BART estimates riders take 432,000 trips on weekdays and 126 million trips annually.
RELATED: Building a Better Bay Area: BART Week
11:24pm Homeless, mentally ill, and open drug use at Civic Center station. #BetterBayArea https://t.co/PKBOBGnrf7 pic.twitter.com/3qZmosWWl2
— Dan Noyes (@dannoyes) February 13, 2019
We reached out to other rapid transit systems with similar ridership around the country comparing BART to SEPTA in the Philadelphia Area, and MBTA in Boston to find out what customers think of their service.
8:40AM Stopped at Lake Merritt BART. Platform is clean and busy, but street level the station is less welcoming. There’s trash and liquor bottles everywhere follow along today https://t.co/RFxuseggrK#BETTERBAYAREA @kenmiguel pic.twitter.com/WdXt0TVBWh
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) February 12, 2019
When it comes to station cleanliness, BART customers say things are getting better 68-percent of commuters say so. BART agency is on par with similar agencies. In Philadelphia its lower 66-percent, and in Boston higher marks 73-percent.
But when it comes to train cleanliness, BART isn't doing as well. Just 62-percent of riders give BART a satisfactory rating. In Philadelphia that percentage is 73-percent and Boston 84-percent. BART clearly has a long way to go.
RELATED: Could other transit agencies have the answer to BART fare evaders?
On-time performance is one area that BART shines. 92-percent of its trains arrive on-time, in Philadelphia just 89 percent are on-time, and Boston is only on-time 85-percent.
Crimes on transit agencies are reported to the federal government. BART has made news in the last year for a number of high profile crimes. Many people think crime is on the rise, it actually has gone down slightly there are just 3.5 crimes per million passengers. That is not as good as Philadelphia that has just 2.8 crimes per million, but definitely better than Boston, which has 4.3 crimes per million riders.
10:40am - Bart fare inspectors on Dublin/Pleasanton train.
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) February 12, 2019
Bart spends $800k a year trying to catch fare evaders. Only a fraction pay the $75 fine.
Would higher barriers to stop gate jumpers be a better solution?#BetterBayArea@JuanCarlosABC7 https://t.co/Ha2C6kbylc pic.twitter.com/8esOB9tREe
And finally, when it comes to customer Satisfaction, a recent survey of BART passengers found only 56-percent of riders gave the system a "satisfactory" rating. In Philadelphia 73-percent were satisfied, and Boston, the vast majority of riders, 85%, were happy.
We also compared BART to the Washington D.C.'s Metro. It is a similar system, but with twice as many passengers and more stations. Even though the metro is a lot larger, it still gets a much higher rating. 79-percent of its riders are satisfied.
Check out more stories about Building a Better Bay Area.
