Senators Wiener, Arreguín Respond To BART Service Outage: “Supporting Public Transit Must Be A Top Priority For The Bay Area.”

SAN FRANCISCO – The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system announced they are resuming service systemwide after a computer outage took the entire system offline for several hours this morning. Over 170,000 passengers use BART on a typical weekday, and the outage spiked traffic and triggered traffic delays of 30 minutes or more in many parts of the Bay Area as passengers sought other means to travel.

The temporary outage provided a window into what life in the Bay Area will be like without robust BART service. BART is facing fiscal headwinds that threaten dramatic service cuts if nothing is done: Just last week, BART announced that unless something changes, it will be forced to cut 10 stations and 2 entire lines, lay off 1,000 workers, and hike fares by 30%. Muni, AC Transit, and Caltrain will similarly be forced to slash service.

Senators Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) are co-leading an effort to secure $2 billion in the state budget for transit statewide, in order to shore up transit service in the Bay Area and elsewhere. The Senators are also pursuing legislation to authorize a 2026 ballot measure to provide a long-term sustainable funding source for BART, Muni, and other Bay Area transit systems.

Senators Wiener and Arreguín issued the following statement in response:

“We’re grateful to BART for acting quickly to restore service throughout the Bay Area and to partnering transit agencies for stepping up. BART was able to resolve the issue in a matter of hours, and passengers are now able to return to the system knowing that full service has resumed.

“This outage showed once again how essential BART — and transit generally — is to life in the Bay Area. Everyone suffers when we lose robust public transportation service: our roads rapidly become choked with traffic, workers are unable to make it to work, children miss their rides to school, and businesses lose customers. 

“This temporary headache could become a nightmarish new reality if nothing is done to address the financial crisis facing BART and other transit systems. BART officials issued a warning last week that without long-term sustainable funding, we will see stations close and entire lines shut down. Preventing this disaster and supporting a vibrant economic recovery powered by public transit must be a top priority for the Bay Area.

“We can prevent that disaster and support a vibrant economic recovery in the Bay Area if we take decisive action. Governor Newsom and the Legislature must secure additional funding for public transportation in this year’s budget to prevent major service cuts in the short term. In the long term, a regional funding measure is absolutely essential for robust transit service to not only survive, but improve. We remain deeply committed to the work.”

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