Response from Bay Area Rapid Transit District

Customer Satisfaction Surveys reveal that Contra Costa County riders are increasingly dissatisfied with safety, cleanliness, and fare evasion on the BART system. RESPONSE: Agree with clarification NOTE: Our assumption is that “safety” as referenced in this Report refers to personal security in the BART system and not the safety of the trains themselves. BART’s Customer Satisfaction Surveys are noted as the source document for several conclusions and findings contained in the Report. For this reason, we offer the following comments on the data and /or its interpretation: 1. On , the report states that satisfaction decreased to a low of 54% in 2018. This figure is 56%. 2. For the attributes rated on the questionnaire, a 1 – 7 scale is used, and only numbers 1 and 7 are anchored, with “Poor” and “Excellent,” respectively. The references to 4 = Neutral, 2 = Very Dissatisfied, and 3 = Somewhat Dissatisfied are not in the BART Customer Satisfaction Survey. 3. The average ratings used in Table 2 on are not consistent with BART data. It appears that they are based on unweighted data, and missing responses were not excluded, resulting in the average scores being lower than they are. However, these attributes did experience declines between 2016 and 2018, so that is not disputed. 4. , figure 2. “Cleanliness” in chart should read “Train Interior Cleanliness.” 5. , Cleanliness, last sentence should read: County scores were lower than non-county scores for cleanliness attributes related to train, but not for all cleanliness attributes. 6. On , the score for Addressing Homelessness among County riders was 2.74, not 2.57. It is correct that it was the lowest rated attribute among County riders.

BART is actively addressing safety and cleanliness. RESPONSE: Agree BART appreciates the Grand Jury’s recognition of our considerable efforts over the last several years in focusing on safety, cleanliness and other quality of life issues. Since Fiscal Year 2014, BART has invested an additional $60+ million on ongoing and new programs to address safety and security, fare evasion, homelessness, and enhanced cleanliness. These efforts have occurred in tandem with an accelerated capital rehabilitation program and an unprecedented growth in ridership during the FY14-FY20 time period. BART Response to 2019-2020 Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report Page | 1

BART has no published strategic plan beyond 2020. RESPONSE: Agree with clarification Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, BART intended to update the Strategic Plan in FY21. However, prioritization of other immediate needs has moved to the forefront in the face of this unprecedented public health and financial challenge. BART continues to follow the 2015 Strategic Plan Framework vision, mission, goals and objectives. While the strategies are associated with FY16-FY20, they will remain in place for FY21 and/or until the time that BART updates the Strategic Plan.

Fare inspectors alone are not effective in deterring fare evasion. RESPONSE: Agree As the finding suggests, fare evasion is a complex problem which does not lend itself to a one-dimensional enforcement solution. Due to a variety of factors affecting BART, including the size and scope of the system, relatively open design, changing social environment, and restrictions on enforcement, we have implemented a multifaceted strategy involving deployment of both human and physical capital to reduce fare evasion. Over the last several fiscal years, we’ve added funding for community service officers, dedicated fare inspectors, and additional police officers, as well as the commitment of substantial capital funds directly to station hardening and incorporation of hardening design and equipment into our ongoing station modification program. Modifications and additions include raised railings, alarmed swing gates, fare gate pressure increase, enclosure of platform elevators to paid areas, additional security cameras, and electronic service gates. As will be discussed in the related Recommendation, BART is also in the process of design and funding of new fare gates, which will have fare evasion mitigation features as a principal design and deployment objective. Contact with fare evaders occurs in several different ways. Police Officers take enforcement action for fare evasion that occurs at the fare gates. Officer must witness a subject entering or exiting the paid area without paying, and then the officer can take enforcement action for the criminal infraction violation of fare evasion. On average we typically have about 26 police officers assigned to patrol stations during revenue hours. Each officer is responsible for 2 to 3 stations; we are unable to have an officer at every array of fare gates to prevent fare evasion. Officers do provide a vital role in deterrence and enforcement. Although our non- sworn Fare Inspectors lack the general authority of a Police Officer, they do have the ability to ask everyone within the paid area of the system to show proof of payment. Prior to the ordinance, fare evaders were only concerned with getting caught upon entry or exit, but now they may be stopped anywhere along their ride to show proof of payment. Reducing fare evasion will require Police Officers, Fare Inspectors, and station hardening. Even after station hardening, enforcement by Police Officers and Fare Inspectors will continue to be necessary. BART Response to 2019-2020 Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report Page | 2

