A Year of Safer, Fuller Trains: BART’s Fare Gate Impact
One year after BART completed installation of Next Generation Fare Gates at all 50 stations that the Bay Area Council had strongly advocated for, the results are in: crime is down and ridership and revenue are up. Council CEO Libby Schaaf recently joined BART General Manager Bob Powers and other leaders at a press conference to highlight the good news. And we’ll be hosting a webinar on Oct. 12 looking deeper at the impacts of these new, secure fare gates.
According to BART, crimes against riders per million trips have fallen 67% since the end of 2024, and BART police say security-related delays are down 47% over the same period. Riders have noticed: reports of witnessed fare evasion have dropped 60%, from 25% of riders two years ago to just 9% today. And rider satisfaction has climbed to 91.4% – the highest level in the history of BART, as reported in the most recent quarterly performance report.
The safety gains are translating into ridership growth. Systemwide ridership is up 14% compared to last year, and BART recently posted three of its highest-ridership days since the pandemic. The gates are also paying for themselves: BART estimates they’re recovering roughly $10 million per year in fare revenue previously lost to evasion.
The Bay Area Council helped drive this project and ensure all gates were installed ahead of schedule and on budget. After a 2023 poll found that 78% of riders said they’d use BART more often if it were safer and cleaner, we partnered with BART to quickly push the fare gate rollout forward.
As we continue to measure the impact of fare gates and look ahead to further infrastructure improvements, please join us for a webinar briefing with BART on Monday, October 12 from 1:00 – 2:00p.
