BART popularity soars!

Did you know that BART-SFO ridership increased by 65% since launch? Very good news, impressive, and I predict it will continue to soar. I've written many times about the convenience of this route and how I personally depend on it, especially since I no longer need to transfer at Balboa. Riding BART to SFO sure beats driving across the Bay Bridge and 101 traffic to the airport, finding long term parking, waiting for one of those shuttles to come around, and finally, waiting for passengers to be dropped off by the shuttle one terminal by terminal. However, one down side to this BART-SFO popularity which we've discussed before too....the growing number of luggage pieces taking up seats and excessive amount of standing room space and more BART newbies who do not know the basic BART etiquette. I get dirty looks when I nicely ask them to remove their suitcases from the seats but oh well, they need to learn! As BART gets ever more crowded these days, we all need to learn the etiquette and co-exist.

A few other interesting stats I pulled off the BART website...check them out. Want to point out the last one in particular: 1 out of 3 Contra Costa County commuters traveling to Oakland and San Francisco who chose BART. That's a very impressive stat right there!

1.3 billion
Number of passenger miles traveled on BART every year

$400 million
Amount of money BART riders spend in a year at San Francisco retailers

100 million
Number of people riding BART every year

400,000
Metric tons of CO2 BART riders save annually

360,000
Average number of BART riders on a weekday

202,000
Gallons of gas saved by BART riders every day

50%
Percentage of peak period/peak direction commute traffic BART carries across the Bay

44
Pounds of pollutants a day saved by each BART rider

1 in 3
Number of Contra Costa County commuters traveling to Oakland and San Francisco who chose BART