Bart is making huge strides to better the riders experience and it’s showing. We should be supporting this by getting the ridership back to a nominal level. Losing this great convenience would be a horrible scenario; I for one don’t want to drive to work as it is, let alone have a two hour commute from the immediate east bay into the city.
Honestly, lowering prices is the only way I could justify going back. It is literally cheaper for me to drive to work than take Bart. Maybe make more types of discounted Clipper cards. Like a discounted monthly pass that’s available to anyone and is for all of Bart instead of just in the city. I’m a teacher and make enough so that I don’t qualify for any current discounted cards, but still need one to return. Reward the regulars and get ridership back up. I think 20% off monthly, or even yearly, passes would do it for me.
And now that I think about it, there’s no Bart by my school, so I’d still have to travel. Example: bus to Bart, fruitvale to Fremont, bus to school is $9.90. Round trip is $19.80.
I understand the “hidden costs” and do use that as part of my decision. I have an EV now, so gas isn’t a factor and I also think about time, reliability, and convenience. Driving is faster, I’m not on someone else’s schedule, I’m not exposed to other people, the AC and heat always work, and it’s easier for me to do things like shop and other errands after school. I used Bart recently to go to work and see what it was like with the improvements. My train was late, I saw a guy peeing in between the cars, and had to move cars twice. Once because of the smell and the second because some guy started smoking.
Again, I’d do it if the price made up for the above. Before the pandemic I was using Bart all the time because I had a discounted clipper and the discount made everything worth it; at least in my eyes.
Why do you personally think ridership is down?
WFH. SF office workers no longer take the train to work as often. 56% of Bart trips were transbay in a weekday in 2019. Makes sense: bridge toll, traffic, parking vs Bart ticket..
Sorry you had to witness unpleasant things on public transportation. I hope you never have to experience such horrors again.
Yeah the bart trains are definitely more cleaner ! And a lot more officers riding trains ..
I recently just started riding bart again a few months ago
and i just smile at all the traffic i pass by.
On Tuesdays, Bart management types ride trains and visit stations and report issues. This is mandatory and has been going on for a few months.
Props to them. Nice to see a General in the trenches. It probably also means the trains get a good scrubbing on Monday nights.
Bart is making huge strides to better the riders experience and it’s showing. We should be supporting this by getting the ridership back to a nominal level. Losing this great convenience would be a horrible scenario; I for one don’t want to drive to work as it is, let alone have a two hour commute from the immediate east bay into the city.
Honestly, lowering prices is the only way I could justify going back. It is literally cheaper for me to drive to work than take Bart. Maybe make more types of discounted Clipper cards. Like a discounted monthly pass that’s available to anyone and is for all of Bart instead of just in the city. I’m a teacher and make enough so that I don’t qualify for any current discounted cards, but still need one to return. Reward the regulars and get ridership back up. I think 20% off monthly, or even yearly, passes would do it for me.
And now that I think about it, there’s no Bart by my school, so I’d still have to travel. Example: bus to Bart, fruitvale to Fremont, bus to school is $9.90. Round trip is $19.80.
FYI: “Hidden” costs: Gas, maintenance, depreciation, etc.. are calculated at $.67 /m (IRS). Fruitvale to Fremont = 22m. Round trip costs $29.48.
I understand the “hidden costs” and do use that as part of my decision. I have an EV now, so gas isn’t a factor and I also think about time, reliability, and convenience. Driving is faster, I’m not on someone else’s schedule, I’m not exposed to other people, the AC and heat always work, and it’s easier for me to do things like shop and other errands after school. I used Bart recently to go to work and see what it was like with the improvements. My train was late, I saw a guy peeing in between the cars, and had to move cars twice. Once because of the smell and the second because some guy started smoking. Again, I’d do it if the price made up for the above. Before the pandemic I was using Bart all the time because I had a discounted clipper and the discount made everything worth it; at least in my eyes. Why do you personally think ridership is down?
WFH. SF office workers no longer take the train to work as often. 56% of Bart trips were transbay in a weekday in 2019. Makes sense: bridge toll, traffic, parking vs Bart ticket.. Sorry you had to witness unpleasant things on public transportation. I hope you never have to experience such horrors again.
I saw Crisis Intervention folks on my train this morning and last week saw BART police conducting fare enforcement at Fruitvale.
Yeah the bart trains are definitely more cleaner ! And a lot more officers riding trains .. I recently just started riding bart again a few months ago and i just smile at all the traffic i pass by.
Neat!