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BART officials warn of a multihundred-million-dollar annual deficit; urge regional funding support
Summary
BART officials told the SFCTA board that pandemic-driven ridership loss produced a large fiscal gap (more than $400 million cited for FY24 and a structural shortfall in the low hundreds of millions annually), and outlined revenue and cost strategies while endorsing regional funding efforts including SB 63 and Prop L support.
BART representatives briefed the San Francisco County Transportation Authority on March 25 about the transit agency’s fiscal outlook and the need for new regional revenue.
Pam Herhold introduced the presentation, and Joe Beach, BART’s newly announced chief financial officer, told commissioners the system faces a significant funding shortfall driven by pandemic-era ridership declines. "That is the fiscal cliff that we face," Beach said, summarizing a gap the presentation put at more than $400,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 and a structural deficit he described on the order of the low hundreds of millions each year.
Beach said BART is pursuing several strategies to shrink the shortfall: increasing fare revenue through new gates and inflation-based fare changes, new fare products to grow ridership, nonfare revenue (including fiber and advertising), and cost containment such as a hiring freeze and non-labor reductions. He noted that service cuts alone would not close the gap because much of BART’s cost base is fixed: "Only 40% of BART's operating costs actually scale with service," the presentation said.
Beach and other presenters thanked SFCTA for funding fare-gate installations at San Francisco stations (SFCTA covering 50% of the cost at eight stations) and cited Prop L as contributing $100,000,000 to BART’s $4,700,000,000 core capacity program. The presentation also highlighted operational steps — new fare gates, additional uniformed presence, elevator attendants, and plans to expand the fleet and upgrade traction substations in downtown San Francisco — as measures to retain and rebuild ridership.
Commissioners and staff framed BART’s briefing as part of regional conversations about SB 63 and upcoming state budget asks; BART leadership said it supports a $2,000,000,000 flexible transit funding request at the state level.
Public commenters in the chamber offered mixed views — one speaker praised BART's history but criticized new cars and advertising and suggested transit should be free — comments that were recorded as public comment and did not change the informational briefing.
The board did not take action on the presentation; staff said they will continue to coordinate on regional funding options and present updates as proposals develop.
