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As the Bay Area’s backbone public transit system, BART is rolling up its sleeves to make sure riders feel safe, to keep our trains cleaner than ever, and to provide the best service yet – from departure to destination. 

Commitment to Safety & Security

• Ensuring BART Police are riding trains more, increasing their visibility, and keeping riders safe by doubling officer presence systemwide.
  • Average response time is down to 4 minutes.
  • Increased patrols are yielding results by deterring crime and quickly apprehending perpetrators when incidents occur. 
• Progressive policing approach uses unarmed Crisis Intervention Specialists, Ambassadors and Fare Inspectors for additional patrols with experts in de-escalation.
  • 7% of calls have been diverted from police to an employee with training in social work.
• Recruiting for all vacant officer positions and adding 19 additional officer positions once vacancies filled.
• Making trains even safer by running shorter trains to increase the number of people in each car.
• Maintaining 4,000+ surveillance cameras to minimize response time and hold suspects accountable.
• LED lighting installed on platforms and in parking facilities to eliminate dark corners.
• Conducting welfare checks for the unhoused and enforcing no drug use or smoking. 

Commitment to New Fare Gates

• Taller, stronger fare gates to deter fare evasion are being installed.
  • Pilot fare gates installed at West Oakland Station.
  • Complete installation of 700+ new fare gates systemwide by the end of 2025.
• Fare gates added to enclose elevators to further reduce fare evasion.

Commitment to a Clean Ride

• Doubling the rate of deep cleaning on train cars.
• Retired all old trains, only new trains are in service.
• Adding nearly 66% more dedicated crews working to keep stations clean.
• Staffing restrooms at high-volume stations with attendants to guarantee cleanliness and safety.

Adapting Service to Attract New Riders

• New train schedule increases emphasis on ridership growth opportunities and relies less on outdated commuting models.
  • Increased service on nights and weekends, eliminates 30-minute wait times. 
  • Improved scheduled transfers. 
  • Service on BART’s busiest weekday line, the Yellow Line, increases trains to every 10 minutes from Pittsburg/Bay Point to get drivers off congested highways 4, 680, & 24.
  • New schedule improves reliability and better serves SFO and OAK.

Canceled trips nearly eliminated.
Increased Clipper START fare discount for low-income riders to 50%.
Offering Clipper BayPass, where employers purchase all-you-can-ride transit passes for employees.

Making it Easy to Explore Attractions Near BART

• Visit our BARTable section for:
  • Eats and drinks near BART
  • Bike adventures accessible by BART
  • Lists of museums and places to shop near BART
  • Lists of weekend activities near BART
  • Contests and deals from BARTable partners

BART’s General Manager Bob Powers welcomes you back on board: 

“If you haven’t tried BART in the last few months, I encourage you to ditch your car for the day. We’ve made many improvements. From easy app-based payment to new escalators at our busy downtown stations, we’re proud of the improvements we are making every day. Most importantly, we’ve made a commitment to a cleaner, safer ride that guarantees BART remains the safest way to travel.”

Aileen Hernandez with her mother, father, and grandmother.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, BART is proud to celebrate employees with Hispanic and Latino heritage, who enrich our organization and the community at large. Over 15% of BART's workforce identifies as Hispanic and Latino, and we will be celebrating them throughout the month with stories and internal gatherings. Read our first profile, of BART's new Director of the Office of Civil Rights, Rudy Garza, here. 

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

After Aileen Hernandez’s parents came to the United States from Colombia in 1968, they moved around a lot – Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and finally the Bay Area, where Aileen was born.

When she talks about her parents’ journey in search of better jobs and opportunities, Hernandez doesn’t just think about them, she thinks about the constellation of people surrounding them.

“My parents didn’t do it all alone. People were helping them,” she said. “That’s something I want to continue because I've been blessed by being a receiver of that help through many great mentors in my educational and professional life.”

Hernandez is the BART Interim Manager for Grants & Funding Advocacy Division, Funding Strategy Department. She has spent her career — in Sacramento, New York, and Bay Area— running complex programs to ensure the ladder of opportunity extends to those who need it most.

Aileen at her Columbia University graduation in 2010. 

Her past work connected first-generation community college students to four-year universities, given military veterans access to job training, expanded workforce development services in San Francisco, and ensured BART provides opportunities for small businesses and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) to get access to construction contracts. 

In her current role, Hernandez makes sure BART has access to local, state, and federal funds. Recently, Hernandez and her team navigated and implemented the complex funding strategy for BART’s new fare gates.

“I really enjoy my work because I know that every dollar we bring to BART is going to have an impact and create a better system for our customers,” she said. “And those customers are real people. It’s our moms, grandparents, tourists, and people with disabilities.” 

Hernandez is all about finding ways to uplift Latinos, and for her, Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to educate others about the rich tapestry of Latino culture and expand how people think about who makes up the community.  

“It's an important time to promote and educate people about Latino culture and their contributions to the U.S.,” she said. She is especially passionate about bringing attention to the communities that do not get as much representation in the media or the corridors of power. 

“I think there's a huge lack of education about the history of Central America and South America,” she said. “Not everyone knows the about the colonization of America, migrations across the continent, and the reasons why people migrated to California and or why they never left.” 

Hernandez grew up in the Bay Area, but her family returned to Colombia for a spell before moving back to the U.S. when she was 12. She went to Chabot College to obtain an associate’s degree and UC Davis for her bachelors. Along the way she participated in student government and ran cross country before going to work for California Community Colleges in Sacramento.  

Aileen and rest of the Chabot College Women’s cross-country team in 1998. 

After a spell in the workforce, Hernandez enrolled in a social work program at Columbia University. She stayed in New York after graduation, training workers for jobs in transportation and launching a veteran's career center before her work brought her back to the Bay Area. But her time in New York had a long-lasting impact on her.  

In New York City, Hernandez was exposed to a vibrant hub of Colombian and Colombian American culture. New York has the second-highest concentration of Colombian Americans in the United States after Florida. Hernandez often found it difficult to see her Colombian culture reflected in California, where Mexican American culture is more prevalent. 

“You don't see yourself in movies or shows,” she said. “In California, people always assume you're Mexican. So you have to explain that you're not Mexican, and how you're different, and why you're different.” 

Aileen with her mother, aunt, and cousins in Medellín, Colombia, in 2023. 

In New York, she helped form a foundation to fundraise money for high school students of Colombian descent going to college. The group brought together doctors, lawyers, journalists, and fashion designers of Colombian descent to inspire youth and expand their conceptions of their futures. She continues that work to this day. 

Hernandez and her colleagues have recently started a new affinity group at BART called ¡Vamos! for BART employees who identity as Latino, Latinx, Latina, Chicano, and Chicana. ¡Vamos! will work to promote cultural awareness and highlight the community’s efforts and contributions to BART and the Bay Area. 

Aileen taking BART with her bike in 2020.