BART pushes fiscal cliff to 2028
That is, if voters reject a half-cent sales tax increase this fall; BART's unreliability is becoming an issue in the CA14 primary; A Port of Oakland commish offers to help AHS break its office lease
☕️MORNING BUZZ
Vol. VI, No. 1,209
—After previously floating a dire proposal that included closing nearly a dozen stations—an approach that struck some as alarmist—BART adopted a more restrained strategy on Thursday.
At a work session last week, the BART Board of Directors failed to reach consensus on whether to begin station closures as early as 2027 if voters reject a proposed regional half-cent sales tax that is expected to appear on the November ballot.
On Thursday, however, board members reached near-unanimous agreement on an alternative approach: delaying potential service cuts and other budget actions by six months in 2027.
“This is the clearest picture imaginable,” said BART Director Robert Raburn.
—Under the revised plan, no service cuts would occur this year, and no specific stations are identified for closure.
Still, the number of stations that could ultimately be affected would rise to as many as 15, with proposed reductions cutting train service hours by 63 percent.
The strategy effectively pushes BART’s most severe budget scenario to 2028, when the agency would need to implement $176 million in cost reductions—including the elimination of 1,170 operating positions—to balance its budget.
Even then, significant uncertainty remains. There is no guarantee the plan would fully close the budget gap, and cuts of that scale could further depress ridership and revenue. “There’s so much uncertainty in this plan,” BART’s chief financial officer told the board Thursday. [MORE ON BART IN THE ELECTION 2026 SECTION]
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Candidate who ran for five offices two years ago, is running for at least two this June.
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