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BART Unions Accuse Management of Contract Delays and Costly Perks
In a teleconference with reporters today, the presidents of three of BART's five unions accused BART management of not showing good faith in efforts to complete negotiations on a new 4-year contract by June 30th, the day the current contract expires. The unions claim that management talks a good game in public, assuring the press that union and non-union workers will share the pain of cutting $100 million in labor costs to drive down an expected $250 million deficit over four years, but that management expects union workers to shoulder more than proportional burden.
June 16, 2009
Expanded Downtown Berkeley BART Bike Station Moving Forward
Berkeley and East Bay bicycle commuters will have many more bicycle parking options with the opening of a new storefront bicycle station near Downtown Berkeley BART later this year. East Bay Bike Coalition Executive Director Robert Raburn and a spokesperson for BART confirmed that a lease was signed last week at the site of the former Shoe Pavilion store on Shattuck Avenue, just steps from the Allston Way entrance to the BART station. The new bike station will be operated by Alameda Bicycle, which runs the current station.
June 12, 2009
BART Transit Blogger Roundtable, Part II
Last week regional transit bloggers sat down with BART management and asked questions of General Manager Dorothy Dugger about her transit operation. This is part two of that roundtable:
June 4, 2009
Supervisor Chiu Urges MTC to Invest in Transit Over Freeway Expansion
In honor of the 50th anniversary of San Francisco's famous "Freeway Revolt," car-free Board of Supes President David Chiu has introduced a resolution calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to reallocate funds for highway expansion and "prioritize investment in public transit maintenance."
June 3, 2009
BART Invites Transit Bloggers to Query GM Dugger, Part I
Last week, BART hosted a brunch meeting for Bay Area transit bloggers, explicitly acknowledging that journalism is trending away from traditional media to online and niche outlets. Organized by BART spokesperson Linton Johnson, writers from Streetsblog, The SF Appeal, The Overhead Wire, N-Judah Chronicles, and Transbay Blog had the opportunity to ask BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger and her team unvarnished questions, to which we received fairly straightforward answers.
June 3, 2009
Advocates, Unions Call for BRT Connector Service to Oakland Airport
In a rally held at the Oakland Coliseum BART station yesterday, transportation and social justice advocates joined with transit and public health unions to call on the BART Board of Directors to study a full-BRT line connecting BART to Oakland Airport, instead of the proposed elevated people-mover that BART staff seems so intent on building. Advocates claim the BRT model could be built at such a cost savings that BART could provide free airport connector service in perpetuity.
May 8, 2009
BART Directors Consider Design Concepts for New Rail Cars
The first new BART cars won't come online until 2014, but BART's Board of Directors, in a special meeting yesterday, reviewed staff's proposals (PDF) for procuring 700 new cars (there are currently 669 cars system-wide) and the possibility of upgrading them with new technology for customer communication, new interior fabrics and colors, and new modular seat configurations. After months of somber meetings full of protests, arrests, and budget doomsday scenarios, directors were visibly excited to discuss details for improving cars that hearken to the 1970s era, when most were built, and by the possibility of experimenting with innovation and best practices from other major transit systems the world over.
May 8, 2009
MTC Approves Sweeping Regional Plan, Debates New Toll Lanes
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) yesterday approved its 25-year "Change In Motion" Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), after more than two years of work coordinating with the 26 regional transportation operators, the public, and the many authorities under its control. A slew of bicycle and transportation advocates lined up to thank the MTC for the more than $1 billion it has committed to completing the regional bicycle network and increased funding for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) and Safe Routes to Transit (SRTT) programs.
April 23, 2009
California Cities Need A Predictable Fund For Transit Operations
When the State Transit Assistance (STA) fund was zeroed out to pass the budget a couple of months ago, the already dire situation for transit operators in California became much worse. In the Bay Area, AC Transit raised fares, the MTA has been considering budget cuts and fare hikes, and BART will likely do the same if its board can get to the discussion at the next meeting.
April 13, 2009
BART Releases 2010 Budget, But Board Doesn’t Debate Its Merits
Despite meeting for more than seven hours yesterday, the BART Board of Directors never managed to discuss the budget, in no small part because of the drama and theatrics of a public enraged about the shooting of Oscar Grant on January 1st and the release of an internal audit that found BART fails to award contracts to minority and female contractors commensurate with demographics and stated agency goals.
April 10, 2009