BART Board Tackles Silicon Valley Tunnel Safety Fears, Sees Encouraging Revenue Numbers

BART's board received a mixed bag at last week's meeting: ridership and fare revenue are beating projections, easing immediate fiscal pressure, but directors and a vocal licensed engineer clashed over safety standards, eliminated emergency exits, and transparency gaps in the multi-billion-dollar Silicon Valley extension. Meanwhile, the Inspector General flagged $1 million in billing inconsistencies in the Link 21 mega-regional rail program — but found no fraud.

• BSV2 safety and oversight disputes dominate as an engineer warns of eliminated tunnel emergency exits and arbitrary code changes by VTA

• Ridership surges 12.5% year-over-year, with February ending 8.2% above budget, boosting fare revenue by $12.6 million

• BART still burning cash: the district spent $102 million more than it earned in six months, though $27.7 million less than projected

• Link 21 audit finds $1 million in billing inconsistencies and 24 recommendations across $130 million-plus in expenditures — no fraud

• Inspector General recovers nearly $2 million from theft and error, closes 12 investigations

• Board adopts SB707 remote access policy 9-0, formalizing protections for people who can't attend meetings in person

The BART Silicon Valley Phase 2 (BSV2) extension — the region's largest active transit mega-project — consumed more board time than any other topic, with directors, staff, and public commenters tangling over safety code changes, VTA transparency, and whether BART's own board is getting enough information to exercise real oversight.