A $100 Billion Wishlist for Bay Area Transit

Nico Savidge reports on the content of an interview with new BART General Manager Robert Powers, who shared a wishlist of projects that could be included in the Faster Bay Area transit tax initiative, in the works for a potential date with voters in November 2020.

The organizations pushing for Faster Bay Area, the “mega-measure” that voters could take up in November 2020, have so far shied away from listing the specific projects it would pay for. But the groups — the business advocacy organization Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Bay Area Council and the urban planning think-tank SPUR — have broadly described plans that would better integrate the region’s transit systems and make major improvements to freeways and rail infrastructure like BART’s.

According to Savidge, Powers is pushing for a second tube across the bay as the highest priority project for BART, followed by new fare gates (a subject that recently moved forward after generating controversy earlier this year) and subsidies for low-income riders.

That said, BART is only one of the numerous agencies that the will have to compete for priority as the details of the Faster Bay Area initiative takes shape.