Timeline of Bay Area Rapid Transit

Full timeline

Year	Month and date	Event type	Details
1947		Report	A joint review board by the United States Army and Navy concludes that an additional link is needed between San Francisco and Oakland to reduce congestion on the Bay Bridge. The proposed link is an underwater tube to carry high-speed electric trains.
1951		Report	The California State Legislature creates a 26-member San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission, comprised of representatives from each of the nine counties which touch the Bay. The Commission's charge is to study the Bay Area's long range transportation needs in the context of environmental problems and then recommend the best solution.
1957		County coordination	Based on the findings of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is formed by the California state legislature, comprising the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Santa Clara county is not included.
1959	May 14	Work contracts	BART retains the services of the joint engineering venture composed of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hall and Macdonald, Tudor Engineering, and the Bechtel Corporation to develop a regional plan.
1959		Financing plan	A bill is passed in the California state legislature providing for financing of what would later become the Transbay Tube through surplus toll revenues from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
1961		System plan	A final plan is sent to the boards of supervisors of the five counties. The system would have three endpoints in the East Bay: Concord, Richmond, and Fremont; one in the Northwest at Novato, and one in the South Bay at Palo Alto.
1962	April	County coordination	San Mateo County opts out of BART, citing high costs, existing service provided by Southern Pacific commuter trains, and concerns over shoppers going to San Francisco, hurting local businesses. The withdrawal of San Mateo County leads to Daly City (just at the border between the counties) as the southwest terminus.
1962	May	County coordination	Following the withdrawal of San Mateo County, Marin County also withdraws, citing engineering objections and the potential for not getting enough votes. This leads to cancellation of the plans for a northwest terminus and the Geary Subway section of the system.
1962	November	County coordination	The remaining three counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco) agree to the modified BART plan, with terminuses at Richmond, Concord, Fremont, and Daly City.
1962	November 29	Work contracts	BART signs a new contract with the successors to the firms it had contracted with to come up with a design for the system. The new contract is for overall system planning through research and development, design, and management of construction. The contract is with the engineering joint venture firm composed of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade, and Douglas (the successor to Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hall, and MacDonald), Tudor and Bechtel. In short, the joint venture to which the work is contracted is called PBTB.
1964	June 19	Construction	BART construction is officially inaugurated by President Lyndon Johnson, presiding over the ground-breaking ceremony for a 4.4-mile test track between Concord and Walnut Creek.
1965		Construction	Construction on the Transbay Tube begins.
1967	July	Construction	Construction for BART tracks along the Market Street Subway in San Francisco commences. The construction is carried out using cut-and-cover.
1967		Work contracts	The contract for the operation of BART's Automated Train Control (ATC) system is won by Westinghouse for $26 million.
1969	April 3	Construction	The final section of the Transbay Tube is laid out (it has not yet been fitted for use by trains).
1969	November 9	Preview	A section of the Transbay Tube is opened for pedestrian traffic, prior to being fitted out for train use.
1972	February and March	Controversy	Three engineers working for BART, Max Blankenzee, Robert Bruder, and Holger Hjortsvang, had identified safety problems with the Automated Train Control (ATC) in 1969–1971. The issue is taken to the board of directors in February 1972. All but two of the directors vote to support management and reject the safety concerns. Management fire the workers in March.
1972	September 11	Service start	BART opens service. Initial service is between the stations of MacArthur and Fremont (completely in the East Bay). The stations are: MacArthur, 19th Street, 12th Street, Lake Merritt, Fruitvalue, Coliseum, San Leandro, Bay Fair, Hayward, South Hayward, Union City, and Fremont.
1973	January 29	New stations	BART opens service from MacArthur to Richmond (in the East Bay). The newly opened stations are: Ashby, Berkeley, North Berkeley, El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito Del Norte, and Richmond.
1973	May 21	New stations	BART opens service from MacArthur to Concord (in the East Bay) completing the East Bay part of its initial plan. The newly opened stations are: Rockridge, Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and Concord.
1973	August 10	Preview	The first test run of a train under automatic control from West Oakland to Montgomery is performed. The train runs at full speed, taking seven minutes and returning in another six minutes.
1973	November 5	New stations	BART opens its service in San Francisco (not yet connected with the East Bay), from Montgomery to Daly City. The stations are: Montgomery, Powell Street Station, Civil Center/UN Plaza, 16th Street/Mission, 24th Street/Mission, Glen Park, Balboa Park, and Daly City.
1974	September 16	New stations	BART opens its station in West Oakland and begins trans-bay service between its East Bay and San Francisco stations.
1976	May 27	New stations	BART opens its Embarcadero station, its first infill station. This would become BART's busiest station.