BART veteran to head system
After nationwide search, directors choose insider
BART’s Board of Directors on Thursday appointed a new general manager with an intimate familiarity with the transit system as it strains to address a host of challenges, from a multimilliondollar fareevasion problem to rider dissatisfaction.
Robert Powers, who previously served as the interim general manager, was elected to take over the position on a permanent basis.
At a brief news conference after the board’s vote, Powers said he will focus on fully staffing the BART Police Department, rebuilding the agency’s infrastructure and getting the fleet replacement program on track. He also addressed BART’s dismal reputation with riders — fanned by fare cheats, filth, crime and rushhour crowds that are particularly bad on the system’s lone bay crossing.
“We have a problem. Our low customer satis
faction numbers are unacceptable. We can do better. We will do better, and we must do better,” Powers said. “We really are on the path of a worldclass transit organization, but there is a lot of work to do.”
Powers has worked for BART for seven years, the past three of which he served as the agency’s deputy general manager. Before that, Powers was the assistant general manager for planning, developments and construction, where he oversaw multimilliondollar capital projects. He is a licensed and registered engineer and has previously worked for transit agencies in Seattle and Baltimore.
Powers takes over BART after Grace Crunican announced in April that she would retire this month. She held the position for seven years.
Crunican, who had headed Seattle’s transportation department before coming to the Bay Area, hired Powers in Seattle and then brought him to BART.
“The Bay Area is at a turning point, and our next general manager is going to have a unique opportunity to lead BART down this path of reformation,” director Debora Allen said. “The challenges we face are monumental: expansion to San Jose, train control, Transbay Tube, transit villages and, I hope, someday we address our fare gate problem, somehow.”
BART board President Bevan Dufty said Powers’ familiarity with the transit system was an asset for an agency grappling with a host of pressing problems.
“We don’t have a year for introspection. We have the urgency of now,” he said. “Bob has his own playbook. He understands the challenges we’re facing right now and he knows what we have to do.”
Before considering any candidates for the job, Dufty said, the BART board first decided to “totally rearrange” the manager’s job description, which hadn’t been changed since 2003. Experience around land use and transitoriented development were emphasized as key qualities, Dufty said.
Policymakers and housing advocates across the Bay Area are pushing for more transitoriented development as one important solution to the region’s housing crisis. In addition to overseeing BART’s extension to Antioch, Powers was instrumental in shaping the transit system’s landuse and real estate policies and has led negotiations to expand BART service to Santa Clara County.
BART also has been at the forefront for the region’s homelessness crisis in recent years, with latenight trains and stations serving as makeshift shelters for the Bay Area’s surging number of unhoused people. The issue has forced a system dominated by engineers to figure out ways to provide vital social services.
Violent crime has also become a focus after the number of incidents more than doubled since 2014.
“A fully staffed police office is critical,” Powers said, noting that BART has hired 33 police officers in the past six months, more than all of 2018.
Powers said BART is considering an “ambassador program” to provide additional unarmed security services, particularly on nights and weekends.
Powers was selected after a nationwide search initially yielded 10 candidates, selected from a larger applicant pool, all of them transit professionals, Dufty said. The BART board interviewed a whittleddown list of four candidates, which included Powers. Dufty remarked with admiration on the fact that Powers had no competition from within BART itself.
“All the staff and managers of the organization thought Bob was right for the job,” he said.
Powers will be the first BART general manager to operate under the oversight of an independent inspector general appointed last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Harriet Richardson, a former city auditor for Palo Alto, will monitor the agency’s finances, cleanliness and safety, and ensure that trains run on time.
“I think it’s important that we have an independent look at BART’s books. I’m not afraid of that,” Powers said.
Powers will receive an annual salary of $385,000. He will oversee a $2.4 billion budget and 3,600 employees. BART serves 407,000 riders each weekday in four counties.