Barring a sudden return to pre-pandemic ridership levels, BART's long-term future will likely hinge on a future ballot measure that would partially subsidize the transit agency, officials said Thursday.
The San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas have the lowest office occupancy rates among the top-10 biggest metros in the country, with San Francisco sitting at just 20.8 percent according to badge swipe data from Kastle Security.
BART's financial planning is further complicated by roughly two-thirds of its expenses being fixed or semi-fixed, such as upkeep of BART facilities, maintenance and maintaining the BART police force. With that sword of Damocles hanging over BART as well as the region's other major public transit operations, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the region's transit coordination agency, has considered placing a long-term funding measure on the 2026 or 2028 ballot.
BART could also place its own measure on a future ballot, one which could be focused on voters in BART's three counties with the most service - San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa - or all five counties that the agency serves. BART officials plan to meet with state legislators next week and federal legislators in March to discuss the need for protecting and even making efforts to bolster transportation funding. A baker's dozen of lawmakers including Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, sending a letter Jan. 18 to leadership of both of legislative bodies to protect planned transportation funding after Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested billions in cuts in his proposed state budget.
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