TheSan Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (abbreviatedBART) is aspecial-purpose district body that governs theBay Area Rapid Transit system in theCalifornia counties ofAlameda,Contra Costa andSan Francisco. The system itself also serves northernSan Mateo County andSanta Clara County; however, these counties have bought into the system and have neither a voting stake nor any representatives in the district proper.^[1] The District currently operates 50 stations, 817 rail cars, 131 miles of track (33.5 miles onelevated railway, 65.1 miles of trackat-grade and 32.8 miles of subway track.)^[2]

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (occasionally abbreviated in early years to BARTD) was created in 1957^[3] to provide a transit alternative between suburbs in theEast Bay and job centers in San Francisco'sFinancial District as well as (to a lesser extent) those inDowntown Oakland andDowntown Berkeley.

Of the six Bay Area counties initially envisioned as participants—San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara—only Santa Clara County refused to join when the district was first set up; it originally included both San Mateo andMarin counties. San Mateo opted out in 1962, preferring to utilize funds to build itsfreeway and expressway system.^{[citation needed]} Marin left a month after San Mateo, fearing that it would be unable to absorb its share of operating costs with San Mateo's withdrawal. Marin was also concerned by ongoing debate about the feasibility of running trains across a lower deck of theGolden Gate Bridge.

TheSilicon Valley BART Extension, managed by theVTA, is a 6-mile extension of BART service toSan Jose andSanta Clara inSanta Clara County. Phase I was completed with the opening of theBerryessa/North San José station in 2020, which is the first BART station in San Jose. Phase II includes the build-out toLittle Portugal with the28th Street/Little Portugal station,Downtown San Jose with theDowntown San José station,Diridon station, and into the City of Santa Clara with theSanta Clara station.^[4] Construction and testing is expected to be completed 2028–2030.

The BART district is split into nine electorals districts, each of which elects one board member. The elections are staggered so that directors serve four year terms, with half the board up for election every two years. Odd-numbered districts (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9) vote inpresidential election years, while even-numbered districts (2, 4, 6, and 8) vote inmidterm election years.

One board member acts as president. The board members hire and fire five officers: the general manager, controller-treasurer,independent police auditor, general counsel, and district secretary.

As of November 2024^[update], the current board members are:^[5]

• Electoral district boundaries

• Bay Area Rapid Transit
• Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
• 1957 establishments in California

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