This week BART is back in the news, postponing 3 percent fare cuts and approving a new funding plan for the Oakland Airport connector, which would require borrowing $106 million from the state and various agencies.
On Wednesday the Contra Costa Times reported that the proposed temporary BART fare cuts did not seem to be popular with the public. They would last three months and cut fares by 3 percent. Three-fourths of transit users who spoke out via e-mail or survey said BART should instead spend money from a budget surplus to deep-clean carpets and seats, or stash the money in reserves for unexpected emergencies in periods of unstable transit funding.
BART Director Joel Keller told Contra Costa Times, “The public has spoken, and they are vehemently against the fare reduction.”
As of Thursday the BART board postponed the vote on the fare reduction indefinitely. Officials have not rescheduled.
On Friday the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the board approved a new funding plan for the Oakland Airport connector. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Will Kane wrote that the plan “has drawn passionate and opponent supporters alike.” It will be a driverless system, with three-car trains pulled by cables for the 3.1-mile trip from the Oakland Coliseum BART station in eight minutes. After the federal government revoked $70 million in stimulus funds for the project in February, BART planned on making up the shortfall by using:
- $20 million in state transportation funds
- $5 million in grants from the High-Speed Rail Authority
- Borrowing $27 million from the federal government
- $10 million from its own reserves
- Saving $10 million by decreasing to 3 percent the contingency meant to cover construction cost increases
The plan calls for borrowing a total of $106 million.
