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BART Strike Survival Guide

Editor's note: the following is the current information being made public by local transit agencies. Details will be updated as more specifics are provided by transportation officials - Last Updated 10/18:

With unions declaring a strike after the latest impasse in the BART negotiations, transit officials have urged anyone who can to telecommute, ride a bike, or shift work schedules to off-commute hours.

As with the first strike, BART is providing charter buses from the East Bay to San Francisco in the morning, and back for the evening commute. Those buses will only have the capacity to serve about 6,000 passengers each day, far fewer than the 400,000 passenger load which the transit system normally accommodates. BART is providing limited round trip charter bus service at no charge from El Cerrito del NorteWest OaklandConcordWalnut Creek, Lafayette, Dublin/ PleasantonSan Leandro,Hayward, and Fremont stations directly into San Francisco from 5 am to 8 am and back from a stop near the San Francisco Transbay Terminal (loading zone located at Howard Street between Fremont Street and Beale Street) from 3 pm to 7 pm.  BART will have 5-15 buses at each station during the weekday.

This service will operate in the commute direction only. That means buses will go to San Francisco in the morning and to the East Bay in the evening for round trip ticket holders only.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is also suggesting that riders take advantage of free parking at any BART station or Park & Ride lot for carpooling purposes. 511.org offers a map of casual carpool pickup locations, and ride sharing options. Travelers also can use #casualcarpool on Twitter to find out where there are drivers needed or to tweet out where riders are needed.

On the Bay Bridge and its approaches, carpool lane hours are expanding from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. and motorists are advised to use FasTrak passes to expedite trips through the toll plaza. Caltrans says additional toll takers will be on duty and HOV lanes on 880 and 80 will likely be extended in order to ease the Bay Bridge commute. Click here for additional information on extended toll lanes.

For those who need to find an alternate public transit option, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has worked to ramp up service on other systems, and updates will be made available on 511.org.

AC Transit: Bus Service Between East Bay And San Francisco
AC Transit officials say there is available capacity on existing bus routes to and From San Francisco from the East Bay, and additional trans-bay service will be added when possible. More information on AC Transit's BART strike plan can be found on the system's website.

Golden Gate Transit: Accessing San Francisco from the East Bay via Marin County
No additional routes will be offered in the event of a new strike. Officials have said that North Bay ferries are already operating near capacity, and that they should not be used as a BART alternative for people traveling from the East Bay to San Francisco and vice versa. Instead, officials urge anyone taking transportation through Marin county to consider bus service due to already heavy traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. For more information on bus routes, visit the Golden Gate Transit information page regarding the strike.

Caltrain and SamTrans: Peninsula Alternatives To BART
-Caltrain Officials have warned riders to expect delays due to a jump in ridership and say equipment and personnel constraints will prevent additional service. Some additional seating is available on regularly scheduled trains.  All trains will be stopping at the Millbrae Station to take advantage of free parking at the nearby BART lot - Click here for more info.

-SamTrans is operating on its regular schedule, but pickup locations have been moved outside of San Mateo county BART stations. Additional information is available online.

SF Muni: The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency is referring riders to 511.org for complete information, but during the previous strike, routes along the BART corridor were being prioritized during the stoppage, including the 14 Mission, 49 Van Ness, J-Church and N-Judah lines. The SFMTA is also directing people to a map of downtown San Francisco BART alternatives, including a map of routes that run parallel to regular BART lines.

San Francisco Bay Ferry:  As during the last strike, Francisco Bay Ferries has added additional boats servicing Oakland, San Francisco, Alameda, Alameda Harbor Bay and Vallejo. Route-specific schedules in the event of a strike are available on the system website.

VTA: South Bay Transit Options
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation authority is referring riders to 511.org for additional details on transit options.

County Connection & WestCAT: CoCo County Alternatives
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County Connection  The system has added buses to travel from the Concord BART station and connect with AC Transit service in Oakland at Broadway and 20th Street. Additional Information will is posted on the system website.

-WestCAT The bus system will operate all JPX routes to and from San Francisco. This will provide additional trips into San Francisco from Hercules and also from Pinole during the strike. This will provide an approximately 11 additional morning trips into San Francisco and in the evening approximately an additional 15 trips. These trips will operate every 15 minutes during the peak. Click here for complete information on service changes related to the strike.

Capitol Corridor Service: East Bay Train Commuting
Trains are running normally along the system, and administrators have posted connecting information online for individuals who would normally link up with BART service.

Editor's note: If you would like a text message from KCBS if a BART strike is announced, text the word ALERT to 45227.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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