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On Friday, August 15, BART will begin the installation of Next Generation Fare Gates on the concourse level of Milpitas Station. The installation work will happen in stages so riders can continue to use the remaining gates while new ones are being installed. There will be additional BART staff as well as signage to direct riders to the open gates. There will also be a service gate available for those riders who would typically use an accessibility gate. The installation of each new set of gates is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. 

A temporary barrier will be installed around each array when it is ready to be removed to provide a safe workspace for the installation team as well as to protect riders from construction. The work will not delay train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours.

The latest work comes after BART has successfully installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 44 stations across the system. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gates project here.

On Friday, August 8, BART will begin the installation of Next Generation Fare Gates on the concourse level of Balboa Park Station. The installation work will happen in stages so riders can continue to use the remaining gates while new ones are being installed. There will be additional BART staff as well as signage to direct riders to the open gates. There will also be a service gate available for those riders who would typically use an accessibility gate. The installation of each new set of gates is expected to take up to two weeks to complete. 

A temporary barrier will be installed around each array when it is ready to be removed to provide a safe workspace for the installation team as well as to protect riders from construction. The work will not delay train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours.

The latest work comes after BART has successfully installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 44 stations across the system. All 50 BART stations will have new fare gates by the end of 2025. You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gates project here.

BART’s efforts to enhance safety, cleanliness, and the customer experience are paying off as June 2025 saw a 13.4% increase in ridership over a year ago, bolstered by steadily growing weekend ridership.

Saturdays have seen some of the highest rates of ridership growth as people increasingly use the system to travel to events and activities on the weekends, including families and those who are now choosing to take transit over driving. Saturday ridership increased by 15.2% from May to June and was up 24.6% compared to a year ago. These increases were boosted thanks to local events, such as the June 14 “No Kings Day” protests, which marked the second highest day for Saturday ridership since the pandemic. June 29, the day of the San Francisco Pride Parade, saw the second highest Sunday for ridership since 2020. 

Additional ridership information is publicly available here.

While ridership continues to recover from post-pandemic declines due to remote work, these numbers demonstrate the effectiveness of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan, a series of strategic initiatives and investments that have doubled the rate of deep cleaning and resulted in a surge in BART PD’s visible safety presence on trains and in stations.  

These improvements are happening in concurrence with customer experience improvements, including running only new Fleet of the Future trains and system hardening efforts, led by the ongoing installation of its Next Generation Fare Gates. 

BART has also been strategically promoting non-work trips by partnering with local sports teams and organizations; sharing Rider Guides and social media videos describing how to take transit to events; and promoting non-work trips through efforts such as the BARTable website and newsletter. BART’s Fun Stuff program is an engagement effort that aims to educate riders, help us connect with the communities we serve, and build brand affinity, especially with younger riders. Our programs are getting people excited about transit and emphasizing the many places our system can take them.