BART readies for later start times from East Bay to SF

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA (KTVU) - A major change is coming for BART riders starting Monday Feb. 11th as the transportation agency works to shore up the Transbay Tube against a major earthquake. 

BART stations across the East Bay system will no longer open before 5-a.m., so customers must plan to use a Transbay bus service that will operate during that time.

Fifteen new bus lines have been set up to cover the slack between 3:50 AM to 5:30 a.m.

During that time, 7 bus routes will drop East Bay travelers off at the temporary Transbay Terminal in San Francisco.

The following BART stations will be points of origin for the the Transbay bus routes: El Cerrito del Norte, MacArthur, 19th Street, Pittsburg/Bay Point, Pleasant Hill, Dublin/Pleasanton and Fremont Bart Station.

Some stations that do not have Transbay bus service will serve as a link via five East Bay bus service routes. 

For instance, riders who would normally catches the 4:53 a.m. BART from the Orinda station would need to make their way to the Lafayette station, the next closest station. From there, take a bus that would travel to the Pleasant Hill Bart Station, which has Transbay bus service to San Francisco.  

Riders who need to park their car will need to pay in advance for a single day pass through www.select-a-spot.com/bart.

Another options is to pay through the BART mobile app.

The inconvenience for an estimated 2,900 customers who travel during that time, according to Bart officials, is for seismic retrofitting work to continue in the Transbay Tube.

For the next three and a half years, workers will install a curved inner steel lining to key sections of the 3.6-mile-long tube to fortify it against a major earthquake.

An upgraded pumping system to remove water more quickly from the tube is also set to be installed during the work.