BART reported having its highest daily ridership total since before the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, the day of the last Oakland A’s baseball game ever held at the Coliseum.
There were 224,721 exits reported from BART stations Thursday, the third straight day that ridership on the train system topped 200,000 exits. The A’s last three games at the Coliseum were Tuesday through Thursday and drew huge crowds making their last trip to see baseball at the ballpark before the A’s move to West Sacramento next year.
BART said ridership has been robust this month, with other events like the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, community events and other concerts and games drawing people to its trains.
The numbers are still well below the amount of BART riders that were using the system before COVID-19 brought on work-from-home policies and other changes to people’s commute and travel habits. The agency said the average pre-pandemic ridership on a September weekday was about 426,300, roughly double the daily totals this week.
BART touted its efforts to make public safety staff more visible on trains as a reason ridership has gone up, saying overall crime on trains and at stations has gone down recently despite the uptick in riders.
BART has become, Just a Drain on Taxpayer $$$.. The management needs an upgrade and a mentality that addresses how to reduce costs and recognizes the reduced ridership. Is an ongoing Fact…
I won’t ride BART Period. It’s scummy and unsafe.
And BOB is right about it becoming a taxpayer drain.
Management needs to be replaced along with all the overpaid employees that could care less.
But wait, there is another Train-Drain in our future that will get you from Merced to Bakersfield at the cost of about $150,000,000,000. No train sets built yet, no stations built yet and no track laid yet, wow! California Democrats really know how to run a railroad eh?!
I’ll bet at least 15% don’t pay by jumping the gates.
They have new gates
I don’t understand all the complaints about BART. Every time we ride the train nothing unusual happens, or is seen. Maybe we’re the exception, but it’s always seemed clean and safe to me.
Other than BART being more expensive, the new trains are nice (A/C and screens) … it feels safe … now I admit I’m not getting on at Civic Center at 11 PM but I’ve taken it all over – including way to Berryessa in SJ (damn, Fremont is a large land mass) … so yea, most of the grumbling are from grumpy old geezers who seem more mad they are not 29 and old … if you don’t ride BART now, just shut up – you do not know what you’re talking about.