Half a million people rode BART on Warriors rally day

More than a half million people rode BART into Downtown Oakland Thursday to celebrate the Warriors winning the 2017 NBA Championship.

Though ridership was down 5 percent compared to the 2015 Warriors victory parade, Thursday’s ridership figure of 518,744 riders was still good enough to place fifth on BART’s top 10 weekday ridership list.

The 2015 Warriors victory parade had 548,046 riders taking BART to downtown Oakland, according to the transit agency.

A Warriors game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 3, 2016 was dethroned from the top list, according to BART.

BART officials said riders also took the advice of getting to BART stations early. The transit agency reported that there was 10 percent more entries by 6:30 a.m. compared to early entries at the 2015 Warriors victory parade.

Riders also took the advice of officials to avoid exiting at the Lake Merritt Station when arriving to the parade. Data from BART showed the station had the fewest exits among Downtown Oakland stations.

BART station exits Thursday

SOURCE: BART

Transit officials had set up Clipper card sales booths inside several stations in order to ease crowding at BART ticket vending machines.

Top 10 Weekday Ridership Days on BART

1. Oct. 31, 2012 San Francisco Giants Victory Parade: 568,061 exits
2. June 19, 2015 Warriors Championship Parade and A’s vs. Angels: 548,076 exits
3. Feb. 5, 2016 Super Bowl City: 528,679
4. Nov. 3, 2010 San Francisco Giants Victory Parade and Warriors vs. Grizzlies: 522,198 exits
5. June 15, 2017 Warriors Championship Parade and A’s vs. Yankees: 518,743 exits
6. Oct. 31, 2014 San Francisco Giants Victory Parade: 511,640 exits
7. Feb. 4, 2016: Super Bowl City: 486,596 exits
8. Aug. 29, 2013: Bay Bridge Closure: 475,015 exits
9. Feb. 3, 2016: Super Bowl City: 471,663 exits
10. Oct. 6, 2016, Dreamforce and 49ers vs. Cardinals: 465,688 exits