BART joined a nationwide group of public transit agencies Tuesday to call on the federal government to allocate between $32 billion and $36 billion in relief funding for public transit in its next COVID-19 pandemic relief funding package.
BART General Manager Bob Powers and executives from 12 transit agencies like the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York and Seattle’s Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority cautioned that the pandemic could easily derail the country’s public transit agencies over the next 18 months.
Executives with each transit agency detailed how ridership has plummeted upwards of 90 percent during the pandemic, causing eight- and nine-figure monthly shortfalls in fare gate revenue.
For BART, the agency’s current 89 percent loss in ridership amounts to a gap of $40 million in monthly revenue. Powers estimated that the pandemic could cut revenue by roughly $975 million over the next three years.
“We need help,” Powers said on a virtual news conference. “COVID-19 has created a fiscal crisis that threatens public transit in the Bay Area.”
The executives all expressed their gratitude for the roughly $25 billion in relief funding for public transit that was included in the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed in March.
However, they warned, a dearth of additional federal support and continued ridership losses due to the pandemic’s persistence will result in further fiscal belt-tightening that could jeopardize public transit jobs and
service.
Multiple executives advocated for the passage of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, which the House of Representatives passed in May and the Senate has yet to consider.
“Without action by the Senate, we don’t have a path forward that will devastate our system and drag down our regional economic recovery,” New York MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye said.
Sure, the Feds have plenty of money. Or, at least they printing presses can be spooled up. The federal government can bail out every state and regional agency, cities, counties, etc. There is plenty of money! The fed gov is only around 25 million in debt. What 5 or 6 trillion more? It’s just electrons.
Guess you’re not an essential service, BART. People can get along quite nicely without you it appears. Maybe start laying people off like everybody else. Shrink your organization to meet the times. Adapt. Oh, and what happened to that huge bond measure recently passed to fund your organization? Squandered, like the rest?
And yet…. you have a general manager that makes $300k annually, a workforce that we all know is overcompensated and hasn’t lost a dime through all this, and a system that just got several billion dollars in a Bond Measure. Makes sense
AP you must be mistaken. I just checked the BART salary schedule which shows the general manager making just a few grand shy of $400k!
We should all be worried about loosing the dollar as the standard world currency. If that happen we are in a world of hurt— AKA – screwed!!!! Can’t print money any more. NO JOKE.
BART must be privatized and undergo a management change.
Absolutely agree. Privatize the whole system. Make everyone reapply for their jobs. Honor existing pensions and offer a lump sum payout for employees not yet retired to invest as they see fit. New and existing employees get a 401K defined contribution plan going forward like most everyone else. No unions. More automation of trains and stations. Those are a few places they can start.
Get real, cut salaries and tighten BART’s belt first before putting your hands out…
Time for BART to lay off 60% of it’s staff, you could easily do the same terrible job with less than half of the current group when you account for the drop in ridership.
Why should they be immune from the forces that the rest of us in the public sector have had to face for the last 4 months?
“We need help,” Powers said on a virtual news conference. “COVID-19 has created a fiscal crisis that threatens public transit in the Bay Area.” Yeah, that wasn’t the tune that was sung just 3 weeks ago, when the GM presented a FY21 budget to the Board that contained a 6% increase in operating costs over FY20, in a year when we are projecting to have only 30% of the ridership we had in FY20. His plan is to keep going back to the state and the feds for more bailouts with taxpayer money, rather than bring BART spending down to a level that matches the service levels and look for efficiency improvements. His budget passed on a 7-2 vote. Guess who opposed?
Mass transit is to transportation as buffets are to dining. Will either survive COVID-19?
@Bad Nombre – Great analogy! Buffets for sure no, same goes for salad bars. As for mass transit, I personally can’t see the “mass” coming into the equations for years. And well, you can’t have mass transit without the mass. Can’t figure out why BART has not closed stations already.
Jim and I wouldn’t get on mass transit for any money in the world now. I’ve spoken with a few area neighbors who were riding BART daily to SF. They all said they would not get on BART now if they had to go into the office, they would drive.
Fun is fun, however bart bashing alone is accomplishing nothing…this is a real problem requiring drastic changes. Wealthy we made be, however pouring billions upon billions down a rathole cannot continue. The region requires, and deserves, a transportation system that is not mismanaged like a corrupt third world dictatorship.
Yes. A massive audit is needed. Meanwhile, government workers can live as socialism dictates. Democrats mouth the words, but Hollywood, upper level in managers/pentioners don’t consider the hardship forced on the working class. Walk a mile in our shoes Pelosie, Newsome, Spielberg, and the million other scoundrels that robbed Californians blind. Start at the top. Turn over your mansions to the elderly, veterans, social workers. Hire felons to do your yard work. Homeless triggers to grow you organic food. Old men and women can cook you special dietary needs.
Do something other than stuff you pockets with our tax dollars.
I’m in agreement with most commenters here; BART needs to tighten their belt and lay people off. It’s ridiculous that these train operators and station agents and BART police are easily able to pull in $100K+ without any formal education, all because of the SEIU union.
Oh, and remember when the BART employees held the Bay Area commuters hostage several years back, and wouldn’t resume their work until they got the raise they wanted (not earned, but wanted)? My point is, no one’s sympathizing with them. Cut your expenses (ie salaries) like everyone else did.
I assume all OT has been eliminated and payroll is down due to drop in number of trains running……..Union in last strike got pay increases based on increases in fare receipts. Maybe it’s time to cut pay based on decrease in fare receipts…..Best thing about work from home culture is Bart Unions will never be able to strike again as the public can wait them out.
Understandable how you would assume common sense moves as you have stated. But unfortunately, your assumptions are wrong. OT has only been eliminated for Police officers. There has been some decline in other OT, but no where near the decline we should see.
There have been no layoffs, furloughs or paycuts. In fact all but senior management, received their regularly scheduled raises on July 1.
They sold us all this enlightened BS. Globalism, public transportation, living in densely populated cities. Giving up life in the suburbs for an urbane existence in a condo by some transportation hub. It was the future. Even taking ones bag to the store instead of getting a clean plastic one when one buys groceries. All wrong. All of it. And now we need to fork over even more money to prop up a system to take workers to jobs that won’t exist in a city that is dangerous and deserted?
Way past due. How about a mural painted on the street in front of BART headquarters “TIGHTEN YOUR BELT!”
BART….possibly the most mismanaged, over priced, inconveinant, and unsafe municipality in America
Have the Democrats and their business give back their inflated salaries and the monies they took for their businesses Newscum, Feinstein, just to name a few, during the Covid-19 bailouts . Stop giving elected officials raises that they do not deserve.
BART officials give back a portion of your salaries also.
Lest, I go on…..the list is endless.
stop allowing fair cheats on BART and it being the HOMELESS HOTEL that you have allowed.
Bail us out the citizens that are taxed to death with no jobs.
I say we let BART squirm in their shoes as long as needed. Let the over built machine break itself down and evolve into a leaner network. Slash wages, thin management, use low usage for system overhaul, etc.. BART has tried to influence cities ability to zone areas around BART, and needs to be reigned in to focus on its #1 goal, to get riders from A to B on time safely.
BFF Out!
I see 10 cars on all BART trains, while Bart publishes at peak hours they are only carrying 25 to 50 people. They don’t need all of those cars for that small of a passenger load. Basically I’m saying the same thing as everyone before me, but Bart won’t change till dramatic change happens in this state’s political nonsense. Hell will freeze over when that happens.
Forget that let them go under and privatize it. They have been a huge drain and obviously aren’t here to serve the general population.