BART police are more than doubling the number of officers patrolling trains to address safety and quality of life issues, BART officials said.
BART police are deploying eight to 18 more officers on trains per shift in San Francisco and in BART’s core service area.
That’s up from 10.
The increase is the largest deployment in 25 years if not the history of BART, BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez said. The deployment will include K-9s.
BART officials said they are suspending fare enforcement at Embarcadero Station on weekday mornings so that fare inspectors and officers can patrol elsewhere.
Patrols will occur all day.
BART ridership is down compared with pre-pandemic levels and safety may be the reason, said John Grubb, chief operating officer for the Bay Area Council, which represents the area’s largest employers.
Those employers “rely on BART more than any other transit system to get their employees to and from work,” Grubb added.
The drop in ridership threatens the financial well-being of BART, and doesn’t appear to be due to the desire for remote work, he added. People are driving to work and using the ferry where ridership has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“BART has become very unsafe,” Grubb said.
Grubb maintains that safety is the number one reason workers are not riding BART.
He thinks the first step to making BART safer is deploying officers and security personnel.
Grubb said BART police need BART board members to back officers who enforce payment and the system’s code of conduct, which includes not eating or smoking on BART and in the paid area of the system.
Riders also may see cleaner trains and stations, following Monday’s announcement.
BART officials are having trains cleaned more frequently and increasing the number crews cleaning stations.
Recently, crews began cleaning train interiors twice as often as in the past.
Cleaners are scrubbing cars when trains reach the end of a line and each night.
To make stations cleaner, BART is adding four more cleaning teams in the coming weeks. Station cleaning includes pressure washing stairwells and the busy areas of stations.
22 comments
BART will never change because of general sympathies for junkies and petty criminals. BART and our area are so preoccupied with not looking like they are treating people harshly, they do nothing except through money at it. After decades of that, we should realize it doesn’t work.
This is our ‘New York City in the 80s’ moment.
Will we learn from their mistakes and get tough on crime, homelessness, and drug abuse in a fair way…or will we continue to try ‘nice our problems away’. I’m not hopeful on this one.
Did they JUST get the memo?
Watch nothing happen except “We need more money!”
Too little , too late.
Fund the police everywhere!
Support the Blue!
Police, Fire, EMS. Brothers in blue. Respect and support them.
The peak service used to be x8 10-car trains per hour. It is now x4 8 car trains per hour. There is currently no capacity on the Concord trains for more passengers at peak time.
“Defund the police!!!” Errr ummm wait. I was just mugged! Ummm duhhhh where are those damn police officers when I need them!!!
Let’s have a heart and not punish non violent criminals. Ohhhh ummm wait. Criminals get too many breaks. Oh wait, I can’t call them criminals. That’s too harsh and hurts feelings. Let’s call them “people that don’t know the law.” But wait, is that gender neutral enough? Probably not. I’ve now offended people.
Best fix, do not allow anyone to enter the system that hasn’t paid. 98%+ of the people that smell, sleep, trash and pee on the train didn’t pay to get on it.
This sounds familiar. This statement was made many, many times over the last 15 years. Nothing will change.
I really hope they will do what they say but I really doubt any changes will happen. It’s run by corrupt unions and politicians who love making us miserable
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Too little, too late.
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Vote “NO” on any proposed future BART bonds.
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I also understand that BART has preposed doubling the number of non-functioning security cameras
I’ll believe it when I see it over a sustained period of time – and they bring back 10 car trains and be on time!
Where is the downside to doing drugs in CA ? ? ?
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What ever happened to idea of self flush elevators ? ?
Sure hope that any actions taken INCLUDE reducing the Fare Jumpers… They do Not improve the feeling of safety on the train..
My wife stopped taking BART from Concord to 19th Street Oakland two years ago. She perpetually felt unsafe and was tired of having to pick up her feet (or move) when a new stream of urine flowed under her seat.
The BART experience is disgusting. Until they harden the entrances/exits and enforce payment of fares the ridership will remain low.
It looks like all the riders are giving the BART board the finger. Maybe the pendulum is going to swing the other way
Years ago I attended a meeting at which a BART spokesperson shared plans for improving BART. The majority of the audience members are world travelers. We all said that a lot of the blame is with the riders. In other cities of the world, it is rare to see feet on seats, drugs, food, or drink, urinating, or trasing
So, moving all the way up to 18 officers to patrol multiple 10-car trains on 5 lines running in both directions all day. That’s a headline and a joke, not “enforcement.”
BART will also be “suspending fare enforcement” in SF. Excuse me. Does BART ever actually engage in “fare enforcement” ? Again, lip service.
A few questions for BART:
1. How do your paying customers feel watching dozens of freeloaders jumping the gates at Civic Center and every other downtown station every day ?
2. How do your customer feel about breathing in meth smoke ON the platform at Civic Center ? You could easily have one/two officers there every day patrolling just that activity.
3. What is your train cleaning schedule ? Once a week ? Your trains are filthy … ALWAYS.
4. Raising fares continuously for paying riders because you just don’t give a crap about freeloaders isn’t the best business strategy to build trust and increase ridership.
I served over 30 yrs as a paramedic in Alameda County. BART stations were a common call for assistance. Each station has a holding cell there for BART PD to hold prisoners. Bums, mental patients and criminals were all over those trains. Looking for people to harass or rob. There was a lot of violence in the stations and on the trains. Anytime BART comes to a city, crime skyrockets. Dublin is a classic example.
BART PD has a hard job. A metropolitan transit system is a magnet for lowlifes and criminals. I hope it can be improved. If you have ever been on a train in Europe or Japan, you will know what I mean.
That’s one pathetic photograph.
Some people would view this as part of the authentic Bay Area experience.
That’s even more pathetic.
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