BART janitor makes $276K with overtime pay

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Cleaning BART stations means big bucks for one janitor. He raked in nearly $200,000 in overtime last year.

The janitor works at the Embarcadero station, as well as all of the other downtown San Francisco stations. He puts in 114 hours a week. The researcher who discovered all of this says the janitor isn't to blame, BART is.

The average BART janitor makes $50,000 a year. But Lang Jow Jong raked in $162,000 in overtime alone. Jong's total compensation for last year totaled more than $276,000.

Researchers at the nonprofit Transparent California, say BART's compensation packages are outrageous and irresponsible.

"There is just no reason to be paying their employees so much more money than what the average person gets," said Robert Fellner of Transparent California

The average janitor in California makes $28,000 a year. BART's spokesperson insists, it's cheaper to dole out overtime than to hire more employees. This way they're being conservative. But a BART board member disagrees.

"What's wrong is that again, there is that many hours available for over time. That is indicative of a staffing shortage," said BART board director Zakhary Mallet.

BART riders had mixed reactions to Jong's income.

"People need jobs. If you're paying one guy $200,000 you can for sure hire more people," said BART rider Emara Shabir

"I think it's a good opportunity for that person," said Zachary Brudno, a BART rider.

ABC7 News asked Jong to meet for an interview and he declined because he's working.

Click here to see a list of BART salaries.