BART Offering 'Flash Passes' for New Year's Eve.

City Desks

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2003

BART will once again sell special "New Year's Eve Flash Passes" that will allow unlimited rides on BART over the holiday evening.

For the past four years, BART has issued a New Year's Eve flash pass to facilitate safe holiday travel for BART riders. The special "New Year's Eve Flash Passes" will allow unlimited rides on BART from 6 p.m., Wednesday, December 31 to 3 a.m., Thursday, January 1, 2004.

The passes, which go on sale Monday, December 15, will cost $5.00 each. Passengers with the passes only need to show them to the BART Station Agent and pass through the station emergency gate. The special passes will not fit in BART fare gates.

BART official's hope the flash passes will encourage more people to forego driving on the holiday night. BART introduced the New Year's Eve Flash Passes four years ago as a special turn-of-the-century pass and souvenir. The concept was so successful that the BART Board of Directors approved a resolution to establish an annual holiday pass program that includes New Year's Eve and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Only 30,000 of this year's special "New Year's Eve Flash Passes" will be sold on a first come first serve basis. The passes will be available at Safeway stores in the greater Bay Area: the BART Customer Service Center at the Lake Merritt BART Station; the Transit Store at the Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell Street and Civic Center BART stations; and through select "Tickets-To-Go" vendors, which are listed on the BART website at www.bart.gov or by calling the Telephone Information Center at 510/465-BART.

For additional fare and train information, call 510/465-BART or the toll free number listed in local telephone directories.