Friday commute a bit scary on Halloween after Giants parade

Giants fans heeded warnings and took public transportation Friday morning to take part in the World Series parade and celebration in San Francisco, but BART and other transit agencies were feeling the pressure in the afternoon and evening as hundreds of thousands of people tried to get out of the city in time for trick-or-treating.

Though BART was reporting about 20 percent fewer riders than it had for the last parade, in 2012 — the agency’s top ridership day on record — stations were packed.

About 3 p.m., Jonathan Landry, a 28-year-old construction worker from Concord, stood behind nearly 30 people who were queued up just to get tickets at the Powell Street BART Station. Similar lines snaked from each kiosk.

It only took him about 45 minutes to get into the city Friday morning — no longer than usual, he said — and he was still riding a high from the festivities on his return trip.

“The parade was so awesome,” he said. “I got pictures of Bumgarner and Bochy. Even if it takes a while, I can go home a happy man.”

BART planned to run its rush-hour service — maximum-length trains at maximum frequency — the entire day and continue operating until 2 a.m. Officials said they were on pace to see roughly half a million riders on the BART system throughout the day.

By 2 p.m., large crowds began arriving at the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets, where officials planned to run all southbound trains on a “load-and-go” schedule — as soon as they’re full, trains would depart. Because of that plan, all trains would make all stops; no Baby Bullet or limited-stop trains will run.

The trains seat 680 people, said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn, but were leaving San Francisco with well over 1,000 on board as of 5:30 p.m.

“It’s standing room only on every train,” she said. “This will easily be the most riders we’ve ever transported in a day in our 150-year history.”

Dunn said the agency was using every train and operator at its disposal, but the crowds were large enough that long lines couldn’t be avoided.

Golden Gate Bridge District spokeswoman Priya David Clemens said the agency doubled the capacity of its ferries from Sausalito in the morning. Normally, officials allow about 300 aboard, but on Friday they allowed twice that on each boat. The agency also added ferries from Larkspur.

Officials will monitor the crowds Friday afternoon to determine how many boats will be needed, Clemens said. Boats were to depart as soon as they were full.

In the morning, the surge in riders and, in the case of BART, an equipment problem, didn’t exactly make for smooth, comfortable rides, with ferries and trains packed to the gills — even though transit agencies had added extra service.

It didn’t help matters when a routing glitch caused BART delays of at least 20 minutes through Daly City early in the morning.

Caltrain commuter trains from the Peninsula ran behind schedule in the morning because of higher-than-usual ridership, with trains as much as 15 minutes late.