BART’s gates helping prevent fare evasion; 10 train stations could close due to deficit
The agenda for Thursday’s BART board meeting includes presenting a worst-case scenario to offset the agency’s annual deficit of up to $400 million.
The doomsday plan includes closing the 10 stations with the lowest passenger numbers. This means 20% of stations will be closed and 12% of passengers will be affected.
These include Oakland International Airport, South San Francisco, and West Dublin/Pleasanton.
“This is a tragedy,” said Ed Locker, a BART Rider from Santa Rosa. “I think everyone uses BART and has for over 50 years. That would be a really sad thing.”
“Every time we have to go on a trip, we get into one of two airports, and it’s nice not having to drive, take a shuttle or a taxi,” said BART Driver Brian Smith of El Cerrito.
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The agency has experienced a shift in ridership since the COVID-19 pandemic, with ridership declines and work-from-home trends.
On Thursday, the agency will also announce the success of its new gates at all 50 stations to prevent ticket smuggling.
BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the new gates save the agency $10 million a year. And that’s not the only benefit, he said.
He said fare gates help prevent unwanted behavior.
“The people who do this kind of damage to our stations have either stopped doing this kind of damage or they don’t come to our stations at all,” Trost said.
MORE: BART celebrates installation of new fare gates at all stations
BART data shows the Embarcadero station saved 110 hours in maintenance costs in the six months after installing the new gates.
There was a reduction of 961 hours across all stations.
“These cases were of significant destruction, like glass being completely broken, which is very common, or absolute graffiti everywhere you couldn’t see the map,” Trost said, pointing to a framed map at a station in Oakland.
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Other options to compensate for the shortfall include reducing train services and layoffs.
The agency said it would be needed if a potential ballot measure in November fails to pass or additional funding is not forthcoming.
The board vote on the proposal is expected to be held on February 25.
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