BART has not allocated the funds to complete the fare gate modification program. RESPONSE: Disagree partially As explained in BART’s response to Recommendation No. 2, the faregate modification program was always envisioned as a regional responsibility mirroring the strategy used to fund the first generation faregate replacement program years ago. BART typically works with the county-level transportation authorities to partner in funding regional projects, but these funding packages rely on county-level funding opportunities. As one example, in March 2020, Contra Costa voters failed to pass a sales tax measure that included $120M in funding for a "Cleaner, Safer BART" category that could have been used as the Contra Costa share to improve fare gate reliability and reduce fare evasion. Despite this setback, BART is fully engaged with Contra Costa and other regional partners and funding agencies to secure this funding to complete the plan and meet the expected implementation schedule. BART has directed over $35M of in-house funding in the program and has also worked diligently to bring program costs down from $150M in September 2019 to a projected $90M today. We are presently prototyping the new gates at the Richmond station, with positive results to date.

County riders want more police officers throughout the system- inside and outside the stations, and on trains. RESPONSE: Agree with clarification BART recently commissioned a study by the University of North Texas to analyze and assess BART police staffing levels. The study recommendations included staffing increases and a layered deployment in order to increase officer presence inside and outside the stations and on trains. In response to the study (and with the support of our Board of Directors), additional officers will be deployed on trains and on cover beats. With the first increase of 19 additional officer positions, in January 2020 we created a Train Team of 10 officers, who are dedicated to riding trains throughout the system. As predicted, this first step has been very successful. Our next step is to add a second Train Team, so that we can expand program hours and increase coverage. In addition to Police Officer presence on trains, our uniformed Community Service Officers, Fare Inspectors, and Ambassadors provide visible presence and a deterrence to crime on our trains. The most recent BART customer survey showed an increase in officer presence, and the increase is attributed to all job classifications being highly visible in the stations and on trains.

Contra Costa County's revenue contribution to BART is increasing while overall fare collections are decreasing. RESPONSE: Agree with clarification In the Report, Table 1 – Fare Collections 2017 to 2019 depicts a methodology of tracking fare collections which differs from BART practice. Our data acquisition system accounts for each entry and exit as a completed trip and assigns revenue to the destination station. Doubling this revenue to determine any jurisdiction’s revenue contribution is at best a rough approximation that assumes that all trips are round trips, which is not the case. When allocating trips and associated fare revenue to geographic segments of the system, the correct way to BART Response to 2019-2020 Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report Page | 3 allocate the trips is based on exit station location, the point at which the fare is determined. Each trip contains one entry station and exit station; allocating both entries and exits results in a double counting of trips associated with a geographic area. Overall fare revenue from Contra Costa County did increase by 0.9% from FY17 through FY19. It was during this period in which BART opened the two-station eBART extension, which serves new and existing ridership originating from eastern Contra Costa County and beyond.

There is no evidence that BART has attempted to systematically survey non-riders. RESPONSE: Disagree In 2019, BART conducted two online surveys which included non-riders. One of these used a purchased panel of four-county residents which included both riders and non-riders and focused on opinions and perceptions of BART, and reasons for not riding among non-riders. The base was adults age 18+ in BART’s service area. Including both riders and non-riders is preferable to a survey focused on non-riders only, as the data can be weighted to the overall population. The other survey was via a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). This survey focused on work commuters in the four-county service area and asked about commute mode, reasons for choosing/not choosing BART, and overall satisfaction with BART (among those who ride BART at least once a year). In addition to quantitative surveys, BART occasionally conducts small group discussions (focus groups) with frequent riders and infrequent riders. The infrequent riders sometimes include those who are riding BART less often than in the past. These discussions allow BART to gain insight into the factors that come into play when residents make transportation decisions. The reason that these types of surveys haven’t been done regularly or more frequently, is primarily due to cost and resources. Surveying existing and former customers is much more time and cost efficient. And while using a purchased online panel to reach non-riders can be done in a cost-effective manner, the quality of the data may be questionable in some instances. When low-cost opportunities arise to gain insight from non-riders, such as in the partnership with MTC described above, BART commits staff resources to this effort. This survey can’t be scheduled regularly however, as the primary data collection effort by MTC is not expected to be repeated on a regular basis. One key question asked of those who are riding less than before, or not at all, is reasons for change in frequency of riding BART. We do acknowledge though that those who have stopped riding altogether may be less likely to complete an online survey from BART. BART Response to 2019-2020 Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report Page | 4