BART gets mixed marks in quarterly review revealing need for improvements in public safety

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- BART released its own quarterly report card, and while the system has shown some improvement in several service areas, there is still plenty of work to do, especially when it comes to public safety.

"I think there was a lot good," said BART Board President Bevan Dufty. "For example, we're at 99 percent performance for our elevators and safety. That's a huge issue for people who can't take stairs or escalators. We had on-time train performance was at 87, we set the goal at 91."

But BART fell short of its own goals by several key measures related to public safety.

Those include crimes against people, car burglaries, and police presence and officer response time, which still remains a tad over the five-minute goal BART set for itself.

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Debora Allen, Bart director said, "many of these problems aren't easy fixes. These problems have developed over decades, due to lack of funding in certain areas."

BART did meet its goal of reducing car thefts, with just 1.56 per 1000 parking spaces during the summer quarter.

Interim Police Chief Ed Alvarez told BART's board of directors he recognizes the need for improvement, but hopes a soon to be beefed up force will be a huge help.

"This current year we've hired 58 new officers. 26 have been entry level, 32 lateral officers. Of the entry level, 16 of those are currently in the police academy and 13 new officers are currently in our field training program," Alvarez said.

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