Are you heading out to a New Year’s Eve event in the Bay Area? Or planning to travel to meet friends and ring in the new year together?
Many local transit agencies are providing extra services for New Year’s Eve 2023 — and some are offering free rides, too. So, if you’re planning to head out to celebrate, keep reading to ensure you can get back safely and on time to start 2024 on a high note … without getting stranded or left at the mercy of rideshare “surge pricing.”
Remember: Transit schedules could change at short notice, and it’s always a good idea to double-check times before heading out — just in case they’ve changed since publication. New Year’s Eve also falls on a Sunday this year, so if a transit agency isn’t running extra services, be aware that this could mean operations are quite reduced from what you might be used to on a weekday.
And if you’re staying over somewhere until the next day? Be sure to check the New Year’s Day operations for your journey home, too, as they may run on a reduced schedule.
BART on New Year’s Eve
BART has a full announcement about the system’s New Year’s service, but the rundown is as follows:
- There will be a special three-line BART service at 1 a.m. on the Orange, Yellow and Blue BART lines.
- There may be additional trains before 1 a.m. in case of crowding.
- The last East Bay bound train running through downtown San Francisco will be around 1:30 a.m.
- The last southbound train heading toward Millbrae will run through downtown San Francisco at 2:10 a.m.
- The 1 a.m. extended service will not serve SFO and OAK airports’ BART stations.
Free rides? No — BART fares will be as normal on New Year’s Eve. Use BART’s fare calculator to calculate your journey’s fare, and remember that a 5.5% increase in BART fares will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Muni on New Year’s Eve
Muni will be running extra services on New Year’s Eve on both Muni Metro and the OWL network:
Extra Muni Metro services will run on:
- S Shuttle Trains between West Portal Station and 4th & King,
8 p.m.-2:15 a.m. - S Shuttle Trains between Chinatown and 3rd & Mariposa,
8 p.m.-2:15 a.m.
Muni says the last trips on these S Shuttle trains will begin at 2 a.m. from each end of the line, and stations will close at 2:15 a.m.
Extra services on the OWL Network will run from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on the following lines: 5 Fulton, 7 Haight/Noriega (which isn’t part of the OWL Network), 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero, 25 Treasure Island, 38 Geary, 44 O’Shaughnessy, 48 Quintara/24th, 90 Owl, 91 Owl and N Owl.
Free rides? Yes, riding Muni will be free on all lines starting at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 5 a.m. (Just don’t tag your Clipper card or activate a MuniMobile ticket during the free Muni period, advises the agency, otherwise, you’ll get charged.)
