BART is nixing early-bird service during lengthy Transbay Tube seismic retrofit

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - In about two months BART will no longer run its early bird service at 4 a.m.

And on Tuesday, BART officials kicked off outreach efforts to let morning riders know about the upcoming change. 

BART employees fanned out, physically reaching out to riders and offering one-on-one help to plan their future commutes. The earliest BART trains will begin at 5 a.m. and the time change will be system-wide beginning on Feb. 11. 

 The change will impact 2,900 riders who regularly use the trains at that hour, BART said. 

“It’s a huge deal,” Brian Mello of Antioch said. “I might as well drive and pay to park. 

The time change is for a massive project that will seismically retrofit the Transbay Tube in the case of an earthquake.

The new 5 a.m. start time will likely be in place for three and a half years.

To make up for it, BART will offer an early bird express bus between 3:50 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.