New Year's Eve Plans? What to Know About Late-Night Transit and Getting Home Safe

The Bay Area offers an array of events and celebrations in honor of New Year’s Eve, from San Francisco’s free waterfront fireworks to a downtown San Jose party to a balloon drop for little ones at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.

But a terrible way to enter 2026 is getting stranded after a night out.

So if you’re planning to head out to celebrate on New Year’s Eve, keep reading to ensure you can get home safely without getting left at the mercy of rideshare “surge pricing.”

To encourage people to take public transit, some local agencies are offering extra (sometimes free) services on New Year’s Eve this Wednesday.

And visitors to the region or residents who don’t already have a Clipper card can use contactless credit and debit cards, Apple Pay or Google Pay at fare gates instead.

Keep in mind, transit schedules can change with short notice, and it’s always a good idea to double check times before heading out. Be sure to check the New Year’s Day operations for your journey home, too, as trains and buses may run on a reduced schedule.

BART on New Year’s Eve

Service is extended until after 1 a.m. You can read BART’s full announcement about the system’s expanded New Year’s service, but here’s a rundown:

• There will be a special three-line BART service at 1 a.m. on the Orange, Yellow and Blue BART lines.
• The Yellow Line will be the only one running between San Francisco and the Peninsula.
• The Blue Line will run between Bay Fair and Dublin.
• There will be trains waiting at MacArthur and Bay Fair “to complete timed transfers.”
• 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 the SFO and OAK airport stations.
• In case of crowding, there may be extra trains.

BART is not offering free rides on New Year’s Eve, so use BART’s fare calculator to calculate your journey’s fare, and remember that there is a fare increase in January 2026.

Muni on New Year’s Eve

Riding on Muni will be free from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for New Year’s Eve. So remember not to tag your Clipper card or activate a MuniMobile ticket!

Muni will also be running extra services on Wednesday. Some of these extra Muni Metro services:

• S Shuttle Trains between West Portal Station and Fourth & King,
  8 p.m.–2 a.m.
• S Shuttle Trains between Chinatown and Third & Mariposa,
  8 p.m.–2 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 “every 15 to 30 minutes from midnight to 2 a.m.”

• 5 Fulton
• 22 Fillmore
• 24 Divisadero
• 25 Treasure Island
• 38 Geary
• 44 O’Shaughnessy
• 48 Quintara/24th
• 90 Owl
• 91 Owl
• N Owl

AC Transit on New Year’s Eve

All AC Transit rides (including Transbay and Tempo lines) will be free on New Year’s Eve from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The system will also operate on a Sunday schedule on New Year’s Day. See AC Transit’s full schedule and route maps.

SamTrans on New Year’s Eve

According to its website, you can ride SamTrans for free on New Year’s Eve from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

On New Year’s Day, SamTrans will operate on a Sunday schedule.

Caltrain on New Year’s Eve

Rides on Caltrain will be free starting at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

Caltrain will be operating on the weekday schedule on New Year’s Eve .

However, the agency will be offering several extra services that night, including three southbound trains that will depart San Francisco at 1 a.m., 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m.

On Jan. 1, Caltrain will be operating on a weekend schedule.

VTA on New Year’s Eve

VTA will be offering free rides on buses and the light rail from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. 

There will also be extended services on:

• Blue, Green, and Orange light rail lines
• Bus Route Rapid 500 (Berryessa BART – San Jose Diridon)

VTA will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule on Jan. 1.

Capitol Corridor on New Year’s Eve

The Capitol Corridor train network does not provide holiday scheduling on New Year’s Eve.

It does provide it on New Year’s Day and Jan 2, 2026. You can view the schedule on its website.

Audrey Garces contributed to this report.