How BART, Caltrain, Muni and other transit will be impacted by the COVID-19 shelter in place order

Bay Are Rapid Transit. Bay Are Rapid Transit. Photo: Zeiss4Me/Getty Images Photo: Zeiss4Me/Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close How BART, Caltrain, Muni and other transit will be impacted by the COVID-19 shelter in place order 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Six Bay Area counties have now issued shelter in place orders to residents, temporarily shuttering non-essential businesses like bars, gyms and salons.

Transit agencies like BART and Caltrain, however, are adjusting to deal with the drastic drop in ridership without disrupting service for those who work in essential roles, such as in hospitals and grocery stores.

Each major agency has issued plans for continuing operation during the shelter in place, outlining only a few changes due to the necessary nature of service.

BART: BART will continue to run regular service to ensure essential business employees can continue to travel to work. The agency has, as of Monday night, experienced a 70% drop in ridership but nevertheless is utilizing long trains to ensure riders can social distance as much as possible. "BART continues to provide regular service for riders performing essential activities or essential work commuters during the shelter in place order," a tweet on Tuesday morning reads.

Caltrain: Caltrain has switched to a reduced schedule for the foreseeable future beginning Tuesday, due to a "significant decline in ridership" following the coronavirus outbreak, the agency stated. For the time being, Caltrain will be suspending its "baby bullet" trains between San Francisco and San Jose.

SFMTA: Muni in San Francisco will as of Tuesday run a "weekday non-school" schedule, with a number of express lines being suspended, including the 1AX/BX, 7X, 14X, 30X, 38AX/BX, NX & #ELine (see the full list here). Additionally, the cable cars and historic F trains, which run between the Ferry Building and Pier 39, will be replaced with regular Muni buses.

AC Transit: Other than suspending "supplemental service" to some East Bay schools, AC Transit has not announced substantial changes to its service.

Golden Gate Transit: Beginning Tuesday, Golden Gate Transit will cancel a number of south and northbound trips "until further notice." Additional trips may be canceled at GGT's discretion. Current trip information is posted on the official website but is subject to change.

Lyft: On Tuesday, Lyft announced it would be "pausing" shared rides across all markets. "The health and safety of the Lyft community is our top priority, and we’re dedicated to doing what we can to slow the spread of COVID-19," the company wrote in a tweet. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and base our actions on official guidance."

Uber: Uber is similarly suspending its shared Pool option to "flatten the curve of community spread," and adding an in-app alert advising passengers to "travel only if necessary."

SF Bay Ferry: The local ferry service will move to a reduced schedule, effective on Tuesday, through at least April 7. Among the changes are a suspension to the Richmond, Harbor Bay or South San Francisco ferry routes, a suspension of weekend service and any routes to Pier 41, and a reduction in weekday service on Alameda/Oakland and Vallejo routes. See the adjusted schedule here.

For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

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Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

