Fruitvale station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, California. The elevated station has two side platforms. The station is served by the Orange, Green, and Blue lines.

Fruitvale
Fruitvale station in March 2018
General information
Location3401 East 12th Street
Oakland, California
Coordinates37°46′29″N 122°13′27″W / 37.7748°N 122.2241°W / 37.7748; -122.2241
Line(s)BART A-Line
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport AC Transit: O, 1T, 14, 19, 20, 21, 39, 47, 51A, 54, 62, 706, 801, 851
Construction
Structure typeElevated
Parking1,268 spaces
Bicycle facilitiesRacks, station, 20 lockers
AccessibleYes
ArchitectNeil Smith
Reynolds & Chamberlain[1]
History
OpenedSeptember 11, 1972
Passengers
20243,694 (weekday average)[2]
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station
Lake Merritt
toward Daly City
Blue Line Coliseum
Green Line Coliseum
Lake Merritt
toward Richmond
Orange Line
Preceding station AC Transit Following station
31st Avenue Tempo
Station on International Boulevard
39th Avenue
Location
Map

History

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Protesters after the 2009 police shooting of Oscar Grant

By August 1965, the city of Oakland's preferred name for the station was "Fruitvale".[3] BART approved the name that December.[4] Service at the station began on September 11, 1972.[5] Due to a national strike that year by elevator constructors, elevator construction on the early stations was delayed. Elevators at most of the initial stations, including Fruitvale, were completed in the months following the opening.[6][7]

Planning for mixed-use transit oriented development (TOD) to replace the surface parking lots beginning in the late 1990s. The first phase included 47 residential units, 37,000 square feet (3,400 m2) of retail, a charter high school, a health clinic, a preschool, a senior center, a public library, and a BART parking garage; it was completed in 2004. BART sold the remaining surface lot to the Oakland Redevelopment Agency in 2010. A 94-unit residential building opened in 2019, followed by a 181-unit building with 6,000 square feet (560 m2) of retail space in 2024.[8][9]: 7  The redevelopment of the station area to a mixed-use "transit village" has served as a model for similar planning elsewhere in the Bay Area.[10] As of 2024, BART indicates "significant market, local support, and/or implementation barriers" that must be overcome to allow additional TOD on the Derby Avenue parking lot and the busway. Such development would not begin until at least the mid-2030s.[9]: 17 

On January 1, 2009, a BART police officer fatally shot an unarmed man, Oscar Grant III, at Fruitvale station while responding to reports of a fight on a train.[11][12] Grant's death sparked several protests in Oakland, and was one of several police killings that contributed to the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement.[13][14] Fruitvale Station, a film about the killing, was released in 2013.[15]

Tempo bus rapid transit service on International Boulevard began on August 9, 2020.[16] The line's Fruitvale station is located about 600 feet (180 m) northeast of the BART station.[17] Installation of second-generation BART faregates at the station took place from August 13–21, 2024.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4. OCLC 85623396.
  2. ^ "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 2024.
  3. ^ "Differences On Transit Stop Names". Oakland Tribune. August 24, 1965. p. 50 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay". Oakland Tribune. December 10, 1965. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
  6. ^ "Strike Delays Elevator Service at Some Stations". Oakland Tribune. September 10, 1972. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Four BART Lines Make The System". The Independent. February 26, 1973. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Completed TOD projects". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024.
  9. ^ a b BART Transit-Oriented Development Program Work Plan: 2024 Update (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2024.
  10. ^ "Development without gentrification? Oakland's Fruitvale is the model, report says". The Mercury News. 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  11. ^ Tucker, Jill; Zito, Kelly; Knight, Heather (January 2, 2009). "Deadly BART brawl – officer shoots rider, 22". San Francisco Chronicle.
  12. ^ Bulwa, Demian (January 5, 2009). "BART appeals for calm as footage shows shooting". San Francisco Chronicle.
  13. ^ Williams, Yohuru. "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Kills You: Baltimore, Freddie Gray and the Problem of History". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  14. ^ "Trayvon Martin. Marissa Alexander. Oscar Grant. Justice for all! #blacklivesmatter". Black Lives Matter. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  15. ^ Zuckerman, Esther (July 12, 2013). "Ryan Coogler on Humanizing a Movement for 'Fruitvale Station'". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021.
  16. ^ "AC Transit Tempo Opens to Riders Sunday, August 9" (Press release). Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District. August 7, 2020.
  17. ^ "Schedules & Fares: Fruitvale Station". Metropolitan Transportation Commission. August 14, 2023.
  18. ^ "Installation work to begin week of August 11th for Next Generation Fare Gates at Fruitvale Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. August 1, 2024.
  19. ^ "New Fare Gates & Station Hardening". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 2024. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024.
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