Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a heavy rail rapid transit system in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. With average weekday ridership around passengers in, BART is the fifth busiest rapid transit system in the United States.[1] BART is administered by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a special district government agency formed by Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties.
BART has 50 stations: 19 on the surface, 15 elevated, and 16 underground (i.e. subway).[2] 22 stations are in Alameda County, 12 are in Contra Costa, and 8 are in San Francisco. 6 stations are in San Mateo County and 2 are in Santa Clara County; those counties are not part of the BART special district, but contribute to operations funding., has the highest ridership and has the lowest. Every day before 9 pm, BART trains run on five principal routes; four are transbay routes connecting San Francisco to Oakland and various destinations in the East Bay, while the Orange Line runs exclusively in the East Bay. The Green and Red lines do not run after 9 pm, but all stations remain accessible by transfers via other routes.
BART's first route between and, the Orange Line, opened in September 1972; it was extended to in January 1973. Service began between and on the Yellow Line in May 1973, and between and in November 1973. The original system was completed in September 1974 when the underwater Transbay Tube and opened. BART's three routes then were the Orange, Yellow, and Green lines. opened as an infill station in 1976, and direct Richmond–Daly City service began operating that year.
The Yellow Line was extended to in 1995, and to and in 1996. BART's fifth route, the Blue Line, began service with a new branch to in 1997. The San Mateo County line was extended south from Colma to and in 2003. A second infill station,, opened in 2011. The automated guideway transit (AGT) Oakland Airport Connector opened in 2014 to serve Oakland International Airport.[3] BART service was extended south from Fremont to in 2017, then to in 2020. A diesel multiple unit feeder service, eBART, opened from Pittsburg/Bay Point to in 2018. Several additional stations, including a subway through San Jose to, are planned or proposed.
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BART operates five named and interlined heavy rail services plus one separate automated guideway line. All of the heavy rail services run through Oakland, and all but the Orange Line run through the Transbay Tube to San Francisco. All five services run until 9 pm; only three services operate evenings after 9 pm, as well as some Sundays during maintenance work. All stations are served during all service hours.[4] The eastern segment of the, between Antioch and the transfer platform east of Pittsburg/Bay Point, uses different rolling stock and is separated from the rest of the line.
Unlike most other rapid transit and rail systems around the world, BART lines were not primarily referred to by shorthand designations or their color names (although the colors used on maps have been constant since 1980). The services were mainly identified on maps, schedules, and station signage by the names of their termini. However, the new fleet displays line colors more prominently, and BART has begun to use color names in press releases and GTFS data.[5] [6] In 2022, BART formally announced on Twitter they were using colors on the line map and officially.[7]
| Route name | First service | Termini | Service times | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operates during all service hours. | ||||||
| May 21, 1973 | or (after 9pm) | Operates during all service hours. Daytime service terminates at SFO, while evening (after 9 pm) service terminates at Millbrae. | ||||
| November 16, 1974 | No evening (after 9 pm) service. | |||||
| April 19, 1976 | No evening (after 9 pm) service. | |||||
| May 10, 1997 | Operates during all service hours. | |||||
| November 22, 2014 | Operates during all service hours. | |||||
BART has 50 passenger stations, of which 47 are high-platform rapid transit stations. is served by the Oakland Airport Connector, which uses cable-hauled automated guideway transit (AGT) rolling stock; has separate platforms for rapid transit trains and AGT trains. and have low platforms for use with the diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains used on that section of the line. A transfer platform east of, which does not have street access and is not designated as a unique station, provides cross-platform transfers between the rapid transit and DMU sections of the line.
Seven stations are designated as transfer points between services; timed cross-platform transfers are available between the Orange and Yellow lines at (southbound) and (northbound). Nine stations are the terminal of one or more services; is also a transfer station. Ten stations have connections available to other rail services – Amtrak, Caltrain, Muni Metro, and VTA light rail. All stations are served during all operating hours.
| ^ | Transfer stations within the BART system | |
| ^ | Transfer stations that are also line termini | |
| Line termini | ||
| Stations with connections to other rail systems |
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The four-station Phase II of the Silicon Valley BART extension will add underground stations at,, and in San José, plus the surface-level station; it is planned to open in 2036.[8] An infill station on the Warm Springs extension at is planned to open in 2031. Two additional infill stations–the surface-level on the Silicon Valley extension and the elevated on the Oakland Airport Connector–are proposed but not yet funded or scheduled. Several of these future stations connect with other rail services in the South Bay region, including Altamont Corridor Express, which does not yet have a connection with BART.
| Station | Line(s) | Connections | Location | Planned opening | |
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| | — | 2031 | |||
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| | VTA light rail: | 2036 | |||
| | Amtrak:, Caltrain Altamont Corridor Express VTA light rail: | 2036 | |||
| | 2036 | ||||
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