BART offers alternative bus service called the Early Bird Express for weekday service before BART opens.
The schedule chart below reflects service effective August 12, 2024.
View the PDF schedule chart for service effective August 12, 2024.
| Route | Origin/Destination | Operator | Trip |
| 701 | Pittsburg/Bay Point to Salesforce Transit Center | AC Transit | 3:53am |
| 4:05am | |||
| 702 | Pleasant Hill to Salesforce Transit Center | AC Transit | 4:04am |
| 703 | Dublin/Pleasanton to Salesforce Transit Center via Bay Fair/Fruitvale | AC Transit | 3:47am @ Dublin 4:04am @ Bay Fair 4:20am @ Fruitvale |
| 704 | El Cerrito del Norte to Salesforce Transit Center | Golden Gate | 4:20am |
| 713 | Salesforce Transit Center to San Francisco Int’l Airport | SamTrans | 4:01am/ 4:55am |
| 714 | Salesforce Transit Center to Daly City | Muni | 4:05am/ 4:45am |
Feedback and Trip Planning Help by Phone or Email
Phone operators at BART's Transit Information Center are available Monday-Friday, 8 am-6 pm at 510-465-BART (2278). Operators can help riders plan their trips and gather feedback. Riders can also send an email message online here.
Parking
Because BART stations don't open until 5 am, parking during the 4 am hour can not be paid for inside of the stations. To allow Early Bird Express riders to continue to pay for parking between 3:30 am and 5:30 am, BART offers Early Bird/Non-BART Parking through the official BART app.
Please check www.bart.gov/parking for details.
Where to Park
Park in the FEE area of BART stations served by Early Bird Express bus service. Do not park in the PERMIT/RESERVED area. There is ample parking in the fee area during the 4 am hour.
Payment
Five Bay Area bus agencies operate this network. Riders who use the Early Bird Express can pay with either cash or a Clipper card. When using Clipper to pay for the Early Bird Express fare, the payment must be made with money added as cash value to the card. Riders cannot pay for Early Bird Express service using a Clipper purse loaded with High Value Discount (HVD) tickets. For trips taken on Golden Gate Transit, there is a tag on/tag off system for Clipper. All other operators are tag on only. Passengers riding Golden Gate Transit operated buses must remember to tag off when exiting, otherwise they will be charged the maximum fare in the system. LEO passes are not valid on Early Bird Express buses.
History of Early Bird Express
On February 11, 2019, BART shifted its start of service from 4am to 5am on weekdays to allow extra time for a critical seismic retrofit of the Transbay Tube. As that project has been completed, a 5am opening is needed for BART's project to implement Communications Based Train Control.
Prior to moving to a 5am opening in 2019, about 2,900 riders entered our system during the 4am hour.
An alternative bus service plan called the Early Bird Express was developed.