Bay Area/ San Francisco
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Published on January 08, 2025
BART Announces Schedule Adjustments for New Control System Construction Starting January 13Source: Mliu92, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bay Area commuters should mark their calendars for January 13, when BART will roll out a modified schedule to facilitate the construction of a new Communications Based Train Control System (CBTC). According to an announcement by Bay Area Rapid Transit, these timetable tweaks are designed to align with other transit systems in the region to simplify transfers and minimize disruption for the public.

This overhaul will see modest shifts in departure times, with BART urging passengers to review the new schedules ahead of the changes. For the tech-savvy, the BART Trip Planner and downloadable PDF timetables reflect these upcoming alterations. Commuters embarking on their journeys post 9 p.m. between Colma and Millbrae will witness the direct effects of night-time construction work, with the Yellow Line terminating at SFO instead of Millbrae, as part of a strategy to maintain punctuality amidst the upgrades.

For those traveling to Millbrae after dark, there's a bit of a silver lining. A shuttle train will provide a 15-minute frequency service connecting SFO with Millbrae, where riders can make a simple cross-platform transfer to or from the Yellow Line. In sync with Caltrain's half-hourly beat, two BART trains will align with this cadence every hour to smooth the transition between the two systems.

The transit shuffle isn't a fleeting moment but rather part of a concerted, years-long effort as BART prioritizes this tract to roll out its state-of-the-art control system, aiming for tighter train intervals and a hearty boost to capacity across the bay. As BART announces, the CBTC will eventually enable a leap from 24 to 30 trains per hour per direction in the system's core. Meanwhile, the larger tapestry of Bay Area transit entities is synchronizing in harmony, with 20 agencies now coordinating schedule changes biannually, a 400% escalation since 2022, ensuring a more coherent and rider-centric experience.