[Alameda County] BART Crime Spikes As Ridership Falls: Grand Jury Report

Violent crime on BART, including robberies and aggravated assaults, increased by 115 percent over the last five years.

BAY AREA, CA — The last few years have been challenging for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, according to a recently released Alameda County grand jury report. Increased crime, homelessness on trains and around stations, dirty facilities, fare evasion, and overall safety concerns are causing BART ridership to fall, the report found.

Violent crime on BART, including robberies and aggravated assaults, increased by 115 percent over the last five years (see below), according to the report. Perhaps not coincidentally, BART has lost 8 percent of its ridership since its 2016 peak, even as the Bay Area population grew and several new stations were added to the system, the report continued.

The grand jury report found that BART has taken some steps in recent years to address the crime problem, including the "BART Watch" for riders to report and document crimes; a plan that called for improved surveillance cameras, police callboxes on station platforms, public safety awareness, and related measures, including fare evasion prevention; BART management is also requesting that the board authorize an additional 19 police officer positions in the FY 2020 budget and the agency is taking steps toward attracting more police officer candidates.

For FY 2019, BART looked closely at rider safety when determining its budget, according to the report. The grand jury found that $11 million went toward security, $1.6 million toward homeless-related projects, and $2.4 million was dedicated to combating fare evasion. (The report found that fare evasion impacts security because it's lost revenue that could go toward improved security, and because BART police are distracted away from preventing violent crimes.)

To win riders back, BART's board of directors must convince the public that the trains are once again clean and safe to ride and that a rigorous effort to stop crime, including fare evasion, is in progress, according to the report. Furthermore, BART must do this while facing serious competition from industry disrupters like Uber and Lyft.

June 28, 2019

Patch.com (Pleasanton)

By Toni McAllister, Patch Staff