BART becomes first transit agency to endorse the Seamless Transit Principles; 30 organizations now in support
On Thursday, November 19, the BART Board of Directors voted unanimously to endorse the Seamless Transit Principles, a set of 7 common sense guidelines designed to help local and regional leaders build a more integrated, efficient, and rider-friendly transit system.
In passing the resolution - co-led by BART Directors Rebecca Saltzman, Janice Li, and Board President Lateefah Simon - BART becomes the first Bay Area transit agency to officially endorse the Principles, sending a strong message of support for integrated transit in the Bay Area.
BART joins six other public entities in supporting the Principles, including the Cities of Berkeley, San Mateo, and Millbrae, the Santa Clara County Cities Association, Alameda County, and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (whose Board is the same as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors). In addition, the agency joins a growing body of non-profit and business supporters of the Seamless’ Principles. Recent endorsements of the Principles from the Bay Area Council, one of the Bay Area’s largest business associations, and East Bay Transit Riders Union, a recently formed transit rider group that has drawn attention to proposed AC Transit cuts, brings the total number of organizations that have endorsed the guidelines to thirty.
BART Director Rebecca Saltzman talks about the Seamless Transit Principles, a set of guidelines designed to help local and regional officials build a more integrated and rider-friendly transit network.
While introducing the resolution, Director Saltzman acknowledged the reality facing transit riders in the Bay Area: “There are a lot of riders who depend on multiple transit agencies [to get around]. They’re not just riding BART - they may be riding AC Transit to BART to Muni or sometimes even more agencies at once. And then there are other people who maybe aren’t taking transit, or not taking it as often, because it can be inconvenient or costly to move between a lot of different transit agencies, or sometimes just confusing. There’s been a lot of work over the past several years to improve connectivity and to make transit more seamless in the Bay Area … and we still have a lot more work to do.”
By voting for a resolution endorsing the Seamless Transit Principles, Saltzman explained, the BART Board would be showing its support for the goal of “[making] transit more convenient, more affordable, and work better together for our riders.”
Director Li echoed Saltzman’s comments: “I strongly believe that public transit is key to our region’s economic recovery from this pandemic, but we will only get there if we ensure that public transit is actually prioritized,” she said. “I think having us unanimously sign onto this resolution today is great. It’s really basic - [it says to] put riders first, and make public transit affordable and accessible to all… I hope we can work with all of our stakeholders to meet these principles.”
After multiple public comments by Bay Area transit riders expressing support for the Principles and a more integrated transit system, BART Board members unanimously passed the resolution endorsing the Principles. (A recording of the discussion is available here)
Growing support for seamless transit in the Bay Area may inform how transit agencies work to rebuild transit ridership following the COVID-19 crisis. As a member of the Bay Area Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force, Seamless Bay Area is working with transit leaders across the region to shape a recovery plan for regional transit that enables it to emerge stronger and more coordinated than ever before.
The Bay Area has one of the most fragmented public transportation systems in the country, with over 27 different separate transit agencies operating in the region with no requirements for coordination or integration.
The Seamless Transit Principles, developed by a coalition of local non-profit groups, are designed to encourage transit agencies and municipalities to work together to create a better integrated, better functioning regional transportation network in the Bay Area.
Learn more about the Principles and sign the petition here.