BART to Open Early, Run Long Trains for Bay to Breakers

BART will open its turnstiles early and run extra long trains the day of the Bay to Breakers.

Service for the 101st Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco Sunday, May 20 will begin at roughly 5 a.m. at all BART stations; trains running before 8 a.m. will run at 20-minute intervals. And bikes are verboten until after 8 a.m.

Download the special schedule (.pdf) for Bay to Breakers service.

The world-famous race attracts thousands of runners and spectators from throughout the Bay Area. BART encourages riders coming from the East Bay to disembark at the Embarcadero Station, a short distance from Howard and Spear streets, where the race begins.

Runners can save themselves time and trouble by getting a Clipper card in advance of race day to pay their fare. Those who do are reminded to be sure to load enough cash on the card to pay for a round trip fare. Clipper cards are available at transit ticket offices and at most Walgreens and other retail locations.

Wet or damaged BART tickets will not work in fare gates, so runners who keep a round-trip ticket in their pockets while running seven miles may be disappointed when they try to get home. BART suggests that runners who don’t have a Clipper card should buy two one-way tickets: one ticket before heading to the race and the other before catching the train home instead of buying a single round-trip ticket.

Lastly, while race costumes may fall into the "anything goes" category -- or, in some cases, "nothing goes" -- BART requires all riders to wear shoes and "proper attire" on board the trains.