BART Responds to Council Request to Speed New Fare Gates

The Bay Area Council got a quick and thorough response from BART on our request to speed up installation of new fare gates to prevent rampant fare evasion, make the system safer and generate badly needed revenue, but not the answer we really wanted to hear. The Council in a letter to BART last week asked that completion of the project, which started four years ago, be moved up from sometime in 2026 to no later than the end of 2024. 

A Bay Area Council poll in May found overwhelming concerns about crime, safety and cleanliness on BART, concerns that were cited as a primary reason many people aren’t using the system. The findings prompted the Council to advocate that BART put police officers on trains and in stations and move faster to install new fare gates. 

While BART heeded the calls to deploy police officers throughout the system, BART General Manager Bob Powers said in a letter this week that the agency plans to adhere to its current timeline for the fare gates. The Council disagrees that more can’t be done to speed up the project, but we will continue to work with BART and advocate for an accelerated timeline along with other safety improvements.