12:05 PM: Many commuters who normally rely on the Bay Bridge to get to work are turning to BART and other public transit options this morning.
BART broke ridership records because of the Bay Bridge closure, which began Wednesday night, a BART spokeswoman said this morning.
BART saw more than 16,000 additional trips made on Wednesday compared to the same day a week ago, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.
That amounted to 427,554 total trips, making Wednesday BART’s 10th-highest ridership day ever, she said.
Between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. today, BART counted 30,682 more trips compared to the same date in 2012, according to Trost. And from midnight to 4 a.m., when BART is usually closed, some 6,850 trips were made on the system, she said.
BART officials said they expect to see similarly high numbers of riders during peak evening commute hours from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“We’re seeing a lot of new people on BART this morning and seeing lines back up at the ticket machines,” BART spokesman Jim Allison said.
He encouraged regular BART users to keep their Clipper cards charged to avoid having to wait in those lines.
Both BART and the California Highway Patrol are urging commuters to be patient during the bridge closure, which is expected to last until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
BART is providing 24-hour service at 14 stations during the closure.
Representatives from other transit agencies said they have only seen slight increases in ridership.
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said, “We’ve had maybe a few more riders than normal but it hasn’t been an explosion.”
AC Transit buses that normally take riders across the Bay Bridge are instead being routed to the West Oakland, MacArthur, Oakland Coliseum and North Berkeley BART stations.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Bay Ferry service operators didn’t see a noticeable increase in the number of riders this morning, apart from one particularly crowded boat that left Vallejo early this morning, ferry spokesman Ernest Sanchez said.
9:48 AM: BART ridership has risen noticeably because of the Bay Bridge closure Wednesday night to allow crews to transition traffic onto the bridge’s new eastern span, a BART spokesman said this morning.
BART saw 16,000 more trips made on Wednesday compared to the same day a week ago. Between midnight and 6 a.m. today, there was a jump of nearly 8,000 trips, spokesman Jim Allison said.
He said even higher numbers are expected during peak commute hours today, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
“We’re seeing a lot of new people on BART this morning and seeing lines back up at the ticket machines,” Allison said.
He encouraged regular BART users to keep their Clipper cards charged to avoid having to wait in those lines.
Both BART and the California Highway Patrol are urging commuters to be patient during the bridge closure, which is expected to last until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
BART is providing 24-hour service at 14 stations during the closure.
Laura Dixon, Bay City News
