San Francisco Muni, BART and other agencies provide special New Year's Eve service
A number of Bay Area public transit systems are offering free and/or extended service to New Year's Eve revelers across the region to discourage people from drinking and driving.
The free service being offered by the agencies will begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday evening and continue until 5 a.m. Wednesday morning in most instances (SamTrans will be free until 3 a.m.). Additional information and links to the various agencies can be found below.
SF Muni
San Francisco Muni will offer free rides on New Year's Eve for the 25th year in a row, to help keep celebrants from drinking and driving.
The free rides will be offered from 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 through 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1.
Free Muni on New Year's Eve will include all Muni lines and routes. Clipper Card customers should not tap their cards to make sure they don't get charged a fare.
Muni Mobile passes won't be necessary, and Metro fare gates will remain open Tuesday night.
All information, including schedules and stops, will be posted on the New Year's Eve Free Muni and Extra Service webpage.
At midnight on New Year's Eve, a city-sponsored fireworks show from a barge off the Embarcadero, south of the Ferry Building, will take place.
Motorists should anticipate delays in the area from approximately 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and pedestrians are advised to use caution when traveling.
Santa Clara VTA
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will operate on a Sunday/Holiday schedule on New Year's Day, VTA said in a press release.
The light rail blue and green lines will operate extended service with the last trains leaving around 1:30 a.m. on New Year's Day.
The light rail orange line will offer later service trains between the Baypointe and Alum Rock stations. The last eastbound train will depart Baypointe Station at 12:27 a.m. and the last westbound train will leave Alum Rock station at 12:58 a.m.
In addition to free rides on New Year's Eve, VTA's seasonal historic trolley will be operating this upcoming weekend. A trolley will travel every hour between the Civic Center and Diridon stations from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Rides on the historic trolley will also be free.
AC Transit
AC Transit continues to support your transit needs, including getting you where you need to go safely on New Year's Eve. Riders will be able to ride all AC Transit buses -- including Transbay and Tempo lines -- free of charge. All AC Transit local and Transbay lines will operate on Sunday schedules on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. All AC Transit offices will be closed on January 1, 2025.
Additional information is available at the ACT website.
BART
While BART will not be free on New Year's Eve, the agency will be providing extended hours of service.
The special three-line service in both directions on the Yellow, Blue and Orange lines only will use a total of six trains for the 1 a.m. extended service. The Yellow Line will be the only line running in San Francisco and Peninsula, while the Blue Line will run between Bay Fair and Dublin/Pleasanton.
The final train headed to the East Bay running through downtown San Francisco will be at around 1:30 a.m. early Wednesday morning, with the last southbound train heading toward Millbrae passing through the downtown San Francisco stations at 2:10 a.m.
Trains will be waiting at MacArthur and Bay Fair stations to complete timed transfers.
Yellow Line and Orange Line trains in all directions will be timed to meet at MacArthur Station at 1:47 a.m. This is the transfer point for riders coming from San Francisco heading toward Richmond or Berryessa or riders coming from the East Bay heading toward San Francisco.
Orange Line and Blue Line trains will be timed to meet at Bay Fair Station at 2:16 a.m. Dublin-bound riders can take the Berryessa-bound Orange Line train and transfer at Bay Fair Station. SFO and Oakland Airport service will not be available on the later trains.
After the final trains reach their destinations Wednesday morning, the transit system will shut down, reopening at 8 a.m. and operating on a Sunday schedule through midnight. Additional information can be found on the BART website.
Caltrain
In addition to free service after 8 p.m. Tuesday evening, Caltrain will be offering extended New Year's Eve service.
Caltrain will be operating on regular weekday schedule Tuesday prior to the city-sponsored fireworks show at 12 a.m. Additional southbound trains will leave San Francisco at 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. or when full. The trains will make all local stops to San Jose Diridon after the fireworks, with the last train leaving San Francisco at 2 a.m.
Caltrain wants to remind riders that open alcoholic beverages are prohibited on trains starting at 9 p.m. on special events days and nights. Disruptive passengers will be asked to leave Caltrain property.
SF Muni will also provide additional post-fireworks service connecting with the San Francisco Caltrain station at 4th and King streets. More information is available on the Caltrain website.
SamTrans
The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) will offer its traditional free bus rides on New Year's Eve and during the early morning hours of New Year's Day. Buses will operate on a regular weekday schedule with free service beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday evening.
On New Year's Day, SamTrans buses will run on a Sunday schedule. More information is available on the SamTrans website.
