Dignitaries commemorate renovation of 19th Street BART station in Oakland
OAKLAND -- Local leaders attended a ribbon-cutting Saturday for a renovation project seven years in the making. Work is now complete at BART's 19th Street station and officials hope it will help lure people back onto the trains.
"This goes way back to 2016. Gosh! And this is 2023!" said Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee. "But we made it and it's because of all of you here."
The station space has been expanded, with lots of walls and obstructions removed. Lighting has been improved and glass now replaces the old brick barriers. A new bathroom with an attendant has been added, as well as a second elevator. Colorful artwork now graces some of the staircases.
The 19th Street renovation cost more than $70 million, paid for with local, state and federal funding. The only part of the project yet to be completed is the installation of new gates to deter fare evaders.
"This is the refurbishment of a 50-year-old station that needed to have a serious renewal," said District 4 BART director Robert Raburn.
It has been a long time since BART stations were jammed and it was standing-room-only on the trains. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership is only about 30 percent of what previously was the norm.
What officials really hope for is a renewal of enthusiasm for riding the system. State Senator Nancy Skinner summed up the problem.
"We know, unfortunately, this pandemic severely impacted ridership of all the transit in the Bay Area and it has not come back to the levels that we hoped. If our transit is not functioning well and if it doesn't feel good to go to the stations, then the ridership goes down," Skinner said.
In truth, riding BART hasn't felt good for a long time. Riders have complained for years that the cars are dirty, smell bad and are subject to delays due to everything from driver sickouts to equipment breakdowns.
Director Raburn acknowledged the transit agency's sinking reputation.
"It's negative. It's negative and we're doing everything we can to change that because we have changed, with the new train cars, with the refurbishment of the train system, with how we police the system. And those are all elements of making our passengers welcome to come back," Raburn said.
BART rider Edward Inocancio said he has seen real improvement since the days when the cars felt like they were falling apart.
"People said that before but now they all say it's nice and everything. Especially the trains riding smoothly. You know, it's not as loud as before," he said. "They've done better, yes."
BART officials stress that safety is the main concern of riders and Jim Molina Page said he's seen all kinds of drug use on his commute to his evening job. He thinks that may be a problem that is out of BART's control.
"I think the bigger issue is mental health and I think the bigger issue is what the city's doing about that," Molina Page said. "BART is just, like, a side thing, you know what I mean?"
The solution to the problems of public transit may lie more with the "public" than the "transit" and it will probably take more than one seven-year beautification project to turn things around.