BART user survey: Safety/cleanliness keeping most riders away

In KRON4, Alex Baker and Charles Clifford analyze the completely foreseeable findings of the Bay Area Council's recent BART survey: If our local transit system had tighter security and was cleaned more often, residents would take more frequent trips. Bay Area leaders claim they're taking steps to effect safer, more vibrant transportation; but it'll take more than lip service to reverse near-universal concerns.

On Tuesday morning, the Bay Area Council revealed the results of a new survey about BART. The transit agency has struggled with low ridership and safety concerns since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago.

BART ridership is down by about 60% and the Bay Area Council, which helped create BART in the 1950s, wanted to know what it would take to get riders back on board.

Over the past few months, the Bay Area Council conducted interviews with 1,000 people from around the Bay Area, asking a wide variety of questions about BART. What they found is that the public has an evenly split opinion of the transit system with 49% viewing it favorably and 49% having a negative opinion.

One of the survey’s most revealing takeaways was that remote work was not the main reason most respondents said they were not riding. The survey found that it’s primarily safety and security concerns that are keeping people from riding BART, with only 17% saying they feel safe on the trains and only 16% describing the transit system as being clean.

The survey’s key findings revealed:

  • 79% say they feel more comfortable riding BART when there is a uniformed police officer or security present

  • 73% say BART should prioritize adding more uniformed police on trains and in stations

  • 62% say BART should improve fare gates to prevent fare evaders; 66% want fare gates to fully enclose station entrances

  • 79% say BART should eject people from the system that violate the passenger code of conduct, which prohibits drugs, smoking, drinking and other illegal or unacceptable behavior

  • 65% say BART should focus on core operations and leave social service issues to other public agencies

  • 90% put high priority on more frequent cleaning

This article originally appeared in KRON4 News. Read the whole thing here.

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Jax Oliver