SAN FRANCISCO—Multiple transit agencies offered free rides to passengers going to the annual King Day celebration in observation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 16.
The Freedom or Celebration Train was joined by the Freedom Ferry, Freedom BART cars and Freedom Bus fleet in transporting passengers to King Day celebrations and ceremonies.
The Celebration Train departed to San Jose Diridon Station at 9:45 a.m. and made stops in Palo Alto at University Avenue, San Mateo at First Avenue, and arrived in San Francisco at around 11:00 a.m. dropping off passengers.
Passengers who ride the Celebration Train join the 1.5 mile march from Caltrain Station near Townsend to Yerba Buena Gardens for the annual celebration.
The Celebration Train’s journey replicates King’s 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
In 2015, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Santa Clara Valley announced the Celebration Train would be disbanded, as they could not afford to sponsor free tickets anymore, but reportedly CalTrain sponsors funded the event to continue the tradition.
The transit agency charter a train at $5,000, and approximately 1,245 people signed up to ride The Celebration Train this year, according to the NBC Bay Area News.
Riders who used BART or Muni to get to the festivities had to sign up for the free ride passes on www.mlkday.org.
King Day Celebrations at Yerba Buena Gardens included speeches and choral music. This year there was also a film festival screening movies about slave revolt leader Nat Turner and the history of Jim Crow laws.
