The Calif. Bay Area’s AC Transit and BART collaborated to launch a one-year pilot program that increases the options for late night commuters, providing new destinations and improved frequency of pre-dawn buses between San Francisco and the East Bay on weekends.

The beefed up afterhours operation, launching this weekend, will include a new route, Line 822, which will extend bus service to BART stations from Mission and 24th streets in San Francisco to Pittsburg-Bay Point in the East Bay. In addition, the frequency of late-night service from San Francisco to Richmond BART (Line 800) and Oakland to BayFair BART (Line 801) will improve from 30 minutes to 20 minutes, whereas the frequency of late-night service from Oakland to Fremont will improve from 60 minutes to 40 minutes.

“Night-life in both San Francisco and Oakland are important aspects of those economies,” said AC Transit Board President Greg Harper. “We are happy that we are able to engage in a joint venture with BART to provide safe and affordable transit for those patrons. This is likely to be the first of many such efforts.”

BART secured $796,000 in funds to conduct the pilot project targeted to those who rely on transit to get to and from work in the late night and early morning hours. A portion of the funds ($496,000) is from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s “Lifeline” program, administered in collaboration with Alameda County Transportation Commission and Contra Costa Transportation Authority, which provides funding for transit services and programs for low income and disadvantaged residents. BART contributed $200,000 from its operating budget and $100,000 is expected from fares from the service.