BART Alternatives for SF Commute

I agree that BART is becoming unbearable. Thus far my only solution is to try to ride at off-peak hours.  

I've been doing Casual Carpool in the mornings and taking the Transbay AC Transit bus back in the evenings. Working pretty well for me! I wish I could do Casual Carpool both ways but unfortunately it doesn't look like there's a return to Emeryville. Plenty of returns to other locations, though.

Bonus: it's a LOT cheaper at $1/ride than any other option out there.

It's hard to respond without knowing where you're commuting from. From your username, I'm guessing Berkeley? There is a ferry that runs to the Ferry Building in SF from Jack London Square and Alameda and it's very pleasant. I usually ride it home in the evening and commute on BART in the morning, but later than most so it's not super crowded. 

Don't you miss the days wen no one rode on BART?    Try the bus, (free WiFi), bike, ferry or train. 

You don't mention where you are commuting from, however the Transbay bus is usually a more comfortable ride.  Depending on your bus line and where you are in the order of stops you can usually get a seat.  The downside is the Transbay buses usually take longer than, say, casual carpool due to multiple stops.  Both buses and casual carpool obviously can take advantage of the carpool lane at the toll plaza but once you pass the metering lights you are at the mercy of the traffic gods.  

I would advise against uber or Lyft only because I feel like these ride share services are contributing to morning traffic and making everyone worse off.  However of you use a ride service to get to a transportation point and you otherwise would have driven, there is value to that. 

I would fully support and use a ferry to SF out of Berkeley Marina.  The ferry feom Alameda/Jack London is also a great way to go but again takes a while for Oakland travelers.  

BART really has gotten awful these past few years.  I avoid it whenever possible.  

Transbay bus works well if you live near the beginning to middle of a route.  Supposedly there is a "not-yet-public" ferry service starting from Berkeley to Pier 2 very soon.  I think you need to reserve a seat on the ferry.  Don't know the hours.

It would be helpful if you posted your commute starting point.  I could tell you about the casual commute from my neighborhood in Oakland (which works great for the morning commute), but if you're in Albany, for example, it might not be the same.