Originally Posted by
KathrynFlyingAway
I've done this. I think it's ok during the day, but I wouldn't do it at night. The nearby neighborhood in Oakland is a bit rough.
I arrived at OAK at 11pm one night last month and took BART home. I certainly would not linger about the outside of the station, but once you're inside you should not have any problems. When I worked at BART a long, long time ago, I took the midnight train home regularly from a different Oakland station, and never a problem. I think the system itself is pretty safe, even for late night travel.
Tom in Fribourg, Switzerland this afternoon