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BART on the brink? Future of agency likely to hinge on voter-approved funding measure, officials say

Original post made on Jan 30, 2023

Barring a sudden return to pre-pandemic ridership levels, BART's long-term future will likely hinge on a future ballot measure that would partially subsidize the transit agency, officials said Thursday.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Saturday, January 28, 2023, 10:45 PM

Comments (3)

Posted by John Collins
a resident of Livermore
on Jan 30, 2023 at 11:09 pm

John Collins is a registered user.

Concerning the article, 'BART on the Brink', BART needs more than a subsidy if it is to survive. It must encourage more commuters to use BART in order to avoid becoming a past memory. It should do this by providing a large discount for them. Most commuter railroads offer weekly or monthly tickets that save commuters very large amounts. This gives them incentive to justify the inconvenience of using public transit instead of driving. The meager savings that BART gives for buying 'high value tickets' clearly is insufficient to entice people to take BART. Unless BART gains a significant number of commuters, it will see itself become a seldom used system. Its fate is clear. If it fails to get more commuters it will have to cut service leading to a continuing decline in the number of commuters. Every time that it increases the time between trains, decreases the length of trains and decreases the security on the trains BART loses more and more commuters. If it loses too many commuters it will become another transit system that few take and only those who can't afford alternatives will use.


Posted by Jake Waters
a resident of Birdland
on Feb 2, 2023 at 1:17 pm

Jake Waters is a registered user.

I’ve been an avid rider on BART using it to go to A’s games and San Francisco, however; I have always been critical regarding the lack of BART police presence at the stations, platforms, and in the trains. Years ago I wrote the Chief at that time questioning this observation where the BART Police spokesperson blamed it on requests elsewhere for their enforcement- in the parking lots and patrolling the jurisdiction around the stations. End of story.

Conversations with friends, family, and strangers seem to point to this lack of presence as a driving force keeping them away. Either there is nothing worth going to San Francisco for since the increased decay of the city (to include Oakland) or it’s just unsafe to ride after certain hours. The cost of a ticket never entered the conversation.

The cars always smell like weed, and the presence of the homeless making the cars their home bothers a lot of people and I do get that. We put up with it at times, but it has increased to where we have interests elsewhere. Someone needs to hold BART Police responsible for their mission, or all that will be riding the trains are the thugs, drug users, and/or the homeless.


Posted by Nina
a resident of Del Prado
on Feb 4, 2023 at 4:08 am

Nina is a registered user.

Why do we pay tons of taxes when we are paying for everything that Govt should do, we build our own schools, our own public transport, purify our own water. Why taxes?


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