Wednesday, December 3, 2003
By Mary Anne O’Rorke
This Thursday, rides on BART between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. will be a Dutch treat — free, actually, courtesy of the Dutch-owned online bank, ING Direct. While the sponsor hopes you’ll be drawn to its banking services, we hope the promotion will inspire a whole new group of riders to discover the service and safety of our modernized BART system — especially new service
to SFO.
The future of Bay Area mass transit may depend on it. Public opinion polls show repeatedly that the No. 1 concern of Bay Area residents is transportation. In a recent poll released by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, BART expansion showed up as the top transportation improvement people would like to see — 50 percent higher than the next choice, wider freeways.
Yet news outlets have reported that BART’s expansion to San Francisco International Airport has not drawn the number of riders expected. Lack of patronage on the new $1.5 billion line, especially at the $76 million Millbrae “mega-transit” center, has prompted speculation that service could be cut — including closing two of the four new stops.
While BART management assures us that no such service cuts are in the works, the truth is, no train system will run for long without riders to support it. Any further cutbacks in BART service would create huge hardships for riders and discourage new riders from turning out. This downward spiral of revenues and service will worsen rather than resolve our regional transportation crisis. Without support for expansion, plans for extending BART through Warm Springs to San Jose, and east to Tracy, could be put in jeopardy.
As a BART train operator, I’m hardly an unbiased voice on this issue. Every time the new SFO train curves around the beautiful wetlands preserved for the San Francisco garter snake, beckoned by the bright lights and modern structures of SFO’s state-of-the-art facilities, I feel a surge of pride. This is a world-class operation for a world-class area. It deserves to succeed. I believe it will — if people will try it. The question is, why is this resource such a well-kept secret?
In operation since 1972, maybe BART has become like that old lounge chair in the family room, comfortable and taken for granted. While the average Bay Area car commuter wastes as much as 42 hours a year sitting in traffic, BART commuters enjoy a smooth ride in carpeted trains, speeding past nerve-racking traffic jams. There are no tailgating drivers, no rain-slicked highways, no wear and tear on your car.
The advantages of BART to our environment are profound. Taking BART rather than your car every day reduces air pollution by 5 tons a year. As a BART rider, you achieve the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon in transit — more than 10 times the average mpg of today’s cars. And you don’t have to look for a parking space!
Furthermore, BART’s fare to SFO is less than $5 from downtown San Francisco. From Rockridge, it is just $5.15. Compared with the cost of taxis, rental cars or shuttles, or driving yourself, that’s quite a deal. The BART board recently reduced parking fees for monthly and daily users at the South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae stations. Weekend parking fees have been suspended at all Peninsula stops, and the 24-hour time limit on weekends at the new airport-line stations in Walnut Creek, El Cerrito del Norte and Bay Fair has been suspended.
Unknown to many, BART operates longer hours than more-celebrated systems in Paris, London and Washington — from 4 a.m. to midnight weekdays, 6 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and 8 a.m. to midnight Sundays. BART is phasing in state- of-the-art change machines, fare gates and information displays.
New ticket- vending machines are especially welcome. Unlike the 1972 models, the new ATM- like machines accept cash, credit and debit cards, allow riders to buy multiple tickets in a single transaction and respond to voice commands. This is not your mother’s BART.
I hope you will take up the Dutch bank on their offer for a free ride Thursday and see for yourself. The train operators and station agents will be doing everything we can to make your ride a swift, safe and comfortable one. Because the truth is, we want you back. The future of Bay Area mass transit depends on it.
Mary Anne O’Rorke is president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents more than 830 BART workers.