Transit agencies expand service for busy Outside Lands, Halloween weekend

It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend in San Francisco with Halloween falling on a Sunday and the three-day Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival making its return to Golden Gate Park. Bay Area transit agencies are gearing up for crowds expected on buses and trains.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says it will provide supplemental Muni service on all three days of Outside Lands in order to accommodate the swarm of concert attendees.

The agency says people attending Outside Lands can take the N-Judah or 5R-Fulton to the park for pre-concert service.

At the end of each festival night, from approximately 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., the agency will run the 5X-Fulton express bus service that will operate one way in the eastbound direction to the UN Plaza/Civic Center BART station. Riders can catch a non-stop express bus at Fulton Street and 30th Avenue. 

The SFMTA will also provide supplemental service on the N from 3 p.m. until about 11 p.m. from La Playa to the Caltrain station.

Taxi service will be available from 9 a.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Monday at temporary taxi stands located on the south side of Fulton Street between 24th and 25th avenues and 28th and 29th avenues. 

Outside Lands organizers say Uber and Lyft pickups and dropoffs will take place adjacent to George Washington High School on Balboa Street and 31st Avenue. Uber and Lyft users heading to the concert are asked to request this location in order to avoid excessive traffic on Fulton Street.

The music festival also offers free bike parking during festival hours.

BART is adding extra late-night train service on Sunday, adding one Transbay 10-car train every hour, timed to meet with two other trains in the system. The agency says it will service 48 out of the 50 stations, including all but airport stations.

More BART service may be added after 9 p.m. Sunday, but officials said that decision depends on the number of operators who volunteer to work those shifts.

The agency has posted online schedules for the last trains leaving the Civic Center station and timetables for special hourly service.

Outside Lands attendees also have the option to pre-pay for shuttle service provided by festival organizers, which will travel from Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to the south entrance of the event grounds.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.