Bay Area public transit is on the brink of dying, and its death sentence couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Bay Area transit agencies, including BART, the Valley Transportation Authority and Caltrain, plan to make draconian service cuts in order to save money and stay solvent.
With the war in Iran raging on, gas prices have soared and continue to do so by each passing day.
Many students already rely on public transportation and that demand could rise soon thanks to the newfound costliness of driving a personal car to work and school.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, in the year 2025 alone, roughly 2 million people exited a BART station.
A March 17 La Voz News Instagram poll found that out of 1,611 respondents, 61% use BART at least weekly, with 40% of all respondents saying they ride it more than three times a week.
Although lots of people still use and rely on BART, The New York Times reported that “its ridership cratered during the pandemic and remains less than half of what it once was.”
According to the MTC, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 63, which authorizes a November ballot measure to prevent major service cuts at BART and other Bay Area transit systems.
Because BART’s ridership hasn’t recovered and SB 63 needs “186,000 signatures by September to advance the regional transit funding measure onto the November ballot,” BART has come up with a “doomsday plan” to cut service.
“Phase one” of this plan would close 10 stations, hike fees by 30%, end service at 9 p.m. and reduce train service by 70% by January.
“Phase two” would close up to 15 stations by July 2027.
If worst comes to worst, BART could move to “phase three;” shutting down altogether.
According to The New York Times, before the pandemic, BART was successful enough to rely mostly on fares.
We need to save our public transit, especially BART, and resuscitate its ridership.
The most expensive BART ride, from Berryessa station to Antioch station, costs $24.30 round-trip.
With gas prices getting as high as $7 a gallon in Menlo Park, riding BART has become more affordable and convenient than private transportation.
When going to a concert out of the county or heading up to San Francisco, a train fare makes for far less hassle than paying for parking or driving a car that requires $7 of gas per gallon.
The Bay Area is one of the most expensive areas to live in, “with San Jose requiring $147,430 for a single adult to live comfortably.”
Having to pay for parking, gas, insurance and maintenance makes having a car a luxury out of reach for lots of people.
On top of savings, no need for parking and not having to drive for hours, public transportation is also better for the environment.
According to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, “U.S. public transportation saves 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.”
Having access to public transportation is necessary. So is using it.
Currently, BART has 50 operating stations across the bay, from San Jose to Antioch.
Losing any one of these stations cuts the network off from an entire community, where local transit would have to bridge the gap.
BART isn’t the only transit agency in danger of cuts. VTA and Caltrain also face jeopardy.
Caltrain’s deficit could force it to cut weekend stations, run less trains less frequently and close over a third of stations, despite growing ridership.
According to Caltrain’s website, SB 63 “will provide critical operating funding for Caltrain, Muni, BART and AC Transit.”
SB 63 and the ballot measure it lays out will provide much-needed funding for local public transit.
According to the VTA website, it expects SB 63 to net “$264 million annually to VTA to support local transit improvements.” The agency needs that money, over a quarter of the proposed tax’s revenue, badly.
If you care about the future of public transportation and BART as we know it, vote yes on SB 63 in November.
To make sure it gets on the ballot, sign the petition when you get a chance to. If you don’t want to leave it up to chance, Connect Bay Area has a map of signature-gathering events; take the time to stop by one near you.
Along with voting yes on SB 63, you can support public transit through De Anza College.
De Anza enrolls students into the VTA SmartPass, where students pay a small fee of up to $7.75 based on units taken and, in return, get unlimited rides on VTA buses and light rail within Santa Clara County for the quarter.
Students and the community at large can secure the lines that serve them by showing these agencies that these lines have sufficient demand and that cutting them would badly hurt the communities they course through.
Even if you don’t use public transportation regularly, consider taking it whenever you can and supporting it.
Otherwise, brace for even worse traffic as these closures force people who would otherwise take the train and bus onto the freeway, into their cars.
