How do you measure BART's impact?
You might look at the numbers. In fiscal year 2024, for example, BART contributed an estimated $2.7 billion* in economic activity to the five counties it serves.
But other impacts go beyond stats and figures: BART makes people’s lives easier, BART reduces traffic, BART helps the environment. Numbers don't tell the whole story.
So, where to begin? We thought we'd start small.
BART Communications has embarked upon a storytelling series that engages with this big question by zooming in on a single station at a time. From this microcosmic vantage point, we can illustrate how just one station transforms and sustains not just a neighborhood, but a broad community of residents, workers, businesses, travelers, and families.
The impact of just one station is immense; imagine the impact of all of BART’s 50 stations taken together! Public transportation facilitates economic growth and livable communities, and that equates to a booming region that will grow and flourish for generations to come.
BART stations are not simply destinations -- stops on a line to get you here and there.
BART stations create destinations.
Case Study #1: Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station
Our first stop on this storytelling journey: Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station.
This station sits at the convergence of Highway 680, the Iron Horse pedestrian and bicycle trail, multiple hotels and office buildings, and a vibrant mixed-use transit village with restaurants, gyms, bars, a dance school, 600-plus apartment complex, the list goes on.
We connected with local homeowners, small business owners, a commuter, a major hotel chain, restaurants, neighborhood hangouts, and an apartment complex to understand firsthand why BART is essential to their bottom lines and the well-being of their community.