If you board a SamTrans bus on Saturday, Sept. 16, you'll be part of a ridership wave organized to fill local buses, trains and ferries with more weekend passengers than they’ve seen in years. Transit enthusiasts are hoping to top last September’s Saturday peak of 256,421 rides.
ALL ABOARD!
The event is called All Aboard Bay Area Day and is part of the larger Transit Month celebration organized by Seamless Bay Area and San Francisco Transit Riders.
The ridership tally for All Aboard will be determined using Clipper Card data and will likely take several days to calculate. The number to beat also came from Clipper usage, so actual ridership numbers are likely much higher given many passengers use cash, passes and other forms of payment.
The All Aboard ridership challenge is a way to reconnect people with their local transit options as agencies work to regain passengers who dropped off during the pandemic. At SamTrans, we’re moving in the right direction with a nearly 90% return rate. Our adult ridership numbers are even better — surpassing 2019 levels with 104.3%.
“It’s an exciting number,” said SamTrans Operation Planning Manger Jonathan Steketee. “It’s testament to the changes that we’ve made for Reimagine SamTrans thus far.”
TRANSIT MONTH
Transit Month itself started as a week-long celebration back in 2016 with a focus on San Francisco. It expanded to a full month in 2021. Then, last year, it expanded geographically to include SamTrans and other transit agencies throughout the Bay Area.
"During Transit Month we celebrate public transit's indispensable role in our communities and the Bay Area's renewal and recovery,” said Kaleo Mark, the Transit Month organizer for Seamless Bay Area. He says Transit Month is a catalyst for building out a broad base of support for his organization’s transit goals in the region.
MORE EVENTS
The activities list for this year’s Transit Month is still being confirmed as of early August, but some of the local events you can expect to find include:
-
Taking SamTrans 110, 112 or 117 to check out the transit information at Pacifica Fog Fest!
-
Exploring San Mateo County on Caltrain as part of All Aboard, Peninsula.
-
Visiting bike lane sites along El Camino Real with Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition — the ECR is perfect for this one!
NOTE: We’ll continue to check for confirmed Transit Month events and update this post as needed.
At SamTrans, we’re proud to be a part of the Bay Area’s transit network, including our connections for Caltrain, BART, VTA and Muni.