Millions of trips are taken on BART every week, and each trip represents a connection to something meaningful in our lives. There is no shortage of demand for transportation options, but there are limits to what we can accomplish using an overworked and aging system. To continue providing quality service in the coming decades, we must rebuild our infrastructure.
Allowing BART to deteriorate is unacceptable to employers, employees, caretakers, tourists, and commuters who would otherwise be sitting motionless on a highway.
This November, we are putting before the voters a bond measure to rebuild BART, solely for the purposes of safety, improved reliability, and traffic relief. Make no mistake -- the funds raised from this bond would be legally bound to capital improvements and nothing else, improvements such as swapping out 90 miles of worn rails with brand new steel, replacing miles upon miles of deteriorated 1960s power cables, and modernizing basic infrastructure that has reached the end of its life.
BART has demonstrated fiscal responsibility over the years by using operating funds to help pay for improvements; we have tried to keep pace with our own aging system's needs. In the last 5 years alone, we have allocated more than $500 million to system reinvestment -- ranking us as one of only a handful of transit operators in the nation to do so.
Our recent investments have helped fund the new and improved train cars arriving as we speak, and are laying the groundwork for a modern train control system designed to allow our existing system to carry more trains more frequently.
The board has enacted policies to ensure that our operating budget will continue to fund our rebuilding efforts and compliment the work to be accomplished with the bond.
Moreover, we have saved taxpayers millions through aggressive refinancing of existing infrastructure improvement debts, and are pleased to report that our 2004 earthquake safety bond has over-delivered. Stations, elevated tracks, structures, and tunnels are now fortified, and millions of dollars have been saved and reinvested.
So why is a bond measure necessary if we are able to invest in the system with our own operating money? The answer is simple: the cost of completely rebuilding the core of BART to modern standards requires billions, not millions. The state and federal grants of the past are no longer available to help.
Our late-1960s technology no longer serves the Bay Area's needs. We are stretched beyond capacity -- and when the new fleet arrives, our need for smooth rails, well-maintained tunnels, and reliable electricity to power people through the commute will be even greater. Our priority is to ensure everything working in the background stays working -- safely and reliably.
Ultimately, this bond isn't about BART -- it's about Bay Area residents and the legacy we will leave for our children. It's about unclogging our freeways so people spend less time sitting in traffic. It's about linking communities to economic opportunity.
In 1962, the Bay Area voted to build a transportation wonder -- a decision that has repaid the region many times over. BART is a proud and enduring staple of our economy, workforce, and environment; decades of work and investment are at risk if we don't protect what is arguably one of the Bay Area's most critical assets.
So again, let's be clear: there are no frills in this bond. It stands for safety, reliability, and less congestion for the Bay Area.
