Riding the BART

BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit and is a way that you can get around San Francisco and nearby areas. If you are vacationing with relatives and/or friends, you may want to ask them to take you to the nearest BART station so you can explore on your own.

We took the BART one time to the city and it was the day when all BART rides were free! A portion of a major road had collapsed that weekend so as they anticipated some commuter and traffic problems, all BART rides that Monday were free. At first, I was hesitant to ride as I imagined there might be a rush of people but our day turned out okay. Going to the city, the BART was practically empty while coming back, it was fuller. Although we didn't get to learn much about how to go about buying tickets, etc., (since everyone just goes through), at least we saved a significant amount of dollars!

From our station, rides to San Francisco were every 15-20 minutes so the BART was very convenient.

Before going out to visit a particular place, you can try and check your destination's website on the internet and most of the time, there will be directions on how to get there via public transportation (the BART included). You can check which station to get off at and you can go to the BART website to check the ride schedules and even the fare.

At the stations, you can get a lot of brochures from the BART Basics Guide, to the Fares and Schedules, to Fun Places to Go to on the BART.

We spent the whole day in the city (more on these in future entries) and at about 7pm, I think my brother was calling us to ask what time they should pick us up at the BART station near their place. We were out from about 9am to 8 or 9pm. Tibay daw namin. Well, Ali fell asleep on the ride going home. I guess we just made the most of the time in the city. It's not every time that we get to enjoy San Francisco. =)

For more details on the BART, you can visit www.bart.gov