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BART Police to ensure safe and speedy evacuations of stations

Starting Monday, July 21, 2014, BART Police began to focus on its legal obligation to evacuate a station in an emergency from the furthest corners of the platforms in four to six minutes or less as required in the California Building Code Section 433 pertaining to transit systems. Ensuring hallways are not

Celebrate SF Pride 2019 and take BART to the Parade

The 49th annual San Francisco Pride Celebration Parade will be held on Sunday, June 30th and BART will increase service to carry participants to and from the festivities. BART will open at 8am and will run Dublin/Pleasanton trains to Daly City rather than turning them around at MacArthur Station. There will

BART’s “Role in the Region” detailed in new report that describes the benefits of BART and the devastating impacts of a Bay Area without it

A black banner with white text reading "BART's Role in the Region" with text underneath reading "BART is integral to the San Francisco Bay Area's travel, economy, climate, housing, equity, culture, health, sustainability and affordability.

A new report released today paints a bleak picture of a Bay Area without BART while highlighting the benefits of the transit system to the region with a wide range of metrics.

Click here to view a pdf of the report and visit the project webpage at bart.gov/roleintheregion.  

BART's Role in the Region Report aims to inform a regional conversation about the future of BART by describing its contributions to the Bay Area. It also provides predictions for how the Bay Area – its economic viability, traffic-choked roadways, cultural institutions, and more – will look without BART.  

“The Bay Area and our regional transportation network have undergone significant changes since BART last conducted a Role in the Region study in 2016," said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “The 2024 Role in the Region Report arrives at a crucial crossroads for BART and the region, and the data, analyses, and stories within will serve as an important educational resource for the pivotal years ahead.”  

In the report, you will find insights into key topics, including changes in travel patterns and funding; BART’s holistic benefits to the Bay Area; and BART’s future.  

Below is a snapshot of some of the report’s findings: 

This graph compares the full roundtrip BART and driving costs for four common trip types with example origin and destination pairs: long distance commute (between West Dublin/Pleasanton and Embarcadero), local trips (Richmond and Downtown Berkeley), visiting tourist (San Francisco International Airport and Powell Street), and resident to airport (Walnut Creek and San Francisco International Airport). The comparison shows that full roundtrip BART costs range between $5 and $25.
Figure 1: BART is significantly more affordable than driving. Example: Taking BART from West Dublin/Pleasanton Station to Embarcadero Station costs $14. Driving the same route costs $95, including gas, tolls, parking, insurance, and maintenance.
This graphic compares hours per week drivers lost sitting in traffic under current conditions, and if 50 percent and 100 percent of April 2023 average weekday BART riders shift to driving. The comparison focuses on three example driving trips: Antioch to SFO, El Cerrito del Norte to Civic Center, and Fremont to Powell Street. The graphic shows that if 5ree example trips would experience between three to six additi0 percent of weekday BART riders shift to driving.
Figure 2: Without BART, regional traffic congestion would worsen. Example: Drivers could experience up to an additional 19 hours lost to congestion weekly.
Infographic with two sections. On the left, a pink icon of a car above text that reads "1.6M. Miles driven, or 4,000 cars driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles daily." On the right, a pink gas pump icon above text that says "70,000. Gallons of gasoline burned daily." Both sections have a purple background.
Figure 3: The regional transit network would fail to function if BART ceased to exist.
This graph compares office occupancy rate and BART ridership as a percentage of 2019 ridership from 2020 to 2023. Generally, the two data points trend closely, increasing from around 10% to 40%.
Figure 4: BART ridership is closely linked to regional office occupancy rates; both have recovered to ~43% of pre-pandemic levels.

  • BART’s benefits: 

    • BART is significantly more affordable than driving (Fig. 1 in slideshow). Example: Taking BART from West Dublin/Pleasanton Station to Embarcadero Station roundtrip costs $14. Driving the same route costs $95 when accounting for gas, tolls, parking, insurance, and maintenance. 
    • BART is integral to a connected regional transit network. Within a 15-minute walk of BART and one transfer to a connecting agency transit stop, you can reach 67% of the 9-county Bay Area region’s jobs, 61% of the region’s residents, and 60% of schools, parks, and libraries.
    • In 2023, BART contributed $1.2 billion to the economy through more than 5,000 jobs when accounting for BART’s direct payroll expenditures, local vendor spending, and employee expenditures. Between 2019 and 2023, BART infused the local economy with more than $3.7 billion in construction spending and $1.7 billion in construction labor income.

  • If BART did not exist: 

    • Regional traffic congestion would worsen. Example: Drivers could experience up to an additional 19 hours lost to congestion weekly (Fig. 2). 
    • Traffic could increase by 73% on the Bay Bridge and 22% in the Caldecott Tunnel during morning peak commute hours.  
    • The regional transit network would fail to function, and there would be cascading effects across the 300 bus, light rail, ferry, private shuttle, and inter-regional routes that connect to BART (Fig. 3). 

  • Changing regional travel trends: 

    • BART ridership is closely linked to regional office occupancy rates; both have recovered to ~43% of pre-pandemic levels (Fig. 4).
    • Because of BART’s decreased farebox recovery, BART expects a budget deficit beginning in 2026 when state and federal emergency assistance runs out.  

View the full Role in the Region Report. 

This image is the front cover of the BART’s Role in the Region Study report. The report cover shows a group of riders in a BART train on the top half and the Study’s title on the bottom half with a subtitle – BART is Integral to the San Francisco Bay Area’s: Travel, Economy, Climate, Housing, Equity, Culture, Health, Sustainability, and Accountability.

BART Police arrest suspect in copper cable theft

Cable, tools and drugs among evidence recovered During the early morning hours of December 8, 2011, members of the BART Police Department began an operation with the intention of serving an arrest warrant for Dennis McGuire (07/19/59), a subject with a lengthy criminal history, suspected of being involved in

BART Board of Directors to Hear Info On Beverage Policy

The BART Board of Directors will hear information at its meeting Thursday about whether riders should be allowed to drink beverages on trains. The current policy bans eating and drinking on trains and anywhere inside the paid areas of stations. An idea had been proposed to let riders drink beverages, but only

BART begins evaluating digital displays for advertising and news

BART turned on its first digital advertising and news display at the Montgomery Station platform today as part of a pilot program that will include getting feedback from riders. The 82-inch LCD display replaces two advertising posters across from the platform and will rotate a mix of advertising, news

BART proposes enhanced SFO service, airport parking

Enhanced train service to take effect in January 2008 pending BART Board approval BART hopes to double the number of trains for many passengers using the five-station San Francisco International Airport/Millbrae Extension as well as to provide customers with long term airport parking at peninsula stations for

New BART Chief of Police has been selected

According to BART Chief Communications Officer Linton Johnson, this afternoon General Manager Dorothy Dugger confirmed that she has selected former Fairfield Police Chief Kenton Rainey as BART's new Chief of Police. Chief Rainey will come to the BART with a long and distinguished career in law enforcement

BART operates longer trains for San Francisco Pride

Longer trains also on Saturday and Sunday for SF Giants, A's Games BART will provide longer trains to accommodate the crowds expected to celebrate the 40th anniversary of SF Pride this weekend. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade and Celebration will be held at San Francisco's Civic Center