Parade Packed Bay Area Transit Agencies To Capacity
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – The San Francisco Giants victory parade meant packed streets – and also buses, trains and ferries trying to get into and out of San Francisco.
Transit agencies were packed to capacity, with possible record ridership numbers for Bay Area Rapid Transit, the Municipal Transportation Agency and Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.
KCBS' Bob Butler Reports:
Muni Metro normally carries about 160,000 people a day, but spokesman Paul Rose said those numbers took a huge jump to almost 250,000 on Wednesday.
"That is slightly more than the 2010 parade and the most since the Super Bowl celebrations of 1988 and 1989," Rose said.
BART had its highest daily ridership ever, topping more than 553,000 exits as of 10:00 p.m. Wednesday night. That broke the record set during the last Giants victory parade on November 3, 2010, when more than 522,000 passengers went through the transit agency's gates.
Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District spokesman Mary Currie said the Larkspur Ferry was packed to the brim as well.
"We had about 6,000 Giants fans ride the Golden Gate Ferry into the parade celebration between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.," she said.
Caltrain carried around 22,000 passengers up to San Francisco, more than double the normal ridership on an average weekday.
While most Bay Area transit agencies saw huge numbers, the roads were a little less crowded than normal heading into San Francisco, with lighter traffic reported on both the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge.
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