Since last Tuesday, October 27, our beautiful Bay Bridge has been closed to traffic. I happened to be heading back to Berkeley from San Francisco on Tuesday and was forced, like many commuters, to go all the way up to Marin and over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. I feel very fortunate that I don’t need to commute.
The commuters, on the other hand, have been forced to find alternative transportation until the necessary maintenance has been completed. And the BART has been very accommodating.
This past week’s riders have set all-time records in BART ridership–all days up roughly 55% in transbay ridership and 25% in overall ridership, something that I believe may help the Bay Area in the long-run. Wednesday’s (10/28) ridership set a record at 437,200, only to be trumped by 442,000 on Thursday (10/28). Friday’s (10/29) ridership slid slightly past Wednesday’s to achieve the 2nd-highest ridership title at 437,700. Saturday’s ridership was noted as the fifth-highest Saturday at 227,100 riders.
With the Bridge closed indefinitely we can probably expect to see these same numbers, or higher, for Monday’s (11/2) morning commute.
What is unclear and intriguing is how much these numbers will change after the Bridge reopens, and how well BART is reacting. BART officials have a real opportunity to introduce BART to commuters who have never used it and position BART as a faster and cheaper alternative to driving over the Bridge. Being proactive during this emergency closure and by providing riders with information and resources, BART can attract would-be drivers to using BART as their primary method of commute.
Of course, some drivers will just be too afraid to drive on the Bridge. And BART could drop the ball. But with it’s twice-daily news releases since the Bridge closure and its often-updated Twitter feed, there’s no lack of information.
In the meantime, the lack of cars on the Bridge have given us a “Spare the Air” WEEK. And that, at least, is something that we can’t complain about.
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