BART board representative outlines safety gains, service tools and warns of looming fiscal cliff
Loading...
Summary
At Moraga’s Jan. 20 council meeting, BART board representative Matt Rind described recent safety and cleanliness improvements, new fare gates and "Tap to Ride," but cautioned the system faces a substantial budget shortfall that could force service cuts without new revenue. Councilors pressed on connectivity and youth/senior discounts.
Matt Rind, who said he is the new BART district representative, told the Moraga Town Council on Jan. 20 that the system has recently expanded security and station staffing and completed a systemwide rollout of new fare gates and contactless "Tap to Ride" payments.
"I am Matt Rind, your new representative on the BART governing board," he said, and listed a string of management changes and programs he said are intended to improve riders' perceptions of safety and cleanliness. Rind credited a pair of operational changes — new fare gates at all stations and additional crisis‑intervention personnel — with reducing some categories of crime and increasing confidence among senior riders. He said transit ambassadors and station attendants complement uniformed officers and that BART is pursuing partnerships with ride‑hailing companies to improve first‑ and last‑mile access.
Why it matters: Rind framed the improvements as part of an effort to rebuild rider trust and revenue. He also warned that federal and state funding uncertainty has created a large budget gap in coming fiscal years and that the agency must weigh options including reduced frequency, shorter trains or station closures unless additional revenue or loans are secured.
Rind described a steep revenue decline since the pandemic and said the agency used one‑time federal relief to smooth cash flows but now faces a structural shortfall. "If we fast forward to fiscal year '27, we're in the range of about 300 to $400,000,000 deficit," he said, adding that options on the table range from service reductions to pursuing ballot measures and state support.
Council members pressed Rind on specific items: the basis for operating‑cost increases around 2021, the timeline and structure for emergency bridge loans, and the mechanics of "Tap to Ride" discounts for seniors and youth. Rind said a regional sales tax proposal known in the meeting as "SB 63" — described during the presentation as a half‑cent sales tax for the Bay Area — is one of several revenue ideas being discussed, and confirmed that signature‑gathering for a regional ballot measure has already started while any bridge‑loan negotiations with state agencies remain ongoing.
Public comment included longtime commuter Scott Bowie, who described observing petition gatherers and criticized hard‑edged sales pitches on trains. Bowie said he overheard a gatherer claim, "Trump is taking away BART. He's gonna close down BART," and urged the council to consider Moraga's competing demands for sales taxes and parcel taxes when deciding whether or how to endorse regional measures.
What’s next: Rind said BART directors will hold a public retreat in February to lay out options and that the agency is studying potential short‑ and long‑term fixes. Council members asked staff to continue exploring local connectivity options — including microtransit, partnerships with Saint Mary's College and County Connection shuttles — to increase local ridership and mitigate pressure on roadways.
Quotes
"We have now doubled our police force," Rind said, describing a multi‑pronged safety approach that pairs law enforcement with crisis‑intervention specialists and transit ambassadors. "All 50 stations now have the new fare gates." (Matt Rind)
"He sold it by saying, 'Trump is taking away BART. He's gonna close down BART,'" resident Scott Bowie said of a petition gatherer he encountered; Bowie urged the council to protect Moraga's local fiscal priorities. (Scott Bowie)
Details and limitations: The presentation noted candidate funding sources such as federal relief and state bridge loans but did not provide a finalized loan agreement. Rind described several scenarios; councilors and staff emphasized that decisions about endorsements or town support for any ballot measure would require further review and would compete with other local revenue measures already proposed for the same election cycle.
Ending: The council thanked Rind and Tanya Love, BART's Contra Costa community relations representative, and directed staff to follow up on college‑partnership, microtransit and youth outreach options that could support longer‑term ridership growth.
