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BART unions give 72-hour strike notice

GM responds to rider concerns

BART spokesman Rick Rice issued the following statement on labor negotiations: “Union leadership has given the District a 72-hour strike notice. We are very disappointed and hope they reconsider their options. A strike only stalls and delays the decisions that need to be made while using our riders as pawns.

BART Police Officers honored for child homicide arrests

Two BART Police officers are being honored for their role in capturing two suspects in the death of a Napa three-year-old girl this past February. Sergeant Nathan Weissich and Officer Dominic Boutain are the 2014 recipients of the Chief Special Agents Award, The Investigative Merit Awards. During their

Podcast: An inside look at BART’s complex scheduling dance

Changes coming in September will revolutionize BART’s schedule by adding a layer of consistency in the timing of trains across all 7 days of the week that will be unlike anything BART riders have experienced in the last 50 years. The latest edition of BART’s podcast series “Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART”

BART runs holiday schedule on New Year's Day

BART is running a holiday schedule today, New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2010 with service starting at at 8 a.m. Check the QuickPlanner for specific details about your trip. New Year’s Day is also a BART parking holiday so parking permit and fee requirements are not enforced in station parking facilities

BART celebrates Transit Worker Appreciation Day 2023

Ahead of Transit Worker Appreciation Day 2023, on Saturday, March 18, BART Communications asked riders to express their gratitude to the local transit workers who keey the Bay Area moving. If you see an operator or transit worker out this week, whether they work for BART or any of our partner agencies, offer

BART Police Chief outlines his vision for safety

Watch the Chief

BART's new Chief of Police Ed Alvarez presented his vision for safety this week at the Board of Director's annual workshop. He shared promising new crime data showing his new strategies are already paying off. BART crime in January is down 18% system wide when comparing January 2019 to January 2020. Cellphone

BART Board President responds to Regional Measure 3 results

BART Board President Robert Raburn issued the following statement on voter approval of Regional Measure 3: "I want to thank Bay Area voters for this investment in public transit that supports keeping the region mobile. I also want to thank the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for its leadership in

Free BART shuttle to the Millbrae Art & Music Festival

Don't miss the 36th Annual Millbrae Art & Music Festival, taking place on September 2 and 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The Festival takes place on Broadway between Victoria and Meadow Glen in Millbrae. Admission to the Festival is free, and a free shuttle to and from the Millbrae BART station will

Take BART to Oakland Pride Sat. 8/31

Join BART this Sunday, August 31, for Oakland Pride parade and festival. The parade begins at 10:30 am at 14th and Broadway and ends at Broadway and 20th. The festival opens at 11 am. Look for the BART booth and BARTmobile. We'll have extra personnel at our downtown Oakland stations and the first trains on

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.