a Senior Clipper card.
• Qualifying low-income adult riders get 20% off BART with Clipper START.
• Riders with qualifying disabilities get 62.5% off BART with the RTC Clipper card.

Youth, senior, and START cards are all free and BART does not charge for RTC cards when obtained at our customer service window at the Lake Merritt Station.

Few changes but paves the way for potential increases in service; agents added to Antioch Station 

BART will make some minor adjustments to its schedule effective March 22, 2021. While service hours will remain unchanged for now, BART staff will closely monitor ridership and demand as the region begins to reopen.

The new schedule starting on March 22nd is now available on our Trip Planner and on the BART (Official) App. PDF’s of the current and new schedule timetables can also be found here.

Preparing to add more service as riders return

Weekday riders will have the same frequency they experience now but the new schedule allows us to add 26 additional trips to enhance 15-minute commute periods when and where ridership data reflects more riders are returning. BART’s 15 Step Plan to Welcome Riders Back calls for matching service levels with demand. BART will add these new trips when train car loading data shows there are consistently more than 30 people per car on a train. Current ridership has not yet surpassed a post COVID high of 55K weekday riders.

Saturday service will match Sunday service

Starting Saturday, March 27, Saturday and Sunday will have identical schedules.  Saturday service will run as three route service (Yellow, Orange, and Blue), which means some riders may have to transfer to finish their trip like they do on Sundays.

Station Agents added to Antioch Station

For the first time since its grand opening in May 2018, the Antioch Station will be staffed with Station Agents. The extension was initially developed as a new concept to provide customer service through supervisors in the nearby control center and call buttons at the station. As part of the General Manager’s Listening Tour in 2019, BART General Manager Bob Powers rode the first trains of the morning with Antioch customers. Part of the feedback he received was that riders felt they were on their own at the station and they wanted to see more BART staff onsite. Adding Station Agents will help make a more seamless riding experience and will better integrate the BART to Antioch extension into the core part of the system, highlighting Station Agent interaction as being an integral part of the BART experience.

Improved service for Millbrae riders

BART trains will arrive and depart at Millbrae Station from Platform 3, the one closest to Caltrain at the station. This significant improvement will allow riders at Millbrae to cross the same platform to transfer instead of the previous walk up and through the concourse. BART and Caltrain transfer times and wayfinding at the station will also receive improvements.

One seat ride to SFO for weekday Richmond riders

Trains from Richmond will now have a one-seat ride to SFO (via Millbrae) instead of requiring a transfer at MacArthur on weekday. This change means SFO is effectively the terminal station for both the Yellow and Red Lines on weekdays.

Sunday single tracking days

On Sunday single tracking days, the Dublin/Pleasanton (Blue) line will now terminate at Montgomery, riders will need to transfer to a Yellow line train to finish their trip. Previously the Blue line extended to 24th Street/Mission on single tracking days. On Sundays when there is no single tracking to upgrade the electrical power system in Downtown San Francisco, the Blue line will terminate at Daly City.

Story by MELISSA JORDAN | Photos by MARIA J. AVILA BART Communications 

The word “ambassador” derives from the Latin ambactus, which dates to the 14th century and means servant or minister.

BART Police’s Transit Ambassadors mark their first anniversary on the job today. They are public servants, ministering to the needs of passengers on BART train – offering free face masks, giving safety tips, helping with directions, connecting those in crisis with services.

And they are making a difference.

“Having additional uniformed personnel has been received very well by our riders and employees,” said Deputy Chief Angela Averiett, who heads the Bureau of Progressive Policing and Community Engagement, a new unit created by Police Chief Ed Alvarez last year. “They are the face of BART out there interacting with the public.”

Since the start of the program, Ambassadors have made more than 12,000 educational contacts, the highest number of any type of contact. They checked in with nearly 10,000 people on platforms and handed out more than 1,000 masks to members of the public who needed one. In only a fraction of contacts, 132, did they need to contact a Police Officer for assistance.

The Ambassadors are part of a larger shift within BART Police to find new approaches using unarmed personnel to respond to people in crisis, such as mental health emergencies, drug overdoses or the unhoused population. With additional crisis intervention specialists yet to be hired, there will be an infusion of 40 additional positions in total, all devoted to train presence.

“With just that one piece of the Ambassadors, that alone is a huge accomplishment,” Averiett said. “I can’t wait to see the impact in our system when we have all of these positions in place.”

Like a diplomatic corps, the Ambassadors speak a multitude of languages – Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Cambodian, Farsi – and they are dedicated to communication, education and presence.

Ambassador Brandon Fenwick’s Spanish language skills proved lifesaving one day when he and his partner persuaded a man who was experiencing a mental health crisis to get out of the trackway at Glen Park Station.

“The Millbrae train was just 1 minute out, and he didn’t speak any English,” Fenwick recalled. “We were able to get him out of the trackway just in time.”

Fenwick was part of the original group of 10 Ambassadors who started their work on Feb. 10, 2020.

Fidel Escario said he wanted to be an Ambassador because the job involves working closely with the public and has an immediate positive impact.

“We help people and answer their questions,” he said. “If they don’t have a mask, we give them one. We see a lot of things.”

The Ambassadors are trained in de-escalation and anti-bias techniques and carry radios to call for backup from a BART Police Officer if needed. Escario recalled one situation on a train when a man was exposing himself and cursing at Ambassadors; they radioed for backup and Officers arrested the man.

