BART is threatening to close 10+ stations unless voters approve a new regional sales tax, but a pattern of self-inflicted crises — janitors earning $271K, encampment fires shutting down the Transbay Tube, and a fare-evasion study BART commissioned to contradict its own board votes — reveals an agency that won't reform itself before asking for more money.
Read Top Post →BART voted 9-0 in 2017 to fight fare evasion, then hired the Center for Policing Equity to argue enforcement didn’t work — and now can’t even locate the invoice. Meanwhile, crime dropped 41% after new fare gates went in, demolishing the consultant’s thesis with BART’s own data. A month after two encampment fires shut down the Transbay Tube, BART is still asking voters for a new sales tax without accounting for the money it already spends.
Mar 26, 2026 · 4 min
BART unveiled its doomsday ultimatum: approve a half-cent to one-cent regional sales tax, or watch ten stations close by January 2027. The threat landed while the agency sat on a $400M annual deficit — one deepened by 57 employees who doubled their salaries through overtime, janitors pulling $271K, and an Inspector General whose audits kept getting obstructed. The ask wasn’t paired with any governance reform. Just a ransom note.
Feb 11, 2026 · 12 min
