BART is considering cuts in the extra off-peak service added one year ago – meaning trains will come every 20 minutes instead of every 15 minutes on nights and Sundays. The change would help deal with a budget deficit and bring service in line with off-peak ridership levels that did not increase significantly when the extra service was added.
The plan to reduce off-peak service, which would go into effect in February, would save $1 million during the rest of the current fiscal year, and $3 million in the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The more-frequent service went into effect on January 1, 2008, on hopes it would attract more riders during the off-peak hours. But ridership during those times did not increase as expected.
Under the new schedule, trains will come every 20 minutes beginning at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday. All other times, service is generally every 15 minutes.
The idea is planned for presentation to the BART Board of Directors on Thursday, January 8th.
OK, so here is what REALLY happened. BART made the announcement that they were "increasing night and weekend service" early last year. Of course they actually did no such thing! They added about two trains per day while at the same time they slashed the length of the trains to 4 and sometimes 5 cars. The result was that EVERY Dublin/Pleasanton train was, and still is, packed to the point of standing room only at Embarcadero Station. What difference does this make? People who heard the announcement that BART was increasing service may have decided to give the service a try, however, after riding in a crowded car, standing up next to some greasy homeless bum who hadn't bathed in a year, unable to sit down for the 45 minute ride, uncomfortable and disgusted they never came back. The only people who ride BART are those who have NO CHOICE because they don't have parking downtown. That is the only reason I still ride BART! If I could afford parking in the city I would ditch BART in a heart beat.
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