BART ridership begins to rebound; many still wary
Nearly twice as many passengers passed through BART turnstiles in a recent week as did during the transit agency’s lowest ridership of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But overall ridership remains a fraction of what it once was, with many once-frequent riders finding other methods of transportation or staying home.
The agency surveyed a random sample of 1,268 people who previously identified as using BART, which connects San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Five of six respondents said they’re no longer riding BART trains, and only 8% said they were riding at least three times a week.
Ridership has been slowly ticking up since the beginning of May, but it was still nearly 90% lower than normal last week. But that’s up from a low of 6% ridership during the first week of April.
The passengers the agency serves have shifted since the pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home orders. Those who still regularly use BART are overwhelmingly men and people of color in lowerincome brackets. The majority (60%) of those still commuting via BART claim high school as their highest level of education, and 78% of those who have stopped riding claim at least a bachelor’s degree.
The agency previously has pointed to data showing ridership surging at stations in lower-income communities, and those in more affluent areas have seen precipitous drops. This week, the agency expanded service on the Yellow line from Pittsburg to Daly City after an uptick in traffic on that line.
Of those who have stopped using BART for their commute, nearly onethird said they don’t plan to return to public transit in the next 12 months. Their most common concern was a lack of social distancing on trains (88% of respondents), followed closely by other passengers not wearing face masks (80%) and general cleanliness of the trains (77%). Other concerns include social distancing on station platforms (61%) and station cleanliness (60%). About half said they plan to work from home more often, and 11% said they had lost their job.
A significant portion of riders who once took BART five days a week now say they expect to reduce their use of public transit to one to two days a week. Nearly half of those surveyed (45%) said they used BART five times a week pre-pandemic, but only 25% say they plan to return to that level, and those who answered one to two days rose from 10% pre-pandemic to 22% once the virus dissipates.
The agency hopes a 15step Welcome Back plan will help quell those concerns. One part of that includes personal handstraps that it plans to sell for $5 each. Currently, they are available over the phone and at the Lake Merritt Station, but an online store is scheduled to launch in July.