Business & Tech

BART Congested With New Riders

Closure of Bay Bridge forcing commuters to take alternate routes.

Written by Bay City News

BART ridership has risen noticeably because of the Bay Bridge closure Wednesday night to allow crews to transition traffic onto the bridge's new eastern span, a BART spokesman said this morning. BART saw 16,000 more trips made on Wednesday compared to the same day a week ago. Between midnight and 6 a.m. today, there was a jump of nearly 8,000 trips, spokesman Jim Allison said.

He said even higher numbers are expected during peak commute hours today, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. "We're seeing a lot of new people on BART this morning and seeing lines back up at the ticket machines," Allison said. He encouraged regular BART users to keep their Clipper cards charged to avoid having to wait in those lines.

Both BART and the California Highway Patrol are urging commuters to be patient during the bridge closure, which is expected to last until 5 a.m. Tuesday. BART is providing 24-hour service at 14 stations during the closure.


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