BART proposed parking increase and survey = financial profiling and more mismangement
BART’s desire to raise prices for parking lots where the lots fill up is shameful. It just another revenue stream BART is trying to exploit without giving the ridership a true accounting. Their rhetoric is beyond tired and transparent, yet they don’t see it.
This morning I took the parking related survey sent to me by BART and am pissed off. Even before I took the survey I felt BART was basically going to financially profiling riders to squeeze every drop from us everyday riders. After taking the survey I know it’s true, regardless of what any BART talking head may say.
If I answer the question of what station I park at, and what time I arrive, why then does BART need to know my age, race, income, whether or not I speak more than one language…shameful and not relevant to the issue. The question BART ought to be asking is: What is a fair price to charge for any person parking in a BART parking spot, at any day/time?
In the email I received for the “parking” survey BART writes, “To cover the costs of providing parking, as well as to help renovate BART’s aging infrastructure, keep the cost of BART fares down, and to improve BART service, BART is considering charging market-based fees for its parking spaces. BART is also considering capping these fees at $3/day. It currently costs BART about $2 per day per space to provide parking.”
If the survey is truly for parking and the issue is the cost “providing parking” why then add language about “aging infrastructure”; “improve BART service”, etc”? I read this to mean I’m staring at another BART money grab from any person anywhere to cover their ongoing mismanagement. Live within your means BART.
I live in and park in Castro Valley. I pay for a reserved spot so I’m not just whining about the cost. This rant is about fair and equal treatment of all BART patrons. If the parking issue is truly about covering the cost of parking spots, then every parking space in every lot at any time of day, night or weekend should come with a fee. Why should the everyday commuter, BART’s core rider and revenue stream, pay more for parking than the casual rider who only parks on the weekend? Why should you not pay to park if you arrive a BART parking lot after 3:00 PM on a weekday?
On my BART ride I pass by the Bayfair station and there are lots of empty spaces when I go by early in the morning, and there are open spots when I go back by in the evening. Per BART’s proposed parking fee structure the parking fee at Bayfair would probably not go up at all while Castro Valley’s rates will go up %100 in a year because the Castro Valley lot fills up early while Bayfair’s lot never fills up. BART directors think this is fair because people arriving at the Castro Valley station at 11:00 AM can’t find a spot.
I say this logic makes more sense; those late arrivers should just plan on going to Bayfair where there will still be open spots. Or maybe they can look for a job that has them starting earlier in the morning. I know that’s an idiotic statement, but I’m in good company with BART officials and this is a rant. Anyhow these late arrivers ARE NOT the core everyday commuter so why should the everyday commuter suffer for the occasional rider. In most businesses this kind of pricing logic would put a company out of business. But BART basically has a monopoly so they don’t have to run their business in a competitive fashion because they can just whine, put rhetoric out in the media, and ask for another bond measure at the next election while looking for their next boondoggle program.
Everyday I ride past the ongoing BART boondoggle called Oakland Airport extension. That extension will never pay for itself. It will be a financial anchor around the necks of the core BART rider for as long as the system runs
Lastly, why doesn’t BART post some true accounting information somewhere to support their claim, “ It currently costs BART about $2 per day per space to provide parking.” It was only a few years ago that BART claimed $1 per sport to support parking. What changed that cost this cost to double? Is this an accounting trick? Or is this doubling of fees just more BART rhetoric?
- Sick of BART in CV's blog
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why then does BART need to
why then does BART need to know my age, race, income, whether or not I speak more than one language…shameful and not relevant to the issue
Title VI. BART can't make any changes that disproportionately impact a minority.
You know how people keep clamoring for later BART service on Friday and Saturday evenings, even if this means correspondingly later starts on Saturday and Sunday mornings? Well, it turns out that the people benefiting from the later evening runs include many young, somewhat well-off, white people, while the people impacted by the later morning starts tend to be older, poorer, persons of ethnicity. Ergo, BART can't lawfully make the change.
So if BART wants to make *any* change, including this parking change, they have to collect this data.
Thanks for that info. I
Thanks for that info. I appreciate it.
Maybe BART is gearing up for
Maybe BART is gearing up for negotiations with employee unions. Time for salary increases.
I also park @ CV
I also park @ CV BART--switched from Bayfair when it became a fee lot.
I have frequently wondered when BART would get around to ripping us off
with increased parking fees; their arguments sound similar to the
"reasons" given for the fare hikes on our local bridges. The argument
@ "infrastructure" is pure crap; unless they are repaving the existing lots
or buying new land for parking expansion the existing facilities cost
nothing.
As usual, nothing is to be done except to bitch and dig deeper.
yep, it is crap. I read some
yep, it is crap. I read some old articles yesterday in the mercury new and sf gate where some BART directors were quoted on parking. The SF directors want to stick it to the regions where there is parking because the downtown people won't be affected. I think the base fare of $1.75 should be raised to at least $2. Why can a downtown SF resident go from Embarcadero to 24th st. for the $1.75 minimum. And most of these people aren't pay that because their on a fast pass. I feel like the people coming from the east bay are subsidizing the fares of the downtown SF riders.
In another article a board members said we have to get people to stop driving to BART stations and parking there. I was dumbfounded to read that statement. I don't know if there are any stats that I'd trust on this, but I think most people who ride BART in the east bay live more than 3 miles from a station. How does the director propose to get people to stop driving their cars to BART stations?
I live less than 2 miles from
I live less than 2 miles from CV BART, but there is no bus service that operates from my neighborhood. The idea that I
could stop driving to the station is absurd. Guess I could start riding a bike but considering how much I hate the things
and the people who ride them this ain't gonna happen.
Not to mention that bike
Not to mention that bike parking at BART (with a few exceptions) is terrible, and during the peak hours where they're trying to thin out the parking lot you can't bring it on the train, so you just have to hope you don't have to walk home with an empty lock.
I personally have no problem with parking increases, but if they think they're fooling anyone into thinking it's anything but a simple money grab, they're dumb.