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With a strike by BART employees scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 17, City of Berkeley officials met Friday afternoon to prepare for the expected transit problems. 

Following the meeting, acting City Manager Lisa Caronna issued the following statement: "Like all employers, we know that employees will be affected either directly, because they commute to work on BART, or indirectly, because other routes and transit options will be more crowded. We are asking all of our employees to plan ahead and anticipate how the strike might affect them." 

Besides suggesting carpooling and vanpooling, city officials suggested that persons not familiar with parking in Berkeley should visit the city's Off-Street Parking webpage for information on places to park in the city. While several Berkeley garages offer all-day parking, city officials note that the Elmwood and Berkeley Way lots have limited durations. 

For those interested in biking to, from, or through Berkeley, the city operates a biking information page. 

In addition, the following transportation alternatives and contingency plans for Berkeley residents and workers are being made available by various other local government agencies: 

General information 

    Information on Bay Area transportation alternatives during the BART strike can be obtained at 511.org, website operated by the Metropolitan Transit Commission. 

BART alternatives in Berkeley 

While BART will be operating connecting buses from the East Bay for the Monday to Friday San Francisco commute, no such service will be available directly from any of the three Berkeley BART Stations (Downtown, Ashby, and North Berkeley). 

BART will operate buses between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. from the El Cerrito del Norte BART Station to the West Oakland BART Station, with connecting buses taking commuters to San Francisco from West Oakland BART. The buses will let passengers off at the corner of Fremont and Folsom streets. In the evenings, between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., BART will run return bus shuttles from Fremont and Folsom in San Francisco to the West Oakland BART station, with connecting buses to El Cerrito del Norte BART. Similar bus service will be operated from BART's Dublin/Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, and Fremont stations. 

Round trip fare for the BART transbay commute buses is $5. 

For Berkeley commuters, BART will keep open the Ashby and North Berkeley BART parking lots with free parking, and is encouraging "casual car pooling" from those locations. 

AC Transit 

AC Transit plans no extra bus service in Berkeley in response to the BART strike. 

UC Berkeley 

While UC Berkeley is not planning any new alternative transportation service during the BART strike, the university's Parking and Transportation Division suggests the following alternatives already in place: 

• Join a two-person carpool and obtain a Carpool Permit. 

• Apply for a TransLink Card and receive unlimited rides on AC Transit at the $37 per month rate. 

• Purchase daily scratch-off permits and park on campus.