Unified schedule changes will improve transit service in the Bay Area

Bay Area transit agencies are syncing schedules in a whole new way with a focus on improving transfers between systems and making schedule changes at the same time.

Most Bay Area transit agencies are rolling out new schedules next week in coordination with each other and are working to align the timing of schedule changes twice each year, once in summer and once in winter. There has been a 250% increase in the number of transit agencies changing their schedule concurrently twice each year, and six of seven major transit providers are syncing their schedule changes at least once a year.

Agencies convened a meeting in March 2024 to share planned changes for mid-August and to look for opportunities to improve transfers. Advancing schedule change alignment is a key priority for Bay Area transit general managers who meet on a weekly basis to make transit more rider-focused and efficient. The major agencies are already working on another iteration of a coordinated schedule change to go into effect in January 2025. These coordinated schedule changes will benefit current transit riders while attracting new riders.

Some key examples of improved coordination from the mid-August schedule changes:

• In the North Bay, a series of coordinated changes between SMART, Golden Gate Transit, and Marin Transit will improve service and connections along the congested Highway 101 corridor.
• The Napa Valley Transportation Authority is making changes to Route 29 from Redwood Park and Ride to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station to enhance the bus-to-train transfer timing. 71% of the trips will now have a 5- to 10-minute transfer time at El Cerrito del Norte, as opposed to 23% with the current schedule. The change will positively impact as many as 16,465 riders annually.
• AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit have improved schedules to be more coordinated at El Cerrito del Norte Station and along Cutting Boulevard west of the BART station. This alignment enhances reliability for riders traveling between Marin and West Contra Costa counties via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
• In San Francisco, Muni is making changes to improve regional connections, specifically, the 28 19th Avenue bus schedule serving Daly City BART station is changing to ensure East Bay riders can catch the last BART train to Oakland late at night.
• VTA is making changes to match upcoming BART and Caltrain schedule changes to ensure timed transfers are maintained at various locations across the South Bay and Peninsula.
• SamTrans is improving several bus routes that serve BART stations. One noteworthy change is to bus route 292, serving both Millbrae and SFO BART stations, with frequency (the time between bus arrivals) to be every 20 minutes from 6am- 6pm to match BART's frequency.
• Both BART and Caltrain will make changes to improve some of the rail transfers at Millbrae Station that will go into effect when Caltrain launches its electric service on September 21. With BART's schedule change on August 12 and Caltrain's schedule change on September 21, ~85% of all weekday trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes at Millbrae Station. On the weekend, ~90% of trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes, allowing for both systems to be off schedule a bit but still provide a reliable connection. If trains were scheduled with less than a 5-minute wait, delays would frequently break the transfer and result in a longer wait. 

Balancing Service Complexities

While all transit agencies are working to improve transfer timing for Bay Area transit riders, several challenges continue to exist making transfer timing difficult:

• A better transfer for one end of a route may create a worse transfer for other areas of the route.
• Adding service to allow frequencies to match each system requires new funding at a time transit agencies are facing significant budget challenges.
• Transfers between BART and Caltrain at Millbrae Station don't always line up perfectly because Caltrain has four trains per peak hour and two trains per off-peak hour/weekends. BART has three trains per hour at all times. Both systems are also limited in flexibility due to key system timing points elsewhere.

Other Coordinated Improvements to Come

In addition to schedule coordination, Bay Area transit agencies are working together, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, on significant regional projects that will transform the rider experience, such as unified transit maps and directional signs and fare integration and affordability programs such as the implementation of free and discounted transfers.