Commute Smooth Despite Concerns

May 1 - KGO (KGO) -- The fear of a traffic nightmare has not yet materialized. Some areas looked like weekend traffic conditions during Tuesday evening's commute.

After a day of free transit, Tuesday morning's commute appeared to be a bit heavier and BART ridership was up nearly 10 percent.

Some people beat the commute by casual carpooling.

Kristen Jordan, casual carpooler: "I decided to become a rider this time because I always drive casual carpool and I didn't want to deal with the traffic going back to Oakland."

And the numbers were also still up for the ferries. Ridership was about the same as it was yesterday.

Ernest Sanchez, Oakland -Alameda ferry: "Yesterday we carried about 6,000 riders and normally we'd carry about 2,000 so we thought it was a very good increase."

For this afternoon's commute, there will be five boats scheduled for the East Bay run but others will be standing by if they're needed.

BART is increasing service by turning some of the trains around at Montgomery station, so they can get back to the East Bay for another run. It's also lengthened the trains.

Jim Allison, BART spokesperson: "We've added cars to trains to make them longer. For instance, all the trains on the airport line are 10 cars long."

San Francisco's Department of Parking and Traffic will also help control the flow of street traffic onto the Bay Bridge.

Twenty-two parking control officers will be stationed at the seven on-ramps; 4 parking officers at the Transbay Terminal; 21 parking officers will help the flow at the ballpark, also because of the game tonight; and extra Muni buses will be put in service if needed.

Maggie Lynch, S.F. Metropolitan Trans. Authority: "The police department's going to help us. They're going to monitor the casual carpool lane on Beale Street which is where all the pickups are for people."

But for the most part, commuters we spoke with said they were finding ways around the accident site.

Commuter: "I'm going to take BART to Dublin-Pleasanton and they have a new shuttle that takes you from BART to the Cole center."

Commuter: "Well, I did drive in today. If I leave early it won't be that bad."

ABC7 talked to some Marin commuters who said the commute Tuesday morning on the Golden Gate Bridge was heavier than normal, which means people are taking the San Rafael-Richmond Bridge from the East Bay.

>> Full BART and ferry schedules here.

Click here for the very latest in Bay Area traffic developments

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