Exhilaration, intense pride and lots of joy!  Those are just some of the words to describe how BART employees feel today after hearing the nation’s most highly-respected transportation organization has, for the first time in history, declared BART as the #1 Transit System in America. 

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is the nation’s premier public transit organization.  On October 12 in Atlanta, GA, APTA will crown BART as the #1 Transit System in America by awarding BART with its highest trophy the “Outstanding Achievement Award” in the category of providing 30 million annual passenger trips or more.

“I’m ecstatic!” said BART’s General Manager, Thomas E. Margro. “It’s the equivalent to competing at the Olympics and winning the gold medal!”

He’s not kidding. When applying for the award, BART faced some of the fiercest competition in recent history.  By winning the award BART joins a distinguished group of past recipients including New York City’s MTA (2001) and Denver’s Regional Transportation District (2003).

BART believes its loyal riders deserve much of the credit for making BART the #1 Transit System in America.  That’s why on Wednesday, August 25, BART will be thanking them by joining forces with Peet’s Coffee & Tea to give up to 100,000 riders complimentary pre-loaded gift cards during the morning commute.

A major reason APTA selected BART as this year’s #1 Transit System in America was because of the success of BART’s 10-year, $1.2 billion renovation program, which was completed on time and on budget.  The program was largely funded through passenger fares.  BART Board President James Fang said the riders more than deserve the nation’s highest award since they paid for the program and supported BART through all the construction.

“The renovation program completely overhauled all of BART’s original cars, fare gates, fare machines, escalators and elevators,” Fang said. “As a result, reliability on a range of equipment shot up, such as ticket vending machine reliability, which went from a low of 76% before the renovations to 96% now.  That in turn boosted BART’s customer satisfaction ratings to the point that now 90% of customers say they would recommend BART to a friend or out-of-town guest. That’s why we’re thanking our riders with free coffee and tea, which will be entirely paid for by Peet’s.”

“This award really belongs to our riders and the people of the Bay Area,” said Margro.  “That’s because it validates the wise investment they made when they voted to build BART 32 years ago.  It also honors them for voting time and time again to allow BART to use their hard earned money to grow and expand what's now being hailed as the  #1 Transit System in America.”

APTA’s “Outstanding Achievement” award also recognizes BART for providing passengers with extraordinary service during extraordinarily difficult financial times.  That’s something most other transit systems have not been able to do during the current economic downturn.

Even while facing the worst revenue decline in BART history, BART has not lost focus on customers and has held operational performance steady and has increased customer satisfaction ratings without cutting service frequency, hours or routes or compromising safety.

The award also recognizes BART for opening one of the nation’s only “plane-to-train” connections – the BART to San Francisco International Airport extension.

Over the next year, BART will hold more, “Rider, Thank You!” events.  Like with the Peet’s event, BART will partner with other companies to thank riders, including giving away airline tickets amongst other things.

“It’s the least we can do for our loyal riders who continue to believe in BART,” said Margro.