Despite San Francisco canceling its traditional waterfront New Year’s Eve fireworks, many Bay Area transit agencies still plan to offer extended or free service on Friday evening for those heading out to bring in 2022.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will continue its annual tradition of providing free Muni service beginning Friday at 8 p.m. through 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Passengers will not need to tag their Clipper card or purchase a ticket through MuniMobile during the free service hours. Muni Metro fare gates will be open that night.
Between 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m., the SFMTA says they will run extra Muni subway service between West Portal station and Fourth and King streets. From 1:45 a.m. to 2:15 a.m., there will be extra subway service between West Portal and Embarcadero stations.
Additionally, there will be extra Owl service from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., including on the 5-Fulton, 14 Mission and 38-Geary.
SamTrans and AC Transit will also be offering free rides, starting Friday at 8 p.m. through 5 a.m.
Caltrain service will be free starting at 8 p.m. until the end of its special train service, which will make all regular weekday stops in its southbound journey. The first special train will depart 4th and King at 12:30 a.m., or when full. The final special train will depart San Francisco no later than 1:30 a.m.
BART will run regular train service on Friday, but will extend its hours to allow people to celebrate the New Year as well as to help workers get to and from their late-night work shifts, the transit agency said.
The last train heading to the East Bay running through downtown San Francisco will be at around 1:30 a.m. and the last train heading southbound train heading toward Millbrae will run through downtown San Francisco at 2:10 a.m.
More information about BART’s New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day schedule can be found online.
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.
