Major
Politics
Research Abstract
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has undoubtedly shaped the way the San Francisco Bay Area operates today. BART has molded itself to becoming a popular form of transportation for citizens of the area. However, numerous problems have arisen in recent years in regard to the overall “healthiness” of the BART system with its ex-aging fleet of trains, undertrained staff, lack of BART Police presence, rampant illegal drug use, etc. which has made BART unpopular with riders. The root cause of these problems through, is the lost revenue through “stolen” rides. At any one of BART’s 48 stations in the system, there is bound to be a patron not paying his or her fare at the fare gate. This is a problem for the system as a whole, as the system annually loses roughly $25 million every fiscal year according to conservative estimates. The loss of this revenue could be used to vastly improve the system by hiring more employees, retraining current ones, buying new train cars, or anything pertaining to system-wide upgrades. The problem is that there is not a clear-cut solution to this problem as a system-wide enforcement program would be costly and could potential target minority groups. As a result, this paper explores the complicated and complex proposals to better collect fare as well as critique the current the poor strategic planning of BART, in addition to suggesting a number of small changes in policy in terms of enforcement and strategic planning for BART in order to achieve higher rider satisfaction.
Faculty Mentor/Advisor
David Holler
Course
Martín-Baró Scholars
Handout given during presentation on CARD Day.
Tan, Ethan MBS Rogerian Final.docx (12585 kB)
Research paper that the presentation given was based on.
Included in
Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Political Science Commons, Public Policy Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Transportation Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, Urban Studies Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
“Paying” the way for a Better BART Future: A Call for Better Enforcement of Fare Evasion Policies and Strategic Planning at BART
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has undoubtedly shaped the way the San Francisco Bay Area operates today. BART has molded itself to becoming a popular form of transportation for citizens of the area. However, numerous problems have arisen in recent years in regard to the overall “healthiness” of the BART system with its ex-aging fleet of trains, undertrained staff, lack of BART Police presence, rampant illegal drug use, etc. which has made BART unpopular with riders. The root cause of these problems through, is the lost revenue through “stolen” rides. At any one of BART’s 48 stations in the system, there is bound to be a patron not paying his or her fare at the fare gate. This is a problem for the system as a whole, as the system annually loses roughly $25 million every fiscal year according to conservative estimates. The loss of this revenue could be used to vastly improve the system by hiring more employees, retraining current ones, buying new train cars, or anything pertaining to system-wide upgrades. The problem is that there is not a clear-cut solution to this problem as a system-wide enforcement program would be costly and could potential target minority groups. As a result, this paper explores the complicated and complex proposals to better collect fare as well as critique the current the poor strategic planning of BART, in addition to suggesting a number of small changes in policy in terms of enforcement and strategic planning for BART in order to achieve higher rider satisfaction.
