Is it safe on BART?

Safety is BART's top priority. To help keep passengers and our employees safe, BART has more than 4,000 working cameras throughout our system and we are working very hard to increase both sworn officers and ambassador presence.



Safety on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a nuanced topic that involves both physical security and public perception. In 2026, BART has significantly increased its "Safe and Clean" initiatives, deploying more transit ambassadors and crisis intervention specialists alongside traditional BART Police officers to provide a visible presence on platforms and inside train cars. While violent crime remains statistically low relative to the massive volume of daily commuters, riders often express concerns regarding "quality of life" issues, such as open drug use or aggressive behavior from individuals experiencing mental health crises. To mitigate these risks, BART has invested in "hardened" fare gates to reduce fare evasion and has modernized its surveillance system with high-definition cameras throughout the network. For the average traveler, BART is generally safe, especially during peak commuting hours when cars are crowded. However, it is a "peer-to-peer" best practice to remain vigilant, stay in the lead car near the operator during late-night trips, and use the BART Watch app to discreetly report any suspicious activity to dispatchers in real-time.

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Commitment to Safety & Security Ensuring BART Police are riding trains more, increasing their visibility, and keeping riders safe by doubling officer presence systemwide. Rider surveys show police presence increased 90% from quarter to quarter. Average response time is down to 4 minutes.

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Be aware of surroundings and avoid looking distracted, especially while standing near stairs, escalators, and train doors and anywhere suspects can make a quick exit. Don't sleep on board train cars. The Train Operator is in the first train car; it's a great place to sit if you are traveling alone.

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The safest BART stations were Pittsburg and West Dublin, which had no reported thefts in 2019, Millbrae, with one, and North Concord and South San Francisco, which each had two. BART police made arrests in 67 of the robbery and theft cases involving electronics last year.

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Is the BART train in San Francisco safe to ride these days? Extremely. With the exception of the occasional creep when riding late at night, there is safety in numbers and of course you have to keep your purse closed and hold onto your wallet and your phone.

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Transit Saves You Money The average BART fare is approximately $3.96. For the same price as one year of car ownership, you could take nearly 3,000 average trips on BART – or about seven trips a day. Use our Fare Calculator to determine the exact cost of your trip.

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Make sure you have not left any valuables in stations or on trains. Flammable liquids are not allowed in stations or on trains. Bicycle riding, roller skating and skateboarding are not allowed in stations or on trains. Watch your step when boarding and disembarking trains.

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You'll need to purchase a ticket at the station before riding BART. Your ticket can cover a single ride or multiple rides. Each person must have his or her own ticket, except children age 4 and under, who ride free and do not need a ticket. Be sure to keep your ticket.

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BART actually has a big machine that grinds down the bumps on corrugated track, eliminating some of the noise. This explains why sometimes a portion of the BART system makes loud uuunnnhhh sounds one day and doesn't make a peep the next. You aren't crazy -- they just smoothed out the track at night.

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It's totally safe. If you want to minimize time spent outside the turnstyles (where problems are more likely to lurk), purchase a BART ticket with sufficient funds to travel to the airport earlier in the day. Then, just go straight through the turn-styles.

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They occur every 450 hours a car is in service. If a car is not scheduled for a thorough clean on a given night, it will get a standard clean. Depending on time constraints, cleaners may sweep cars for debris, disinfect seats and poles, scrub graffiti, spray hanging straps with disinfectant, and mop the floor.

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The COVID-19 pandemic changed how Bay Area residents live, work, and travel. It hit BART and all other public transit systems hard, decimating transit ridership and, along with it, the transit fare revenue we rely on to keep trains running. We are in an unprecedented moment, with the survival of BART at risk.

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Glen Park Station is the most beautiful station in the BART system. It was designed by Ernest Born with Corlett & Spackman. Ernest Born was a Bay-Area architect and an accomplished artist and illustrator. He spent a decade collaborating with author Walter Horn to produce the 1979 Plan of St.

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For personal crimes, I saw reports of some robberies and a couple shootings - none were in the early morning hours though. That time if day, you should be with other commuters just going to work. Yes it is safe to take BART at 6 AM from the Hayward station.

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Closing early is a better option than running less frequently or running shorter trains after 9pm because BART will realize immediate costs savings to its operating budget by being able to reassign a significant number of operating staff to capital projects.

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