We are disappointed to share that the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail closure every Monday through Thursday will start on Monday, October 27, 2025.
A free bicycle shuttle will be provided part-time during the closure days. But the service has many problems.
Read on for more details and how you can stay involved in our campaign to reopen the trail 24/7.
Shuttle Details
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has posted information about the trail closure and shuttle service to their website here. We recommend checking out this page before making a trip to the bridge.
There is no set schedule for the shuttle, but MTC says it should pick up on each side of the bridge every 20 to 25 minutes. A real-time shuttle tracking map is available here.
The shuttle vs trail schedule is somewhat complicated, so we have created our own helpful infographic to explain the closure times:
Send Us Your RSR Bike Shuttle Feedback
Whether you have used the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike shuttle, or whether you haven’t for any reason, we want to hear from you!
Fill out our feedback form here to let us know about your experience, or what’s preventing you from using the shuttle.
This information will help to inform our future advocacy on bicycling and walking access across the bridge.
Shuttle Problems
A few items from the Frequently Asked Questions published by MTC are important to note, as they will inhibit shuttle use for some people:
From MTC’s FAQ:
Disabled rider with an adaptive bike? The shuttle will accommodate your bike but not you. The public transit alternatives will accommodate you but not your bike.
From MTC’s FAQ:
Bicycling with a young child? You’ll need to bring a car seat with you. If not, then you have no access across the bridge.
From MTC’s FAQ:
Need to cross after 8pm on a weekday? Use the bus instead. Expect the bus also stops running at 10pm through 6am.
Overnight there will be no trail, no shuttle, and no bus. Meaning zero options to cross the bridge without a car.
We have also inquired with MTC about shuttle access for people with pets, but with no response yet.
How Did We Get to Now?
On August 1st, 2025, Bay Area officials gathered to celebrate the ground breaking of the Point Molate Bay Trail segment, posing for a photo op with the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the background.
Many of them made comments heralding the importance of this 2.5 mile trail segment in connecting people with nature, and extolled the mental and physical health benefits of biking and walking.
Less than a month later, some of these same officials voted at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) meeting to close the 4-mile Bay Trail segment on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge every Monday through Thursday for 3 years, to make space for a car breakdown shoulder.
This is the first time in the commission’s 57-year history that it had ever voted to revert Bay Trail access in this way.
NOTE: We specifically thank BCDC members Yoriko Kishimoto of Santa Clara County and Governor appointee Barry Nelson.
They were two commissioners who voted against the trail closure, staying true to the purpose and charter of BCDC to prioritize “maximum feasible public access” to the SF Bay shoreline.
The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge trail closure was initiated by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which insisted that it was needed in order to “study” a future HOV lane, but without any reasonable justification for why a 3 days/week 3 year impact was necessary.
This is the same MTC whose website about the bridge trail described it as a “vital link in the 500-mile San Francisco Bay Trail” and “A boon for residents in both counties!”.
MTC is offering a free bridge shuttle as an alternative to full access to the trail. But this shuttle does not run at all hours.
There is still 31 hours every week when there is no trail, shuttle, or bus across the bridge. At these times the only crossing option is by car.
The shuttle does not provide full access for individuals with disabilities, and that it has significant access and capacity limitations for various types of adaptive cycles.
The bridge trail closure was also supported Caltrans District 4 staff. This is same agency whose Bay Area Bicycle Plan, published just prior to the vote, recommended “permanent, 24/7 bicycle access” on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
This was listed as a Tier 1 priority and among the “top ten” needs in Marin County, in addition to several other remaining issues restricting safe bike access to the bridge.
The trail closure was described by the Bay Area Council, a mostly North Bay-based industry group that poured tens of thousands of dollars into their misinformation campaign, as necessary in order to protect the interests of East Bay commuters.
But neither they, nor MTC, Caltrans, or BCDC, listened to the Richmond City Council or West Contra Costa Transportation Commission members who each passed resolutions opposing the trail closure.
They also did not listen to the dozens of East Bay-serving community organizations, hundreds of East Bay letter writers, and thousands of East Bay petition signers, who also called for keeping the bridge trail open 24/7.
Bay Area Council organized with Caltrans, CHP, and MTC for a political rally against the bridge trail in May 2025. This rally was held inside the toll plaza parking lot in the middle of the bridge, and only accessible by car.
We have sent Caltrans, MTC, and CHP public records requests for more information on how and why that rally was permitted. So far they are claiming that these records do not exist.
Join Our Anniversary Ride
Despite this setback, we haven’t given up on 24/7 biking and walking access on the bridge.
Riding bikes together is a great way to stay energized. Join us at Richmond BART, 10 AM on Sunday, November 9, 2025, to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the 2019 opening of the bridge trail, and protest for permanent access.
This 17-mile loop ride across the bridge and back is open to all.