Sequoia Taylor joined the ranks of the Ambassadors just last month in January 2021.
“I grew up in Oakland,” said Taylor, who has seen firsthand the issues that can result from disproportionate policing impacts in Black and brown neighborhoods. “You’ve got to treat people with respect. You can convey so much just with how you carry yourself, your demeanor.
Two of the original Ambassadors have moved up into other positions within the BART Police Department, showing the path of upward mobility that can be available for workers starting in the entry-level Ambassador roles.

“We have a lot of good interactions with riders,” Fenwick said. “They’ll say ‘thank you’ or give us a thumbs-up.”

The Ambassador Program won an Innovation in Public Safety Award from the national foundation Transit Center in 2020

At BART, we are firm believers that by thinking strategically, working hard, and engaging community, we can and will achieve remarkable things. With that, we chose to end 2020 with optimism.

Here is a list of 50 BART accomplishments in 2020.

Let’s start with improvements to the rider experience:

• We now have 17 Fleet of the Future trains in service
• We opened Berryessa and Milpitas Stations
• We began offering 20% fare discount for eligible low-income riders with Clipper Start

We launched some new features:

• Contactless parking payment via the official BART app
• Customized in-app notifications to make it easy to get the information you need
• Option to text BART police (510) 200-0992
• An online merchandise store so you can celebrate your love for BART

We took big steps forward on exciting multi-year projects:

• Awarded the contract to design and build a modern Communications Based Train Control System that will dramatically improve future BART service
• Awarded the contract for BART’s Digital Railway project to bring next-generation wireless connectivity to riders across the system
• Awarded contracts and began construction to build 22 canopies over entrances at BART stations along Market St. in downtown San Francisco
• Began construction to replace 41 escalators at downtown San Francisco stations
• Initiated Fare Coordination & Integration Study with MTC and regional transit agencies

We made changes within policing:

• Hired Ed Alvarez, a 23-year veteran of the BART Police Department, bringing a new vision for safety
• Created a train team of 12 police officers dedicated to riding trains and walking platforms on nights and weekends
• Launched the successful and award-winning unarmed Ambassador Pilot and formalized the program
• Hired 35 officers, bringing vacancies to a new low of 20
• Established the new Progressive Policing and Community Engagement Bureau within BPD

We advanced police reforms:

• Began Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) training to give officers the skills to safely defuse critical incidents with people experiencing a mental health crisis
• Banned the use of the Carotid Control Hold
• Expanded the officer-worn body camera activation buffer with new audio requirement
• Held 16 stakeholder outreach meetings to solicit feed-back on new public safety approaches with 1000 survey responses

We focused on infrastructure:

• Completed two major track rebuilding projects at Orinda and Hayward
• Accelerated 34.5kV power cable replacement, rail profiling, rail and third rail replacement, tunnel waterproofing, lighting projects and more

We continued efforts to modernize our stations:

• Began construction for 19th Street Oakland Station Modernization; advanced modernization construction at Powell Street and El Cerrito del Norte stations
• Designed and installed new swing style fare gates with a dramatic costs savings due to innovation while also uncoupling BART from a single vendor
• Started construction of energy-efficient lighting upgrades across 14 parking structures, saving the District approximately $22M in energy and maintenance costs over 20 years
• Awarded $3.5 million in Cycle 1 of Measure RR Safe Routes to BART Grant Program to four cities to improve last mile bike/ped access to BART stations

We supported local, small businesses:

• Hosted 44 outreach and matchmaking events between small businesses and Primes to increase opportunities available to small businesse, helping to continue essential construction projects
• Awarded a Progressive Design-Build contract for the new BART Headquarters in Oakland with 32% small business participation

We continued our Transit Oriented Development (TOD) efforts:

• Adopted AB 2923 development principles and released BART’s TOD Work Plan
• Amended policy to support the production of affordable housing by allowing for a discount of up to 60% from fair market value for land for projects with affordable housing
• Approved plans for development at West Oakland Station that includes 762 housing units, 30% affordable
• Selected development team to advance development at El Cerrito Plaza Station
• Our development partners completed over 600 new homes during the pandemic, and broke ground on 400 new homes, 150,000sf of office, & 164 room hotel

We focused on financial stability:

• Secured AAA bond rating
• Advocated for and secured emergency relief funds
• Secured dedicated funding for our long-term efforts to reduce crowding and increase service:
  • Full Funding Grant Agreement for FTA Capital Investment Grant ($1.169B)
  • California Transit and Intercity Rail Program ($107M)
  • California Solutions for Congested Corridors ($60M)

We invested in our employees:

• Developed an emergency budget plan to avoid lay-offs
• Approved new labor contracts more than 6 months early
• 16 employees from 10 departments completed the Government Alliance on Race and Equity training series and established a Race and Equity Action Plan
• Increased inventory and distribution of PPE and disinfecting products, deployed free COVID testing and contact tracing

We prioritized COVID-19 response:

• Was one of the first transit agencies in the U.S. to release a comprehensive pandemic response plan with the launch of the 15-Step Welcome Back Plan
• Made available free masks at all stations
• Offered free hand sanitizer stations systemwide
• Sharing crowding data 
• Testing disinfecting technologies and upgraded air filters
• Reprioritized cleaning schedules to ensure all train cars are sprayed with disinfecting mist every 24 hours
• Coordinated with the region’s transit systems to develop the Healthy Transit Plan, establishing a baseline set of COVID-19 response measures across all systems
• Accelerated efforts for a contactless experience with 100% Clipper only conversion systemwide
• Partnered with community organizations, county officials and medical groups to provide free COVID-19 testing in our parking lots and plazas