A new, all-night bus service means late-night revelers and night- shift workers no longer need to worry about being stranded across the Bay if they miss the last BART train home at midnight.

"If you've ever complained BART closes too early, you'll love the All Nighter," promised Seth Schneider, communications director for the Transportation and Land Use Coalition, a public-policy group that suggested the nighttime bus service in 2001.

The new All Nighter service runs from 1 to 5 a.m. -- and longer on weekends, when BART runs less frequently -- and gives transit riders throughout the Bay Area expanded options for catching a bus home, whether they are watching a late show in San Francisco or catching some overtime on the job in Dublin.

"I'm very excited about this," said Lynda Knighten of Pittsburg, a cook at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco who regularly has to give up shifts or rearrange her work hours around BART's schedule. "This is something I've been waiting for four years."

The buses serve most BART stations in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. For the first time, late-night service connects riders in Livermore, Dublin and Pleasanton to the Bayfair BART station and runs along theRichmond and Fremont BART lines from downtown San Francisco or Oakland.

Also a first: AC Transit's Transbay lines now make late-night stops at downtown San Francisco BART stations, rather than leaving only from the Transbay Terminal on Minna Street.

Five regional transit agencies participate in the program and have coordinated their schedules to maximize stops and minimize transfer times.

Participating agencies are AC Transit, serving the East Bay and parts of Contra Costa County; County Connection, serving central Costa Contra County; San Francisco's Muni; SamTrans, with service from San Francisco to Palo Alto; and Wheels, serving Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore. All Nighter fares are the same as regular bus fares, which vary by transit agency.

All Nighter buses started running Sunday, and the service was officially launched at a news conference Tuesday, where officials handed out commemorative Milky Way Midnight candy bars.

The program will cost about $1.8 million a year, all of it funded by Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase approved by voters in 2004 to enhance transit services.

Besides helping workers such as Knighten and giving riders more flexibility, the All Nighter will help cut down on drunken and "drowsy" driving, officials said. Accidents from those causes peak between midnight and 6 a.m.

"It seems to me, people have been concerned about this problem since time immemorial," said Rebecca Kaplan, a member of the AC Transit Board of Directors and former TALC staffer who thought up the all-night bus network after staying out too late with friends in San Francisco and missing her BART train back to Oakland.

Even Cinderella had to cut her party short lest she miss her ride, Kaplan said.

"In the Bay Area, we can do better than having our carriage turn into a pumpkin at midnight," Kaplan said.

More information and All Nighter schedules are available at 511.org or by calling 5-1-1 and saying "All Nighter."

Contact Michelle Maitre at mmaitre@angnewspapers.com.

Copyright ANG Newspapers Mar 22, 2006