BART outage sparks push for transit funding as service resumes
BART service resumed Saturday after a major outage Friday morning halted all trains and disrupted thousands of commutes.
The breakdown sparked renewed calls from lawmakers and transit advocates for long-term funding to support BART and the broader Bay Area transit network.
DALY CITY, Calif. - BART service resumed Saturday after a systemwide outage on Friday stranded thousands of commuters and reignited calls from lawmakers and riders for increased investment in public transit.
The disruption, caused by a failure in the system that powers BART's train control operations, shut down service at all stations for several hours during the peak of the morning commute. Trains began running again around 9 a.m., but delays persisted.
Dipasa Ghimire, who relies on BART to get to her store in San Francisco, said the outage threw off her entire morning.
"When I was here, I'm surprised, because no BART, and then I'm hurry because at a.m., I have to open my store, and then I booked a taxi, but it takes 20 minutes to come," Ghimire said.
BART officials said the incident highlights the urgent need to fund not only its own operations, but also support services like buses and ferries that could help absorb rider overflow during major disruptions.
"Right now, it's critical that we show the Bay Area that they don't need to drive," said BART spokesperson Alicia Trost. "We have a ridership of about 200,000 exits a day and what I think is a really great story is, for those ferries and buses, we made those phone calls this morning, please scale up."
The outage comes amid a looming budget crisis for BART. Officials have warned of possible service reductions unless new sources of long-term funding are secured.
"If we do nothing, we're going to see massive service cuts at BART, elimination of an entire line or two, closure of stations, scaling back or elimination of evening or weekend service and that means horrible traffic for the Bay Area," said State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).
Wiener said he is working to authorize a regional sales tax measure that could provide long-term financial support for transit systems across the Bay Area.
Some riders say the system is already unreliable, and in need of major improvements.
"I rely on it because that's my only commute. I catch a bus, and I transfer and there's constantly something going on other than what happened yesterday. There's delays, there's medical emergencies... we're lucky to have it, but I think we need to improve it," said Milana Buzzoni of Daly City.
Others said the outage may be a push for people to find other ways to get around.
"Get up off their butt, start doing more walking. Maybe you stop getting on this and you start doing more working and exercising and you'll live a little longer," Patricio Richardoe said.
On Friday, public transit advocates rallied at a congested freeway off-ramp in San Francisco, holding signs that read "Fund Transit" and "BART Outage = More Traffic." They say the outage should serve as a wake-up call about the region's growing dependence on a strained and underfunded system.
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