BART unveils schedule to cut wait times on nights and weekends

OAKLAND, Calif. - BART is introducing more frequent train service on weekday nights and weekends on its busiest line.

The transit agency announced there will no longer be 30-minute intervals between trains anywhere in its rail network when the new schedule kicks off this fall. 

However, some of BART's lines will see less frequent trains during the day to make it possible to boost service during off-peak hours. 

BART said it was making the changes in response to ridership patterns that have evolved since the pandemic. 

Although the number of passengers riding BART is down compared to pre-pandemic, weekend ridership levels are closer to pre-pandemic levels than weekdays. That's likely because more people can work remotely and do not need to commute to an office. 

As part of the changes, which were approved by BART's board, trains on the yellow line between Antioch and San Francisco, will run every 20 minutes on the weekend, instead of every half hour.

On weekdays until 9 p.m., the yellow line will have trains every 10 minutes, down from 15 minutes.

There will also be a train departing from San Francisco's airport every 20 minutes, instead of 30 minutes.

The tradeoff to get more frequent yellow line service was to reduce the number of trains on the orange line between San Jose and Richmond. Those trains will run every 10 minutes instead of every 7.5. There will be 20 minutes throughout the day for blue line trains between Dublin/Pleasanton and Daly City. During rush hour, there had been service every 15 minutes on the blue line.