When BART put out the call for help, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District answered.

The bridge district’s board is set to approve a contract Friday to run an early morning bus line on behalf of BART while the regional transit agency does seismic retrofit work on the Transbay Tube.

In order to accelerate the construction timeline, BART will give the nighttime construction crews working to upgrade and seismically retrofit the Transbay Tube additional time by pushing back it’s earliest train service one hour to 5 a.m.

Buses from the bridge district will run between the Del Norte, MacArthur and 19th Street BART stations and cross the bridge to the Salesforce Transit Center/Transbay Terminal in San Francisco between 4 – 5 a.m., Monday to Friday.

The service will be publicized as routes 704 and 705, part of BART’s Early Bird Express Service, which will be comprised of buses from seven other Bay Area transit agencies. BART has set the rates for riders at $3.50 for transbay travel and $2.00 for local.

The new line, which is expected to start service February 11, is expected to cost $700 per day of service and will be fully funded by BART.

The contract, which was approved by a bridge district committee Thursday and needs a second vote Friday by the full board for final approval, was set for four years. However it is expected that the additional bus service will only be needed for three and a half. Transit