BART Safety Measures Council Advocated for Showing Results

Measures that the Bay Area Council has strongly advocated over the past couple of years to improve safety on BART are showing results, according to recent data from the transit agency. Overall crime against riders is down significantly from last year, including drops in assaults and robberies. Meanwhile, riders report they have noticed greater presence of uninformed police officers throughout the system. Fare evasion is also down.

“BART’s riders see and feel huge improvements in safety, reliability and cleanliness,” said Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman in praising BART’s focus on improving safety. “It’s time for those who left BART to get back in the train and for those who haven’t used it to give BART a try.”

Among some of the specific results:

• Crimes against persons decreased from last quarter (crimes against persons per million passenger trip was 9.56 this quarter, down from 11.4 last quarter) and continues to show an overall decline quarter to quarter since this time last year
• 17 percent decrease in overall crime from the previous year, with violent crime down 11 percent over the same period
• Fare evasion is down 21.49% as compared to last quarter
• Officer visibility is at 20.1%, up 10.67% from last quarter

With many riders citing concerns about crime and safety as a main reason for not using BART, the Council has played an instrumental role in getting police officers deployed on trains and in stations. The Council has also advocated for speedy installation of new secure fare gates, which have helped reduce costly fare evasion and improve safety. And BART recently began posting new Code of Conduct posters on trains to remind riders that illegal and unruly behavior won’t be tolerated. The data from BART also shows overall rider satisfaction with the system at 83% and ridership increasing. To engage in the Council’s transit safety work, please contact Senior Policy Director Laura Hill.