Riders may soon notice BART trips across the region cost more.
Fares will increase by 5.5 percent starting Jan. 1, 2024, raising the average fare by 23 cents to $4.43, according to Bay Area Rapid Transit.
For regular riders, a 12-mile trip from Downtown Berkeley to Embarcadero, for example, will increase by 25 cents to $4.75. For a 45-mile trip from Antioch to Montgomery Street, the fare will increase by 40 cents to $8.60. A quick jaunt from 24th Street to the Embarcadero will go up from $2.15 to $2.30.
Meanwhile, low-income riders who are participants of the Clipper START program will receive an increased discount to 50 percent, up from the 20 percent discount offered now.
Part of a two-year budget plan approved by the BART Board of Directors in June, the fare increase is just the first of two 5.5 percent increases. The second fare increase is expected on Jan. 1, 2025.
Another addition next year: New fare evasion gates, which are meant to make it more difficult to hop a turnstile. They represent another attempt by the transit agency to crack down on rampant fare-dodging.Â
Fare evasion has particularly hurt BART in the aftermath of the pandemic, as the agency was more reliant than most on farebox recovery. A full 60 percent of its operating costs came from ticket purchases.
At a time when BART ridership still hasn’t recovered — in November 2023, ridership was 43 percent of pre-pandemic level — the fare increases alone are expected to bring in an additional $26 million in operating funds through fiscal year 2025, BART said.
A fare hike seems like it should be their last priority given that they are desperate to increase ridership.
As usual for San Francisco nowadays, honest people will take the hit while fare evaders who jump the gates with impunity won’t be affected.
I would imagine a BART police officer would earn his/her/their wage and then some by simply standing at the gate and preventing fare evasion. Also, BART would have less of a vandalism/damage problem because odds are the fare evaders are the ones committing those acts.
The gate agents don’t care about anything or anyone. They just want to be on their devices. In the old days, they would read the paper.
So, suburbanites pay 20 cents a mile, and urban residents pay five times as much to go across town. Something stinks!
I’m in agreement with cardinal’s above email.
The dishonest ones (who evade payment are living off the dime of the honest).
It’s the paying ones who have more put on their plates.
Many times there are station agents at the gates and they are either helpless or just tired of dealing with the evaders.
Any local transit authority that covers 60% of its costs through fares should be supported.
For SF Muni I believe that figure is maybe 20%.
The clipper start seems comically punitive. If you are low
Income enough to qualify for clipper start, the prices they charge seem extremely expensive. This is especially true for caltrain.
I would love mission local to do a story covering how expensive low income programs are (thinking of bmr housing that demand that the residents are rent burdened)