AirBART

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AirBART stop at Oakland International Airport
AirBART stop at Oakland International Airport

AirBART is a shuttle bus service that connects the Bay Area Rapid Transit District's Coliseum/Oakland Airport station with Oakland International Airport (OAK). Buses stop at street level just outside the BART station and make two stops at the airport, one for each terminal, along the second (middle) curb. Buses run every ten minutes at most times of day. A ride costs $3 ($1 for children 12 years and younger, seniors 65 years and older, and disabled persons) and, depending on traffic, takes fifteen to thirty minutes.[1] To speed up boarding, AirBART requires exact fares to be paid for boarding the bus, which can be fulfilled with either exact change, 1-dollar bills, or a $3 BART ticket.

BART currently plans to build a people mover between the Coliseum/Oakland Airport station and the Oakland Airport terminals; revenue service is scheduled to begin by 2011. Since the connector will be quite expensive to build, maintain and operate, fares of as much as $5 have been proposed for the service and a $1 fare hike was implemented on March 1, 2007 to improve existing service and to gauge the appetite of consumers for future fare increases. [2] This connector will replace the current bus service; it is currently unclear whether the AirBART name will be retained for this service.[3]

AC Transit offers alternative bus service to AirBART. It is cheaper, especially with transfers available from BART and Amtrak or when already taking AC Transit, and operates during the night when AirBART does not. However, it can be harder to find, less frequent and take longer.

AirBART's fleet consists entirely of 1998-model Gillig Low Floor buses and was one of the first customers of the bus model.

[edit] References

  1. ^ BART to OAK
  2. ^ Bring an extra dollar if you're riding AirBART, the Oakland Tribune, January 24, 2007, retrieved on January 26, 2007
  3. ^ BART Projects


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AirBART makes only one stop at the Oakland Airport now. The singular stop serves both terminals.