All Nighter

The All Nighter is a night bus service network in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Portions of the service shadow the rapid transit and commuter rail services of BART and Caltrain, which are the major rail services between San Francisco, the East Bay, the Peninsula, and San Jose. Neither BART nor Caltrain operate owl service due to overnight track maintenance; the All Nighter network helps fill in this service gap. The slogan is, "Now transit stays up as late as you do!" History The service launched initially in December 2005, and fully launched on March 19, 2006. BART performs overnight maintenance on its tracks, which requires the agency to shut down third rail power. Since there are no redundant BART lines, service is discontinued during maintenance hours. BART and Caltrain riders who previously faced uncoordinated substitute bus transit service after midnight can now take advantage of the coordinated All Nighter bus service. The service is operated by AC Transit, Muni, SamTrans, and VTA. The agencies have a network of timed transfers, and half-hourly weekend service was implemented between downtown San Francisco and several BART stations along the Richmond and Fremont lines. More frequent weekend service was later implemented as the Late Night Bus Pilot Program, funded by BART's operating budget, after a 2011 study concluded that shifting BART hours to stay open later but also start service later on weekends would adversely impact low-income and minority workers who rely on BART for their commute. AC Transit Route 800 operates along Market Street in San Francisco; this is the first AC Transit route to operate anywhere within San Francisco beyond the Transbay Terminal. On weekends, Route 800 is extended to 24th and Mission.