It's New Year's Eve and Bay Area transit agencies, a San Francisco cab company, and AAA are all offering special service for party-goers tonight. (See the full list of links below for transit agencies offering free or extended service.) In San Francisco, Muni will be free after 8 p.m. Ed Reiskin, chief of the Municipal Transportation Agency, says the city gives up a little farebox revenue for a big safety payoff.
"We want to make sure that people can get around safely and we want to encourage people not to get behind the wheel if they've been drinking," Reiskin says.
For Peninsula and South Bay revelers, Santa Clara Valley light rail and bus service will be free from 7 p.m. through 2 a.m. CalTrain will be free after 11 p.m. and will also run four extra trains out of San Francisco after midnight. Trains will leave at 12:45 a.m., 1:15 a.m., 1:45 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. or when full. SamTrans will offer free bus rides after 11 p.m.
In downtown Oakland, AC Transit will run its "Free B" shuttle service from 7 p.m. through 1 a.m.
BART will not be free tonight, but it will run extra trains into and out of San Francisco and stay open until 3 a.m. New Year's morning. The extra train service will accommodate people attending the New Year's Eve fireworks on San Francisco's Embarcadero--but take note that not all trains will make all stops. The details: