Community Corner
BART Ridership Has Yet to Recover to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Usage of the BART remains below usage levels of 2019 and earlier.
BART Ridership Reports demonstrate the current stubbornness of ridership levels. The most recent report, that of August, 2022, shows that ridership hit just over 3.9 million during the month. For comparison, there were 10,329,856 trips in the month of August, 2019, pre-pandemic. This signifies an approximate 62% loss of ridership—far from a full recovery.
This drop in ridership is seen in the BART’s finances. The FY19 Adopted Budget details their financials; in the 2019 fiscal year, the BART accrued $560.8 million in revenue from rail passengers. In the 2022 fiscal year, the BART brought in only $165.9 million in rail passenger revenue: a 70% drop in only three years.
Dramatic revenue loss may be part of the reason that the BART now relies on more financial assistance from California. While the BART received a total of $361.3 million in financial assistance in 2019, the BART received $437.3 million in 2022. Though this increase may seem small in comparison to their drop in revenue, the BART also took in an additional $385.7 million in emergency assistance, which is included in their 2022 budget.