BART hopes to install almost 800 of the new gates starting at the end of this year. On Monday, the agency took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to unveil the new design — which includes six-foot swinging doors and sensors that can detect whether people are carrying bikes or luggage.
BART spokesperson Chris Filippi says the new gates are part of the agency’s larger plan to make the trains more enticing to riders.
“We know that there are still many people out there who used to ride BART every day before the pandemic and they’ve still not come back to the system," Filppi said. "And what they’ve told us is they want a system that’s safer, and they want a system that’s cleaner.”
Before the pandemic, passenger fares paid for more than halfof BART’s operating costs. Now, fares fund less than a quarter. In the past two years, BART police received an average of almost 500 calls per month complaining of fare evasion.
The agency received a funding lifeline earlier this summer, but is projecting a 92 million dollar deficit for the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year. The new gates will be funded through a combination of county, state, and federal resources.
West Oakland will be the first BART station to receive the new gates in December of this year. The agency says it hopes to complete the project by 2026.
