BART Real-Time Departures Scraper

BART Real-Time Departures Scraper

Get real-time BART departures for any station, up to a million per run. Each departure includes destination, platform, delay, and train length. No login or API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

BART's official API requires a key and rate-limits you. This reads the public real-time departure feeds directly, filtered by station and maximum departures, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape BART for
Commuters	Check when the next train leaves their station
Transit app developers	Feed live departure data into their apps
Data analysts	Study BART service patterns and delays
Researchers	Analyze public transit performance over time

What it does

This Actor collects real-time BART departures by station abbreviation and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🚉 Station selection: choose one or more station abbreviations, or use ALL for every station.
• 🔢 Departure limit: set the maximum number of departures to return, from 1 to 1,000,000.
• 🔑 Optional API key: use your own BART API key for higher limits, or rely on the public key for light usage.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with BART data

🚇 Build a departure board.

A developer runs the Actor every minute for station MONT and displays the next trains on a screen.

📊 Analyze service delays.

A transit analyst collects departures for all stations over a week and computes average delay per line.

🔔 Send commute alerts.

A hobbyist schedules the Actor for station EMBR and gets a notification when the next train is delayed.

📈 Track platform usage.

A researcher gathers departures for station POWL to see which platforms are most active at rush hour.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Real-time data	Departures are fetched live from BART's public feed
Flexible stations	Query one station, several, or all 50 BART stations
Scalable output	Return up to a million departures per run for paid users
Simple schema	Each departure is a flat row with destination, platform, delay, and more

How it compares

No other Store actor targets BART the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	BART Real-Time Departures Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When BART changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from station abbreviations and a maximum departure count, and filters run as each departure is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "stations": [
    "12TH"
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "stations": [
    "12TH"
  ],
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the BART Real-Time Departures Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to BART through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/bart-realtime-departures-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your station abbreviations are correct. Use the list in the input schema or try ALL to see all stations.

Why am I limited to 10 departures?

Free Apify users are limited to 10 departures per run. Upgrade to a paid plan to increase the limit.

Why do I get an error about the API key?

The public key may be rate-limited. Provide your own BART API key in the input to avoid this.

Why is the data not updating?

BART's feed updates every few seconds. If you run the Actor repeatedly, you should see new departures. If not, check your station selection.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a BART API key?	No, the Actor includes a public key that works for light usage. You can provide your own key for higher limits.
How do I specify stations?	Use the station abbreviations like 12TH, MONT, or EMBR. You can select multiple stations or use ALL for every station.
What is the maximum number of departures I can get?	Free users are limited to 10 departures per run. Paid users can request up to 1,000,000 departures.
How fresh is the data?	The Actor fetches departures in real time from BART's public feed, so the data is as current as BART provides.
Can I export the results?	Yes, you can export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
What does each departure record include?	Each record includes destination, platform, delay, train length, and other fields from BART's feed.
Is this Actor affiliated with BART?	No, this is an independent scraper that uses BART's public data. It is not endorsed by BART.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run it every minute, hour, or day.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.