With weekday commuter ridership still lagging far below 2019 levels and remote work not going anywhere anytime soon, the agency plans to increase train frequencies on weekends and reduce some weekday service.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) agency, which serves the San Francisco Bay Area, plans to adjust its service to better serve weekend travelers as weekday ridership remains low, reports Adam Shanks in the San Francisco Examiner. “With office vacancy rates in downtown San Francisco climbing to record highs, BART is planning to direct its finite resources to better serve those who rely on the transit agency during off-peak hours.”
Shanks continues, “Under a proposal introduced this week, BART would reduce most lines from four to three trains per hour during the day, but increase service from two to three trains per hour at night and on the weekends.”
In March of this year, weekday ridership was only at 37 percent of pre-pandemic levels. “The yellow line, which runs between Millbrae and Antioch, would be the only one spared from the weekday daytime cuts. It’s BART’s most popular ride, with the busiest train seeing a passenger load more than three times that of the most-packed Orange line train, for example.” BART also plans to increase frequencies on the yellow line and to the region's airports.
Like many other transit agencies, “BART is facing a budget deficit of about $78 million in 2025, when its tranche of federal COVID-19 aid runs dry.”
FULL STORY: BART Plans to Increase Weekend Service, Decrease Service on Weekdays
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