Riding BART will cost a little more starting in January, and the transit agency is preparing a series of messages across its platforms to ensure riders aren’t caught by surprise.
BART Board Vice President Mark Foley announced recently that fares will increase by 5.5% on Jan. 1, 2025. This is a 25-cent raise to $4.47 for the average fare.
The increase is expected to raise an additional $14 million a year for operations, including paying for the new “hardened” fare gates, “enhanced cleaning,” more police officers, and train operations. The extra cash will still not be enough to bring BART out of the red, as it’s looking at a $35 million deficit for the 2025-26 operating year and a $385 million deficit the year after that.
“We understand that price increases are never welcome, but BART fares remain a vital source of funds even with ridership lower than before the pandemic,” said Foley.
While BART ridership has increased in recent months, especially since trains took thousands of people to the last A’s games in September, revenues are still not as robust as in the past. Massive losses for several years due to the pandemic slump in transit riders have placed the system into a big budgetary hole. The state has, in recent years, passed bills to fund this and other major public transit systems, but significant legislation that will fully support them is still years away.
BART has updated its fare calculator so riders can plan future trips accordingly, especially to essential locations such as health care appointments and workplaces.
According to BART, the fare increase is “tied to the rate of inflation minus a half-percentage point.” The agency already raised prices by $0.23 last year. In June 2023, the BART board voted for a two-year price increase schedule to soften the financial blow.
Special savings are still in place for certain riders. Clipper START users can benefit from a 50% discount. People 19- to 64-years-old can apply to Clipper START through email or online if their household income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, which is about $60,000 a year for a family of four. Other Clipper discounts are 50% for youths (under 18), Seniors (over 64), and people with disabilities.
A big federal loan and a steel gate update
In other recent BART news, the U.S. Transportation Department recently signed an agreement with the agency for a $545 million loan to finance the acquisition of its latest modernized cars. The agency has already acquired and is running many of the 775 new cars, but the loan allows BART to use capital funds to build a new police headquarters in downtown Oakland.
“The [car acquisition] project came in under budget [and] the cost savings was because good project management, the increased pace of making and delivering the cars, and BART’s decision to have its own highly experienced staff (not contractors) do more of the engineering work in house,” said Alicia Trost, the agency’s main communications person.
Trost also gave an update about the new steel fare gates, which BART says are making stations safer and deterring fare evaders. However, some riders, especially cyclists, are critical, saying the gates close too fast and are too narrow.
BART has installed the new gates at 10 stations, including in Richmond, the Coliseum and the Oakland Airport Connector. Trost said they’re on track to install gates at all stations by the end of next year, including the Rockridge station in January and MacArthur in March.
