Bay Area Transit agencies report ridership increases in the first quarter of 2025

    April 22, 2025
    In the first three months of the year, Bay Area transit agencies have seen big gains in their ridership as agencies make the switch to zero-emission fleets.
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    BART
    BART Fleet of the Future train.
    BART Fleet of the Future train.

    Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) says Bay Area transit agencies have seen a wave of increasing ridership in the past three months. Agencies have reported double digit gains in ridership compared with the same period last year. Caltrain led the charge with a 50 percent ridership increase over the first three months of 2025, which BART says was fueled largely by the agency’s switch to an all-electric service. The nine agencies reporting gains handled a combined total of 3.24 million more trips from January through March compared with the same period in 2024. 

    Caltrain was not alone in seeing a major ridership increase during the first three months of the year: 

    • Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) saw a ridership bump of 38 percent. That increase means SMART’s ridership averaged 134 percent of pre-pandemic levels. 
    • San Francisco Bay Ferry had a 21 percent increase from a year ago. That number is 47 percent higher than ridership in 2023. 
    • Golden Gate Ferry ridership increased nearly 16 percent from last year and 40 percent from 2023. 
    • Ridership for Marin Transit jumped 10 percent, Petaluma Transit was up seven percent and Golden Gate Transit increased five percent. 

    Larger systems also saw significant ridership growth in the first three months of the year. BART ridership was up almost 6.5 percent from 2024 while Muni increased by four percent. 

    “This growth in ridership is happening as transit agencies make major investments in improving the rider experience with an emphasis on boosting safety, cleanliness and reliability,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “BART hosts a weekly meeting with the transit leaders from each agency to coordinate on everything from preparing for Super Bowl 2026 and FIFA World Cup to better synching our schedules.” 

    These ridership gains come as transit agencies are still recovering from post-pandemic ridership declines and are about to run out of federal and state emergency funds. Agencies have used these funds to invest in quality service for the Bay Area as more people are making trips and choosing transit. Many face the potential of devastating cuts that will have serious impacts on the Bay Area’s quality of life. 

    BART notes Bay Area’s transit agencies, working with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), are prioritizing collaboration to make the rider experience more seamless. These efforts include a regional mapping and wayfinding project to provide a unified look and feel for maps and directional signs. Transit agencies have also been working together to identify opportunities to reduce total travel times across services and coordinate schedule changes. MTC and Bay Area transit agencies have a joint website to share the various projects they are coordinating on to improve transit.