Looks like BART is planning to start running buses in the middle of the night on weekends, while the trains are shut down:
Quote:
BART-by-bus night routes proposed
By: Will Reisman | 05/09/12 9:34 PM
SF Examiner Staff Writer
Transit alternative: BART says it can’t offer late-night train service because of required track maintenance, but buses can duplicate its services.
BART passengers will probably never have the chance to routinely ride the train system late at night, but they might be able to do the next best thing.
A regional bus system operating until 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday after train service ends would carry passengers from San Francisco to the East Bay under a one-year pilot program being recommended by the transit agency.
The buses would serve select stations along the Pittsburg-Bay Point and Fremont lines, picking up passengers in The City at stops along Market Street starting at Van Ness Avenue. Duplicating BART’s nighttime train schedule, the buses would run every 20 minutes, and passengers could reach their destinations nearly as fast as if they were on a train, said Paul Oversier, the agency’s assistant general manager.
Unlike current late-night bus service, passengers could reach a majority of their destinations without having to make transfers, Oversier said. About 25 to 30 people are expected to take each bus out of San Francisco.
BART would outsource the bus service to AC Transit and County Connection, two East Bay operators. Oversier said both carriers support the plan. There is no proposal to travel out to Richmond, since AC Transit currently has late-night bus lines serving that area.
Several efforts to run BART trains later on weekend nights have been rebuffed because the agency says maintenance crews must perform crucial trackway work during those hours.
“BART is tapped out in terms of service hours,” Oversier said. “But it’s not really BART that people want, it’s the service characteristics. And we can duplicate those with late-night buses.”
Overall, the bus service is expected to cost $800,000. Alameda and Contra Costa counties would pay $500,000, BART would pay $200,000 and the rest would be covered by fares.
Bob Franklin, a BART board member who has been a longtime supporter of late-night service, said the bus program would “provide workers and the late-night crowd with an easy-to-understand, expandable transit option after BART closes.”
Tom Radulovich, another BART director, also praised the program, although he said it would be better if buses also traveled to San Francisco International Airport and went in both directions between the East Bay and The City. Still, he said the proposal is a good start.
If the plan is approved — BART’s board of directors and other regional bodies must sign off on it — service could begin by September.
wreisman@sfexaminer.com
Late Night Services
BART is seeking to add late-night bus service from The City to the East Bay, starting when train service ends until 2 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Cost: $5
Frequency: Every 20 minutes
Routes:
Pittsburg-Bay Point line would depart from San Francisco and stop at Rockridge, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Pittsburg-Bay Point
Fremont line would depart from San Francisco and stop at Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, Bay Fair, Hayward, Union City and Fremont
Stops would coincide with pickup points on AC Transit’s Transbay Route 800 line along Market Street starting at Van Ness Avenue
Source: BART
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/tran...#ixzz1uVMgwaeK
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Not as good as 24 hour train service, but it's a step in the right direction. What's annoying, aside from the fact that it will only be on weekends, is that the buses will only run until 2 am. If BART is going to finally do a late night transit option, can't they at least make it actually run every night, ALL night, or at least for an hour or two after the 2am last call, instead of stopping service right at 2am? Seems like it's a completely half-assed way to address a real problem, and it entirely misses one of the main issues with BART's limited hours: that lots of people get stuck on the wrong side of the bay after bars/clubs close, with no transit options available aside from
maybe a few random bus lines, taxis, or driving. Of course there are tons of other people who would benefit from 24 hour BART service, or at least later service than 2am, as well.
Two extra hours of service on weekends is nice, even if it's on a bus instead of a train...but goddamn BART, just go all the way and do full 7-days-a-week, 24 hour service, will you?
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