The Bay Area Considers the Unthinkable: Life Without BART
As the sun peeked over the horizon on a recent Friday morning, only a few people stood on a platform in Pittsburg, Calif., to wait for a Bay Area Rapid Transit train that would whisk them nearly 40 miles southwest to San Francisco.
The working-class town with industrial roots sits on the edge of Suisun Bay and is known as a more affordable suburb. BART made it possible for Pittsburg residents to live in the farthest reaches of the Bay Area and avoid a cumbersome drive to San Francisco.
Seven years ago, BART trains would fill up quickly each weekday, with passengers taking every seat, jostling for space in the aisles and clutching every pole. Now, the trains often lumber into the city with a trickle of commuters rather than a crush.
BART’s future is dire. Its ridership cratered during the pandemic and remains less than half of what it once was. And the very future of the familiar white and blue trains, which have zipped around the Bay Area since 1972, is in doubt.
BART directors say that only Bay Area residents can rescue the system by passing a new sales tax in November. Absent that, the board recently warned that it would take eye-popping actions out of desperation in 2027.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/us/bart-bay-area-san-francisco-transit.html
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