Fully Funded

In just a few short years, BART faces a nearly $400 million deficit that could change or destroy the system as we know it.

My top priority will be addressing BART’s fiscal cliff, and securing a sustainable and stable financial future for the system.

Before the pandemic, BART got over 70% of its operating revenue from fare payments. This was once considered the gold standard of sustainable funding for transit, but made BART uniquely vulnerable after the pandemic and shift to remote work decimating its ridership.

We need to modernize BART’s funding model – treating it like the public service it is with public subsidy, rather than treating transit like a private business. This means building the political support needed to run and win a regional funding measure in 2026. To do that, BART needs to bring riders back by improving service, safety, and cleanliness, and maximize revenue and public benefits from the sources it already controls to build trust in the fiscal management of the system.

We cannot balance BART’s budget on the backs of its workers or riders. An austerity approach would only further bleed BART’s ridership and make its fiscal outlook worse, not better. What we can do is make BART cleaner, safer, more reliable and accessible. We can activate BART stations, plazas, and properties, and improve BART’s fare policies to increase revenue.