Bay Area BART lost 55% of its riders since FY2019. It responded by hiring more people. Now it wants a billion-dollar sales tax from five counties to cover a $376 million deficit.
Pre-pandemic: ๐ฐ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. FY2025: ๐ฐ,๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. That's 15% more staff serving half the customers. Per-employee comp is up 32%, from $140K to $171K.
Any private company that lost half its customers and then grew headcount would be bankrupt. BART just asks for a tax increase.
Here's some shocking examples of waste:
- $๐ด๐ฌ๐ /๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ. 57 employees doubled their salaries through OT.
- $๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ค at $1,000/sq ft.
- ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ: $318K.
- ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: $258K. Who are they marketing to?
- ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฌ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐, down from 71% pre-pandemic.
The Connect Bay Area measure hits the November 2026 ballot asking for $980 million a year in new sales taxes. Bay Area residents already pay among the highest state and local taxes in the country.
Can anyone explain why we should pay more taxes to fund an organization that lost half its customers?
ALT BART Lost Half Its Riders, Then Hired More People