BART's gates helping prevent fare evasion; 10 train stations could close due to deficit

"The doomsday plan includes closing the 10 stations with the lowest ridership. That means closing 20% of its stations, impacting 12% of riders. They include Oakland International Airport, South San Francisco and West Dublin/Pleasanton. "It's a tragedy," said Ed Locker, a BART Rider from Santa Rosa. "Everybody uses BART and has for over 50 years, I think. It would be a real sad thing.""

"She said the fare gates are helping prevent unwanted behavior. "The people that were doing this type of damage to our stations have either just stopped doing that type of damage or they're not coming into our stations at all," Trost said. BART data shows at Embarcadero station they've saved 110 hours in maintenance in the six months after the new gates were installed."

BART faces an annual deficit of up to $400 million and may close the 10 stations with the lowest ridership to balance the budget. Closing those stations would shutter 20% of stations and affect 12% of riders, including Oakland International Airport, South San Francisco, and West Dublin/Pleasanton. Ridership remains reduced since the COVID-19 pandemic, with work-from-home trends shifting travel patterns. New fare gates installed at all 50 stations generate $10 million a year and have reduced vandalism and unwanted behavior. Embarcadero station saved 110 maintenance hours in six months; systemwide maintenance hours fell by 961 hours.

Read at ABC7 San Francisco