BART Reports Crime Numbers Plummeting

Photo courtesy of BART

Newly released data shows crime has dropped substantially on BART through the first seven months of this year. The number of violent crimes reported on BART declined from 203 for the first seven months of 2024 to 130 incidents this year. Property crimes also fell from 1,091 for the first seven months of 2024 to 547 this year. These results show why the Bay Area Council began a concerted advocacy initiative more than two years ago to address serious safety concerns that were keeping many riders away from the system, and we applaud BART for the great progress it is making.

The decrease in crime has come as BART PD has remained focused on maintaining a highly visible safety presence in the system. At the same time BART has accelerated the installation of Next Generation Fare Gates. Now 48 of BART’s 50 stations have new high-tech gates, which are proving to be a strong deterrent against fare evasion and other unwanted behavior. BART is well on track to meet its goal to have Next Generation Fare Gates at all stations by the end of this year. Maintaining a visible safety presence and installing new gates are both key components of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan to put the everyday concerns of riders first.

Other highlights include:

• Robberies plummeted from 126 for the first seven months of 2024 to 37 this year.
• Only one cellphone robbery was reported for the entire system in July. That follows zero cellphone robberies in June.
• Auto burglaries fell from 449 last year to 162 in 2025.

BART PD’s highly visible safety presence is making it possible for officers to get to incidents more quickly. The average emergency response time for July was 4 minutes, 21 seconds. That’s well below BART PD’s goal of five minutes and one of the fastest response times for any law enforcement agency in the Bay Area. To engage in the Council’s public safety work, please contact Vice President Laura Hill.