BART credits World Cup, San Francisco Pride for highest ridership month since pandemic
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) reported multiple post-pandemic ridership records during the month of June, crediting large events including the World Cup and San Francisco Pride for a surge in riders.
The agency said ridership in June was 18.6% higher than in June 2025.
Agency officials said in a statement, "The gains reflect BART's growing role beyond the traditional commute, supporting travel to cultural celebrations, major sporting events, and entertainment throughout the region."
The top five highest ridership days since the start of the pandemic in 2020 all took place last month, officials said. Tuesday, June 9 was the highest single ridership day post-pandemic, with 236,785 trips.
With Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara hosting several matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the agency reported a surge in ridership to the Milpitas station, which connects to VTA Light Rail. Officials said ridership was up 50% compared to the previous June, with traffic up 130% on match days.
Meanwhile, ridership at the San Francisco International Airport station increased 30%.
Pride Weekend in San Francisco also led to post-pandemic ridership records. On Saturday, June 27, a record 158,944 trips were reported.
On Sunday, June 28, when the parade took place, officials said 171,342 trips were reported, a 24% increase from the previous year.
BART reported 59.5 million total trips for the fiscal year ending in June, 13% above the previous year, but considerably below pre-pandemic levels. In Fiscal Year 2019, the agency reported 118.1 million total trips, with an average weekday ridership of about 410,000.
