Playoffs Could Be A Ridership Home Run For BART
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The Bay Area's largest mass transit agency is hoping to benefit from the throngs of baseball fans with tickets to playoff games at AT&T Park.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
BART ridership declined in recent years. Specifically, in September 2008, there were 380,000 riders on BART every workday. That's a figure the transit agency was never able to match, averaging 25,000 fewer riders per workday ever since.
BART prepared a weeklong campaign, Try BART Week, to remind commuters about their public transit options.
Naturally, the transit agency was pleased when its ridership campaign, launched Monday, happened to coincide with the National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Game 3 of the series was slated for Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco.
"We're looking at trying to build that ridership back up," explained BART chief spokesperson Linton Johnson. "And Giants, these playoff games, Try BART Week, all these activities reminds people of the convenience of riding BART and hopefully they stick with it."
Try BART Week was a public relations first for the transit agency. The campaign was said to include prizes for riders, and use of social media to encourage more people to hop on board.
Ridership was essential to BART's success. 50% of its revenue was generated from fares.
Johnson was confident that the playoff series would translate into increased ridership.
"When the Giants were involved in the last playoffs, we just saw big crowds. And we expect the same thing to happen."
Johnson sought to reassure potential passengers that the transit agency was prepared for crowds. For the entire week, BART planned to run longer trains throughout the day, as opposed to simply during peak commute hours.
"We're expecting to see lots of crowds on BART," declared Johnson.
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