Stung by low ridership, BART appeals to state for funding
ORINDA -- With the state legislature discussing a budget for the upcoming year, transit agencies are revving up public relations campaigns to appeal for more funding. BART has been hit hard by the pandemic and, on Friday, issued a statement laying out a worst-case scenario. That also raises questions about how the agency is being run.
Throughout Memorial Day weekend, BART is operating a bus bridge between the Orinda and Rockridge stations as they continue with their program to replace aging tracks. That's not quite so big an inconvenience as it might have been three years ago since ridership is only about 39 percent of what it was pre-pandemic.
"Not having to commute. They don't need to get on BART. It's just not a necessity," said rider Tabatha Sotomayor.
That's a huge problem for BART. The reduced ridership is only covering about a quarter of the cost to operate the system which is only surviving on federal emergency funding that will soon run out.
On Friday, BART put out an apocalyptic public statement warning "The state has the opportunity -- and the power -- to sustain BART or let BART and the Bay Area economy fail."
The agency says that, without immediate help from the legislature, riders could see a bleak scenario where trains only arrive once an hour, no trains on weekends or after 9 p.m. weeknights, reduced service to the airports, some station closures and entire lines potentially deleted. It sounds like a scary situation but BART board member Debora Allen said the agency hasn't acted like it is.
"They did not act. They continue to expand service. They continue to spend money on new programs and they didn't act like there was a fiscal cliff coming," Allen said. "There isn't any real effort being made, in my opinion, to look for efficiencies."
Despite the doomsday predictions, Allen said BART is considering an 8 percent increase in its spending for next year. She said the agency did not decrease spending at all during the pandemic and she has angered other board members by suggesting that the agency look for ways to trim its expenses.
At their meeting on May 11, Allen was quickly shut down when she requested they simply explore the possibility of a 10 percent cut.
"I will say I do not support staff taking the time to look at a 10 percent cut across the board for operations," said board president Janice Li.
"Absolutely not," said director Robert Raburn
"I don't support an effort to prepare a 10 percent cut," said director Bevan Dufty.
Allen said BART is claiming poverty at the same time it is increasing its operating budget.
"I don't think we can go along saying, 'more money, please' to the taxpayers," she said. "At some point we have to figure out how to bring this thing under control."
With the state facing a deficit of tens of billions of dollars, it might be a hard sell to ask for money to fully maintain a train system that is having a hard time getting people to ride.
In a statement, assemblyman Tim Grayson said, "While I continue to support BART's efforts to remain in service, I am concerned that a bailout without greater accountability and major improvements in safety and reliability will do nothing to increase ridership. At the end of the day, there is no action the legislature can take that will force people to use BART."
At the Orinda station, rider Ricardo Ortiz said he's learned not to expect too much from public transportation but he couldn't envision it not being there.
"We need it. We definitely need it. That's not even a question," he said. "But I cannot imagine not having BART. It could be, like -- it could affect us all."
It already is affecting us all in the pocketbook. Allen says BART is asking the legislature for funding to buy time as they prepare a ballot measure that would increase taxes to pay for everyday operation of the system. She said that hasn't happened since the rail line first opened in 1972.
"From my perspective, what happens then?" she said. "What if the taxpayers say no?"