BART learned last week it will receive $270.8 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Additional Assistance Grant Program, the second-highest amount in the nation for the grant program behind only New York’s MTA.
The transit agency said the award “recognizes BART’s unique reliance on fare revenue” and the importance of BART in the Bay Area.
Previously, BART has been allocated $1.3 billion total in federal pandemic relief funding, which the transit agency says it has used to “fully restore service hours, improve safety, enhance cleaning and modernize equipment to make riding BART easier.” “The pandemic has made clear our operating funding model of relying so heavily on riders is outdated and hampers our efforts to provide equitable service, especially for low-income riders and marginalized communities,” BART General Manager Bob Powers said. “Increased federal funding allows BART to continue to invest in service improvements and safety enhancement as we welcome riders back to transit.”