BART Ridership Slowly Increases Post-Pandemic

BAY AREA — BART ridership reached a post-pandemic ridership record on Saturday, helped in part by the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade in San Francisco and Fans' Fest in Oakland, the agency said.

BART reported 123,636 trips on Saturday, up 54,000 more than the previous Saturday. Before that, BART said the post-pandemic record for a Saturday was in October 2023, with 116,000 trips.

Transit agencies across the Bay Area are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and are trying to increase ridership.

Last November, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission — the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county Bay Area — announced that it would be releasing part of $5 billion in state funds earmarked for struggling transit agencies. The funds will keep Bay Area agencies from making service cuts through June 2026.

BART has recently made changes in an effort to increase safety and efficiency by shortening trains and increasing frequency of service. Running fewer cars is meant to allow BART police to increase its visibility with the same amount of staff.

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