BART Eyes Later Hours

Will delightful behavior be taking place on BART at later hours?

​Any East or South Bay tippler who misses the last BART train is familiar with the drill: Pay heavily for a cab; attempt to navigate the transbay bus system; or find a Denny's to sleep and order coffee in until 4 a.m.

That all may change.

Incoming BART board president Bob Franklin is hoping to study ways to keep BART open until closer to Last Call on Saturdays.

Instead of leaving riders in the lurch at 12:15 a.m., the last train may pull out of city stations at, say, closer to 1:30.

The uncertainty is there because, at this point, it's all just talk about a study, which would then result in more talk. What seems clear is this: Any additional service on one end will likely have to be met with service cuts from the other. So if BART stays open later on Saturdays, it will all but certainly have to begin runs later on other days of the week. Longer hours mean paying more workers and wearing out more equipment -- and, BART claims, maintenance needs to be done on tracks during off-hours.

Commuters may recall occasional periods of 24-hour BART service, especially during planned Bay Bridge closures. While some would hope to extend perpetual service in perpetuity, it seems that perpetual money is not there. BART told SF Weekly that a weekend of 24-hour service costs it an additional $250,000.

And that'd buy a lot of coffee at Denny's.

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