BART makes deep weekday service cuts
The Lake Merritt BART station was virtually a ghost town on the first shelter-in-place day for Oakland. March 17, 2020
OAKLAND, Calif. - Deep cuts to BART's schedule start on Wednesday after ridership is now at 7 percent of normal because of the shelter-in-place orders and coronavirus fears.
This week, just under 25,000 people rode BART; the normal daily average should be about 400,000.
Reducing service will save BART's operating budget $3 to $7 million a month, BART said.
BART said it can then move 400 employees to work on infrastructure projects that are usually done overnight because of how distruptive the work can be to riders.
The move also gives more flexibility to BART employees if they need to take time off because they get sick or have to take care of a family member.
For now, weekend service won’t change – trains will operate from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
What you need to know:
Starting Wednesday, BART's Monday-Friday service will run every 30 minutes systemwide all day, with 3-line service beginning earlier in the evening and single tracking in San Francisco starting at around 8 p.m. Effectively, every other train is being cancelled Monday-Friday.
Weekend service remains unchanged at this time.
The online Trip Planner has been updated and PDF's of the new schedule that begins 4/8/20 are posted here https://www.bart.gov/schedules/pdf
Previously announced service changes:
Monday-Friday service is 5am-9pm (previously 5am-Midnight) began on Monday, March 23.
Saturday-Sunday service is 8am-9pm (previously Saturday service started at 6am) began on Saturday, March 28.
Sara Zendehnam is a reporter forKTVU. Email Sara at sara.zendehnam@foxtv.com and follow her on Twitter@szendehnam