New report shows BART approval rating hits record low
HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- BART's approval rating hit a record low amongst customers recently surveyed. The survey was of 5,292 customers and will be presented to the Board of Directors on Thursday.
Customer satisfaction is down to 56 percent this past year-- it was at 69 percent in 2016.
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"My analogy is it's kind of the report card I wouldn't rush home to show my parents," said Board of Directors President Bevan Dufty.
Board directors will discuss the results during a two-day intensive workshop this week.
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"Our focus on the quality of life issues is the right focus and we need to do more," said BART Spokesperson Jim Allison.
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Riders like Alex Veech, who takes the BART nearly every day, agree.
"You see a lot of homeless people sleeping on there, taking care of their personal business on the trains, doing drugs, things like that."
"There's a lot of instances where they will take over, you know, an entire seat and a number of seats," said BART rider Lolly Pineda.
BART officials say in the first year the homeless outreach team has been in the downtown stations workers made contact with more than 700 individuals, 76-percent of them were connected to services and more than 26-percent of cases were resolved, meaning they found housing or shelter.
"The biggest dissatisfaction I have with BART is the cleanliness," said Pineda.
Pineda is not alone-27-percent of riders surveyed say BART is dirty. Though most riders agree those new trains are pretty nice.
Also, 23-percent of riders said they're concerned about crime. BART Police Officers were in plain view at Civic Center BART Tuesday but rider Tom Mayer says he doesn't usually see officers.
"Rarely, rarely, rarely, hardly at all," said Mayer.
Menisha Virdi says she's very satisfied with BART.
"I feel very safe on BART," said Virdi. "It's not five-star luxury but it gets the job done."
The largest service rating decline was enforcement against fare evasion. Though BART officials point out higher railings and improved signage are helping combat fare evasion.
Noise level ratings improved by 3.5-percent, approval of BART's hours of operation up by three percent and the BART.gov website approval rating is up 2.9-percent.
Take a look at more stories and videos about BART.
