BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
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BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
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Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#2As the article states, the reason why BART is so heavily impacted is because it was mostly designed as commuter rail. BART is unique in that historically it paid most of its costs in farebox revenue. While peak-hour (morning and evening commute) ridership is catching up again (BART publishes numbers so you can check the work here), usage outside of peak hours is at an all-time low because of the increase of WFH jobs. Since the rail alignment of BART can't be changed now, we'll probably settle on a new normal with BART.
BART along the same alignment still moves 2x more people than the Bay Bridge does though, which is something to remember as non-users of BART clamor for its defunding.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#3I don't think this is unique to BART. My local news regularly highlights what an S-hole our subway system is. It has become a good place for the homeless to spend their day and no one has found a satisfactory fix for now. Right now you only ride the Subway if you absolutely don't have an alternative.
Low ridership feeds on itself since low ridership leads to even less ridership and the accompanied decrease in the budget to run it.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#4[deleted]
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#5I live in Oakland and am frightened of taking BART after hearing many horror stories from friends. If I, a healthy man in his 20s, am afraid to take BART, imagine how intimidating it must be for women and the elderly.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#6I live in Oakland and am frightened of taking BART after hearing many horror stories from friends. If I, a healthy man in his 20s, am afraid to take BART, imagine how intimidating it must be for women and the elderly.
I road BART on Tuesday and it wasn't scary. You repeating what you heard might just create an echo chamber that amplifies something that isn't true and gets other people to believe it.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#7Highway traffic on my commute never got back to as bad as it was pre-COVID. I imagine a lot of transit expansion projects won't make sense anymore. (Or less sense than they did before re: induced demand.)
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#8I think the analysis here tends a bit pessimistic. Bart just had its biggest day in years at Pride and its recovery is in line with the other agencies in the bay. If you're a fan of BART, I'd also like to invite you to the premiere of my movie about BART, playing at July 18th, 630pm at the Roxie. Here's a trailer: https://youtu.be/7eH3FfIGp8w, and you can grab tickets at https://roxie.com/film/tunnel-vision.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#9I live in Oakland and am frightened of taking BART after hearing many horror stories from friends. If I, a healthy man in his 20s, am afraid to take BART, imagine how intimidating it must be for women and the elderly.
That's true. Even if I intellectualize a trip on BART as risk-free, it's still anxiety inducing and involves inconvenience I would volunteer to avoid if I had a car.
Re: BART ridership is still down nearly 70% from pre-Covid levels
#10In my social circle there is a perception that the BART is increasingly unsafe and some people who previously used the BART to commute from East Bay to SF are now driving.
Their perception seems to be born out by the data:
From the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department [1]
Aggravated Assault (2019): 112
Aggravated Assault (2022): 114
Relative increase (2019 -> 2022) adjusted for ridership:
114/112/0.3 = 3.39x
[1] https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2023-01%20Mont...