BART continues regular service during shelter in place. BART will continue to provide regular service for riders performing essential activities and for riders travelling to and from “essential business” work, with long enough trains to allow for social distancing.

UPDATE: Future financial stability requires emergency funds according to BART officials. BART lost 70% of its riders on Monday (118,752 riders rode BART on Monday) and initial data for Tuesday’s commute shows an 85% decline.

“BART is requesting a direct allocation of $55M to offset our loss in revenue… Access to emergency funding is needed to keep the Bay Area moving once the region begins to recover.” Read the full report on bart.gov

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BART’s Board President Lateefah Simon and General Manager Bob Powers sent letters last week to local, state and federal officials and have been making calls this week asking for emergency stimulus funding. Ridership data shows BART lost 70% of its riders on Monday (118,752 riders rode BART on Monday) and initial data for Tuesday’s commute shows an 85% decline. BART is experiencing significant declines in ridership with immediate loss of fare and parking revenues as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and current Shelter in Place Orders throughout the BART service area. Fare and parking revenues cover approximately 65% of BART’s day-to-day costs for operating rail service. A 85% level of ridership decline will cost BART a loss of approximately $37M per month in fare and parking revenue. A sustained ridership loss of 85% and a 50% reduction of economic activity impacting other revenue sources could reduce BART's monthly revenues by $55M. “This is a financial crisis for BART,” said Board President Lateefah Simon. “This level of catastrophic revenue loss is not sustainable and threatens future service. We need reassurance from all levels of government that transit will not be left out.” “BART is currently providing lifeline train service to workers who are keeping the region functioning during this pandemic,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “As the backbone of transportation in the Bay Area, we will also play an essential role during the economic recovery process. Access to emergency funding is needed to keep the Bay Area moving once the region begins to recover.” For full information: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2020/news20200317 #sfbart #sanfrancisco #oakland #berkeley #bayarea #publictransit #coronavirus

A post shared by SFBART (@sfbayarearapidtransit) on Mar 17, 2020 at 5:58pm PDT

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Essential travel includes travel:

* to obtain necessary services or supplies for themselves and their family or household members.
* to engage in activities or perform tasks essential to their health and safety, or to the health and safety of their family or household members.
* to care for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons.
* to or from educational institutions for purposes of receiving materials for distance learning, for receiving meals, and any other related services.
* to return to a place of residence from outside the jurisdiction.
* required by law enforcement or court order.
* required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside the County.

Be mindful that with the Shelter in Place Order, for people who are traveling for something that isn’t deemed to be “essential travel”, there is a potential misdemeanor charge.

• Tag: BART, covid-19, SF MTA, transportation