BART improvement poll brings light to service's many troubles
MILPITAS - By wide margins, people responding to a poll commissioned by the Bay Area Council would like to see BART improve public safety and cleanliness.
Council CEO Jim Wunderman says the poll could offer a road map to increasing ridership after a sharp drop-off during and after the pandemic.
"The public wants to see improvements. They want to see efficiencies. They want to see safety. And they want us to be able to provide a better transit experience before they're going to agree to put in more money," Wunderman said.
According to the results of the polls, nearly half -- 46% of respondents -- say they have witnessed a crime firsthand while riding the transit agency.
"I have seen some concerning things. I've seen a fight before," says Hassan, a UC Berkeley students who uses BART to commute from the South Bay to campus. Those close calls, he said, can create an atmosphere of fear on trains.
"There was actually a homeless person in the same car as me and my friend and this guy had a hammer. And once we noticed that he had a hammer, we decided to move to a different car," he said.
A BART spokesperson says the transit agency has already begun to address many of the concerns identified in the poll.
In a prepared statement, the spokesperson said, "We now have an additional 8 to 18 officers patrolling trains per shift. That visible safety presence is making a difference."
Hassan says he would like to see more officers, more consistently.
"Having more BART police that might help. Because I feel that their presence is a deterrent more than anything," he said.