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BART Begins Service to Oakland International
To prepare for increased traffic during the Thanksgiving holiday, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) launched service Nov. 21 between the Coliseum in Oakland, CA, and the new Oakland International Airport (OAK) Station.
Almost 700 people rode free on opening day, which also featured music, giveaways, and a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Ridership during the first week of the new service was 15 percent to 38 percent higher than bus ridership to the airport on the same days last year. Wait times are shorter and riders can make direct connections without having to leave the station.
“The Bay Area is making history by becoming only the second major metro area in the nation [the other is Chicago] where two or more of its airports are served by a direct train-to-plane connection,” BART General Manager Grace Crunican said at the ceremony. The automated 3.2-mile BART to OAK connection gives Bay Area visitors “another choice to easily access either downtown Oakland or San Francisco,” Crunican said. “After the BART to SFO [San Francisco International Airport] extension opened, that airport saw tremendous passenger growth. We expect Oakland Airport will see the same.”
BART to OAK trains arrive every five minutes during peak commute hours (8 a.m.-8 p.m.) and drop off and pick up riders just steps away from both terminals at OAK. The trip takes just eight minutes.
This is the first new station to open in the BART system since 2011. BART to SFO service began in 2003.
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Cutting the ribbon at BART’s new Oakland International Airport Station, from left: Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Oakland Mayor-Elect Libby Schaaf, California Transportation Commissioner and Executive Officer of Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Bob Alvarado, Bay Area Council President and CEO Jim Wunderman, Port of Oakland Aviation Director Deborah Ale Flint, President of the Board of Port of Oakland Commissioners Alan Yee, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, BART Board President Joel Keller, Airport Area Business Association President Randall Whitney, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), BART General Manager Grace Crunican; California State Assembly Member Nancy Skinner, and former BART Board member Carole Ward Allen. |
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