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Bay Area transit agencies to offer special New Year’s Eve service

By Beat News Service December 31, 2010 No Comments Print Share

Several Bay Area transit operators will provide extra service past midnight on New Year’s Day to help celebrating people get home easier and safer. Two of the agencies, San Francisco MUNI and Caltrain, will waive fares in the evening for passengers as a free alternative to driving.

BART will extend its normal operating hours until 3 a.m. and will provide special service  to move thousands of spectators who are expected to watch the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks show along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The agency will begin “skip-stop” service in Downtown San Francisco at 8:30 p.m. to alleviate congestion on platforms at Embarcadero and Montgomery Stations.

Passengers wishing to ride in the Fremont and Dublin/Pleasanton direction must board trains at the Embarcadero Station. Richmond and Pittsburg/ Bay Point bound passengers need to board those trains at the Montgomery Station.

The agency will not provide free train service.

Caltrain will allow passengers to ride for free after 11 p.m. and will provide four additional post-midnight trains departing the 4th and Townsend train depot at 12:45 a.m., 1:15 a.m., 1:45 a.m., and 2:15 a.m. The trains will make all local stops to San Jose Diridon station.

San Francisco MUNI will waive fares on all routes including Cable Cars beginning at 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. New Year’s Day. The transit agency will provide extra buses on Owl service routes to shorten scheduled headways from 30 minutes to 15 minutes. MUNI Metro trains will operate in the underground subway until 4 a.m. from Embarcadero to West Portal Stations. Metro Owl service buses on the N and L routes will begin operating at 1 a.m.

MUNI expects to reroute several lines because of the fireworks event along the Embarcadero which traditionally draws tens of thousands of spectators. Service on the F-Market & Wharves historic streetcar line will be replaced by motor coaches beginning at 4 p.m.

Other lines which terminate at the Ferry Terminal will be rerouted later that evening.

The San Francisco Police Department warned Wednesday that they would crackdown on public drunkenness and confiscate alcohol and fireworks from people who drank out in the open. SFPD officers will also be targeting impaired motorists who would face arrest if caught driving while intoxicated.

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