#Bart station update

Thirty-one percent have an income of $50,000 or lower. Forty-four percent do not have a vehicle. “Sixty-seven percent of BART riders identify as non-white.

“We know that those hurt most by the pandemic-induced service reductions are low-income people and people of color, the very Californians already suffering disproportionately from the health and economic impacts of the crisis,” Michael Pimentel, the executive director of the California Transit Association, wrote in an editorial published by CalMatters.īART General Manager Bob Powers and Janice Li, the agency’s board president, said in a statement last week that the potential closure of whole stations or train lines will affect poor people the most. In the Bay Area, BART made about $500 million a year in rider revenue pre-pandemic, but weekday ridership has plummeted, at times reaching as low as 30% of pre-pandemic levels. Photo: Darwin BondGrahamĪccording to the California Transit Association, people stopped taking buses and trains during the pandemic, leading to a collapse in revenue and a deficit of about $6 billion over the next five years. Why has revenue for transit agencies collapsed? Services like AC Transit’s rapid-bus system may be in jeopardy if Governor Newsom doesn’t adjust the state’s yearly budget.

Reducing train and bus services will likely lead to an increase in car use, causing more highway gridlock and pollution, transit advocates told The Oaklandside. Oakland is also the Bay Area’s highway transportation hub, with interstates 80, 580, 880, and 980 and five state highways all converging near the city center and the Port of Oakland.

Oakland’s eight BART stations are the most of any city on the train system, and it’s a critical resource for people traveling to and from all edges of the Bay Area. Oakland is the Bay Area’s most significant transportation hub and would be severely affected by any service cuts. They have proposed raising money through an additional sales tax on diesel fuel and using cap-and-trade climate funds, among other ideas. Many state and local legislators have called for Newsom to reinstate at least a billion dollars annually for transit until 2028. About 91,000 people use AC Transit each day while 150,000 people ride BART daily.ĭuring a BART board meeting last December, the system’s leadership said they might have to shut down the Richmond-Millbrae and San Jose-Daly City lines if they do not receive the emergency funds. AC Transit, the bus system that serves Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and Caltrain and Muni in San Francisco and the peninsula will also be forced to significantly scale back services.Īny transit shutdowns will likely have a devastating effect on transportation access. Transit analysts say that if Newsom doesn’t adjust his spending plan by the June 15 midnight deadline to submit the final budget, it will force BART to cut weekend and evening services, and it could lead to station and line closures. Last month, Newsom announced a budget proposal that cut $2 billion from statewide transit agencies for the next year.

#Bart station update

Newsom to update his state budget proposal with relief funds for transit.Ĭalifornia faces a $32 billion budget deficit. The funeral protest was part of a campaign this week by transit advocates who are calling on Gov.