BART service cuts to affect early morning commuters
Major service cuts are on the way for early morning BART riders, as the agency looks for more time to retrofit the underwater Transbay Tube for earthquake resiliency.
But before the 4 a.m. trains grind to a halt, the BART Board of Directors is set to hear two competing proposals to replace that early morning service with Transbay shuttle buses on Thursday.
The board is not set to vote on any plan yet, but the discussion will affect the commutes for the approximately 2,800 riders who commute by BART in its first hour of service. Overwhelmingly, those passengers are riding BART from the outer Bay Area to arrive in San Francisco, according to recent BART survey data.
Starting in February 2019, BART service will begin at 5 a.m., an hour later than usual, to allow construction crews more time to retrofit the three-and-a-half mile tube in the name of earthquake resiliency. Shaving time off morning service is expected to accelerate a three-and-a-half year earthquake retrofit project by 4 months and save the agency $15 million, according to BART.
Read more: http://www.sfexaminer.com/bart-service-cuts-affect-early-morning-commuters/