BART sees nearly 200,000 parade-day riders as fans overwhelm Clipper system

Thanks in large part to fans flocking to the Golden Gate State Warriors Championship parade Monday morning, BART reached its highest ridership since the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

The transit system saw 190,519 passengers, though the figures could have been higher. Officials said that due to long and persistent lines at Clipper card stations, passengers were allowed to bypass card purchase so fans would not miss the parade.

BART said the newest ridership stat beats out the previous pandemic ridership high of 152,132 set on April 27.

Aside from the long lines, other issues arose as riders attempted to load Clipper card funds through the Clipper, Apple Pay and Google Pay apps.

A message posted by the official Clipper card Twitter account said the app was experiencing “unprecedented demand” due to the parade.

BART said the top paid stations in San Francisco included the 24th Street Mission, 16th Street Mission, Daly City and Balboa Park stations. Outside The City, Dublin/Pleasanton and El Cerrito del Norte saw the most traffic.

The transit agency provided 12 additional trains to help with crowding.

A record number of people also used BART’s newly reopened restroom facilities. Officials said 312 people had already used the restrooms by 9:19 a.m. — on any other day, restrooms are used by about 120 people total.

The 2012 San Francisco Giants championship parade still holds the record for most BART passengers with 568,061 tracked exits, officials said.

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.