Travelers urged to carpool in event of BART strike – $5 gift cards offered for casual carpool drivers

OAKLAND, CA…With the possibility of BART trains once again coming to a halt as early as August 5, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) urges Bay Area commuters and other travelers to review their contingency plans, and especially to form carpools before hitting the road. Comprehensive information about traditional carpooling, casual carpooling (including maps of casual carpool pickup locations) and dynamic ridesharing is available on a special BART strike information page at alert.511.org.

Thousands more vehicles than usual are expected to crowd onto streets, highways and bridges if there is a work stoppage at BART. Carpools can save both time and money by taking advantage of designated high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Bay Area freeways — and the Sterling Street priority on-ramp to the eastbound Bay Bridge in San Francisco — and discounted tolls on the region’s toll bridges.

Casual carpool pickup locations already are established near several BART stations, including El Cerrito del Norte, Lafayette, North Berkeley and Orinda. At other stations, passenger pick-up/drop-off locations (marked by a white curb) can be used as casual carpool sites. These sites will be especially convenient because BART will make its parking lots and garages available free of charge as park-and-ride locations in the event of a work stoppage. Travelers also can use #casualcarpool on Twitter to find out where there are drivers needed or to tweet out where riders are needed. 511.org offers a RideMatch Service to help commuters instantly find a short-term or long-term carpool match.

To encourage casual carpooling for the evening commute out of San Francisco, a team of MTC contractors will distribute $5 gift cards (redeemable at Peet’s Coffee & Tea) to drivers who pick up passengers at casual carpool locations on Beale Street between Howard and Folsom Streets, and on Spear Street between Howard and Folsom. In addition to urging travelers to carpool, MTC advises commuters to avoid peak driving periods by working at home if possible, or traveling earlier or later than usual.

The popular 511 Transit Trip Planner on the 511.org website offers the ability to plan door-to-door transit trips that include or exclude BART. In the event of a disruption to BART service, other transit providers such as AC Transit, San Francisco Bay Ferry, Solano County’s Soltrans and the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority, will adjust their services to accommodate more San Francisco-bound commuters. Detailed information about these services also is available at alert.511.org.

BART will provide limited charter bus service from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. from seven East Bay BART stations: Concord, Dublin/Pleasanton, El Cerrito del Norte, Fremont, San Leandro, Walnut Creek and West Oakland. Buses from outlying stations will stop first at the West Oakland BART station, where passengers can transfer to San Francisco-bound buses. Because space on these buses is severely limited, riders are strongly encouraged to arrive early. Morning passengers will be issued a round-trip ticket, and must present this ticket to board an afternoon bus for the return trip to the East Bay.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, and operates the region’s 511 traveler information system.


2 Comments to “Travelers urged to carpool in event of BART strike – $5 gift cards offered for casual carpool drivers”

  1. The recent BART strike left thousands
    stranded throughout the Bay Area. But some who would otherwise need to
    drive to work, further burdening the road system, found other means.
    During the recent strike, eRideShare.com saw a strong increase in Bay
    Area membership and connections. To facilitate matching for another
    BART strike, eRideShare.com has created a dedicated “Bay Area Carpool
    Center” for commuters to connect with more than 800 Bay Area
    eRideShare members looking for temporary or regular carpools to work.
    Visit http://erideshare.com/bay to find matches and connect.

    eRideShare.com has been the national leader in getting people to work
    since 1999. The service is not a flash in the pan, and not a new taxi
    service like Lyft, Uber, or Sidecar. eRideShare is an
    honest-to-goodness ridesharing service, taking transportation
    seriously every day.

    eRideShare.com’s popularity and longevity is not based on gimmicks.
    The site provides a simple interface for people to connect with others
    looking for or offering rides, and as a result has built a large user
    community, making it easy to connect.

    Founded in 1999, eRideShare.com is a free service providing commuting
    and travel opportunities for a member community of 240,000.

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