BART ridership continues to grow, with significant increases on weekends. Saturday ridership this September was nearly 20% higher than the same month last year, and more than 5 million trips were taken overall, exceeding projections by 5%. Compared to September 2024, total ridership rose nearly 10%.
The boost in weekend ridership, particularly on Saturdays, shows that people are using BART for more than just commuting to work. A major example was the Japan vs. Mexico soccer match on Saturday, September 6, which generated 23,000 trips to Coliseum Station—the third-highest ridership day there since the pandemic. Attendance for the event was nearly one-third higher than the average Saturday ridership for A’s games in 2019.
While these gains are encouraging, ridership growth alone cannot solve BART’s ongoing financial challenges. To close the agency’s $375 million budget deficit using only fare revenue, ridership would need to more than double. The most recent forecast anticipates a modest 4% increase by 2026.
BART’s gradual recovery mirrors trends in regional work-from-home patterns. Riders are returning, but many are traveling less frequently due to hybrid and remote work arrangements.
In September, total ridership reached 5,047,000 trips, up 10% from the prior year. Saturday trips were up 20%, and the busiest day of the month was Wednesday, September 10, with 220,073 riders. The BayPass program, an all-in-one regional transit pass, more than doubled its ridership over last year, largely driven by UC Berkeley students expanding participation to the full student body of about 45,000. As a result, Downtown Berkeley Station has seen faster ridership growth than the system as a whole since the start of the Fall 2025 semester.
Tap and Ride payments—allowing riders to use contactless credit or debit cards or mobile apps like Apple Pay and Google Pay made up roughly 8% of weekday trips and 12% of weekend trips, with SFO Station accounting for nearly 30% of all Tap and Ride usage. Meanwhile, Clipper START, the region’s low-income fare discount program, reached a record high and represented 3.4% of total trips in September. BART continues to lead all agencies in Clipper START ridership.
BART said ridership was down 50% compared to pre-covid times when they got the $3B bailout… so if it’s up 10% I guess that means it’s still off about 40%? BART also promised 10 car trains again and more trains during major commute hours… that didn’t happen … who is holding BART accountable? …we all know no one is….
I have to say that BART has earned back us riders. It is now a much more pleasant experience now that they’ve gotten rid of all the bums, druggies and inner city youth that used to ride around all day for free. They also happen to be the ones that caused all the trouble for the rest of us fare paying citizens!
We have to give thanks to Bart board member Deborah Allen because she was the lone board member who was against the crazy wokeness of letting all those people ride free, and unhindered.
No More Handouts for BART!!
Would bart be profitable, if these gates had been
installed 25 years ago ? ? ? ? ?
.
Then again, it’s not like bart is a for profit company.
Why should bart management worry about money.
Federal government will continually bail them out.
It’s Weiner trying to get all the counties to cough up another 1/2 cent sales tax increase this next voting cycle.
Federal AND State
Why can’t they CUT EXPENSES rather than always asking for bailout money and higher taxes? We know why. This is the California way.
Check out their outrageous contracts (across the board)!!!
The ridership has not grown 10% at all, that 10% are fare evaders that now cannot get past the machines without actually having a ticket. There’s your 10%, there are not more riders.