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BART Response to Union Leaders October 18, 2013

In response to the union leaders’ statement tonight, BART would welcome an end to the strike. The union leaders’ letter is simply a repeat of the same unacceptable offer they made at the bargaining table yesterday before the union leaders ordered members to walk off the job. BART has made a last, best and

BART repaving, restriping parking areas at Colma Station

Beginning Monday, June 4, BART will be repaving and restriping parking areas, pick-up and drop-off areas and bus stops on the north side of the Colma BART Station and in the parking structure. The Hill Street and El Camino Real entrances and exits to Colma Station will be closed during this work. Use the F

BART’s “Role in the Region” detailed in new report that describes the benefits of BART and the devastating impacts of a Bay Area without it

A black banner with white text reading "BART's Role in the Region" with text underneath reading "BART is integral to the San Francisco Bay Area's travel, economy, climate, housing, equity, culture, health, sustainability and affordability.

A new report released today paints a bleak picture of a Bay Area without BART while highlighting the benefits of the transit system to the region with a wide range of metrics.

Click here to view a pdf of the report and visit the project webpage at bart.gov/roleintheregion.  

BART's Role in the Region Report aims to inform a regional conversation about the future of BART by describing its contributions to the Bay Area. It also provides predictions for how the Bay Area – its economic viability, traffic-choked roadways, cultural institutions, and more – will look without BART.  

“The Bay Area and our regional transportation network have undergone significant changes since BART last conducted a Role in the Region study in 2016," said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “The 2024 Role in the Region Report arrives at a crucial crossroads for BART and the region, and the data, analyses, and stories within will serve as an important educational resource for the pivotal years ahead.”  

In the report, you will find insights into key topics, including changes in travel patterns and funding; BART’s holistic benefits to the Bay Area; and BART’s future.  

Below is a snapshot of some of the report’s findings: 

This graph compares the full roundtrip BART and driving costs for four common trip types with example origin and destination pairs: long distance commute (between West Dublin/Pleasanton and Embarcadero), local trips (Richmond and Downtown Berkeley), visiting tourist (San Francisco International Airport and Powell Street), and resident to airport (Walnut Creek and San Francisco International Airport). The comparison shows that full roundtrip BART costs range between $5 and $25.
Figure 1: BART is significantly more affordable than driving. Example: Taking BART from West Dublin/Pleasanton Station to Embarcadero Station costs $14. Driving the same route costs $95, including gas, tolls, parking, insurance, and maintenance.
This graphic compares hours per week drivers lost sitting in traffic under current conditions, and if 50 percent and 100 percent of April 2023 average weekday BART riders shift to driving. The comparison focuses on three example driving trips: Antioch to SFO, El Cerrito del Norte to Civic Center, and Fremont to Powell Street. The graphic shows that if 5ree example trips would experience between three to six additi0 percent of weekday BART riders shift to driving.
Figure 2: Without BART, regional traffic congestion would worsen. Example: Drivers could experience up to an additional 19 hours lost to congestion weekly.
Infographic with two sections. On the left, a pink icon of a car above text that reads "1.6M. Miles driven, or 4,000 cars driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles daily." On the right, a pink gas pump icon above text that says "70,000. Gallons of gasoline burned daily." Both sections have a purple background.
Figure 3: The regional transit network would fail to function if BART ceased to exist.
This graph compares office occupancy rate and BART ridership as a percentage of 2019 ridership from 2020 to 2023. Generally, the two data points trend closely, increasing from around 10% to 40%.
Figure 4: BART ridership is closely linked to regional office occupancy rates; both have recovered to ~43% of pre-pandemic levels.

  • BART’s benefits: 

    • BART is significantly more affordable than driving (Fig. 1 in slideshow). Example: Taking BART from West Dublin/Pleasanton Station to Embarcadero Station roundtrip costs $14. Driving the same route costs $95 when accounting for gas, tolls, parking, insurance, and maintenance. 
    • BART is integral to a connected regional transit network. Within a 15-minute walk of BART and one transfer to a connecting agency transit stop, you can reach 67% of the 9-county Bay Area region’s jobs, 61% of the region’s residents, and 60% of schools, parks, and libraries.
    • In 2023, BART contributed $1.2 billion to the economy through more than 5,000 jobs when accounting for BART’s direct payroll expenditures, local vendor spending, and employee expenditures. Between 2019 and 2023, BART infused the local economy with more than $3.7 billion in construction spending and $1.7 billion in construction labor income.

  • If BART did not exist: 

    • Regional traffic congestion would worsen. Example: Drivers could experience up to an additional 19 hours lost to congestion weekly (Fig. 2). 
    • Traffic could increase by 73% on the Bay Bridge and 22% in the Caldecott Tunnel during morning peak commute hours.  
    • The regional transit network would fail to function, and there would be cascading effects across the 300 bus, light rail, ferry, private shuttle, and inter-regional routes that connect to BART (Fig. 3). 

  • Changing regional travel trends: 

    • BART ridership is closely linked to regional office occupancy rates; both have recovered to ~43% of pre-pandemic levels (Fig. 4).
    • Because of BART’s decreased farebox recovery, BART expects a budget deficit beginning in 2026 when state and federal emergency assistance runs out.  

View the full Role in the Region Report. 

This image is the front cover of the BART’s Role in the Region Study report. The report cover shows a group of riders in a BART train on the top half and the Study’s title on the bottom half with a subtitle – BART is Integral to the San Francisco Bay Area’s: Travel, Economy, Climate, Housing, Equity, Culture, Health, Sustainability, and Accountability.

BART offers longer trains for Inauguration-related events

BART is taking steps to prepare for what are expected to be large crowds for Inauguration-related events in downtown Oakland and San Francisco. Longer trains will be available for riders all day Friday and Saturday. BART also plans to have a few additional event trains on standby at key locations on Saturday

BART partners with Ford GoBike for Bike to Work Month

Riders get free one-month membership May is Bike to Work Month and to celebrate, BART is partnering with Ford GoBike to offer riders FREE one-month Ford GoBike memberships. This helps make getting to and from BART fast, fun and convenient, and means access to a bike (without having to bring your own). Bike

BART service restored after earlier service disruption

1:30 pm update At 5:10 a.m., one of the dozens of BART’s field network devices failed, disrupting the operational communications network. The system went into fail safe mode and shut down. Engineers and technicians worked to locate the failed device and to restore communications functionality. Service was

BART Board meets Thursday night to discuss budget

The BART Board of Directors meets Thursday, April 23, at 5 pm to consider topics including the Fiscal Year 2016 Preliminary Budget. This is one of several steps before the Board votes on the FY 2016 financial plan. A public hearing for the budget will be set for May 28, 2015 in the Board Room. To address the

BART car cleaner is credited with saving a rider's life

About 15 minutes after midnight on Monday, October 29, 2018, Vincent Seals, a BART train car cleaner, heard a co-worker calling for help from the platform at the Dublin/Pleasanton Station. He ran toward her and she pointed him to the lead car of a train that had just finished its run for the night. Seals

BART breaks ground Wednesday on Oakland Airport Connector

Today Congresswoman Barbara Lee, BART Board President James Fang and Board Member Carole Ward Allen joined local leaders in government, transportation and building trades to celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking on the $484 million Oakland Airport Connector project. In the short term, construction of this

Accessibility innovation is the focus at June 8 BART conference in Berkeley

By MELISSA JORDANBART Senior Web Producer Around 175 attendees are signed up for a June 8 conference BART is sponsoring that will bring together technologists, accessibility advocates and people with sensory and mobility challenges to brainstorm ideas for making BART more accessible to all. The one-day event