[RC_ITR]

BART used to be so busy that people getting on in downtown stations would back-track to Civic Center/The Mission to actually get a seat across the bay.

A similar amount of behavior existed of people doing anything to avoid a peak hour BART train.

Now, if you're commuting in, the best times are during rush.

BART numbers will always seem insanely low vs. pre-pandemic because they were unsustainable high back then.

[simfree]

Instead of treating public transit as an enterprise that should break even, we should consider what removing barriers to access through fare free public transit can do to serve our citizens more effectively.

Many transit districts in Washington State have already gone fare free. Removing the barrier of paying helps drive more ridership, particularly on non-peak hours that traditionally see much lower ridership.

The rail already exists, increasing it's utilization by will drive economic growth and help municipalities recover and heal the donut hole that was punched in many urban cores by the pandemic.