New fares take effect today for AC transit riders. For adults, fares will increase by a quarter for local rides. For youth and seniors, the fares will increase by 13 cents for cashless payments and 10 cents for cash. This is the first time AC Transit has adjusted its fares since 2019.
The West Oakland BART station was empty. Maybe it was the time of day, but it was difficult to find AC Transit riders. The buses were empty and most people at the BART station were waiting on cars to pick them up.
Tiffany Rucker was riding her bike around the station.
She is 48 years old and lives in West Oakland. She says one of the problems facing AC Transit is that there aren’t enough bus routes. This forces commuters to find other ways to get around.
"There are people that still commute and have no way of commuting unless they take a bike or Uber or something else like that, that's getting the money that they could be getting," she said. "But they're steady raising fares."
One of the only people waiting for the bus was Jaliahla Hawkins. She is a 29-year old mother from East Oakland, who’s ridden AC Transit for as long as she can remember.
While there are programs like Clipper START to help those with low income, Jaliahla says it’s not enough for some folks.
"It's just already hard. I actually use my kids bus pass from the school," she said. "That's how I get around because it's so expensive."
James Bell works at a grocery store across the street from the BART station. James is 47 years old and from West Oakland. He’s been a rider since he was 11 years old. With these fare hikes, he’s thinking about affordability, too.
"It's already kind of difficult for particular people to make ends meet, and that just makes it harder for people to, uh, travel around," he said.
This is the first increase expected for AC Transit. In July 2026, local adult fares will increase by an additional quarter.
