BART considers service cuts and raising fares due to lower ridership

If you complain about BART service now, it could soon get a lot worse. The BART board is considering raising fares and service cuts.

BART is facing a $15 to $25 million deficit this fiscal year. That's in part because overall weekday ridership is down four percent and 9 percent on the weekends. BART has put out a hiring freeze in place and cut down on overtime.

One idea is to cut the 4 a.m. service and start at 5 a.m., which would create a hardship for a lot of commuters. An early morning BART rider said the trains are so crowded, they should be thinking about starting earlier not later.

"The train is full. It's really packed at this time. So a lot of people do use it at this time. So, yeah that would be a huge impact," said Hector Peralta, Manteca resident.

Some other ideas on the table include raising the base fare, selling more ads, catching people who don't pay their fares and charging more for parking.

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