SAN FRANCISCO – Here’s something you don’t hear very often in 2024: a rail transit project coming in under budget. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) did just that with its order for new “Fleet of the Future” cars. Thanks to a revised schedule, and an accelerated monthly delivery rate of the new cars, the project is expected to cost $394 million less than when the contract was awarded in 2012.
“There’s no question the Fleet of the Future project is a success story,” Project Manager John Garnham said in a statement. “Riders love the newer, cleaner modern feel of the cars and now we have great budget news for the project.”
The original contract was awarded for 775 cars at a forecasted project cost of $2.584 billion, but an October 2023 financial update lowered the forecast by 15%, to $2.190 billion. Over the course of 11 years, BART and the manufacturer, Alstom, have increased the pace of constructing and delivering the cars, resulting in significant savings.
The original delivery schedule called for the delivery of 10 cars a month, but BART worked with the manufacturer to increase the rate to 16 cars a month, saving more than $100 million.
Another big cost saver was BART’s decision to have its own staff do more of the engineering work in house. The project team has included engineers who have successfully completed new rail car projects at other agencies.
The delivery schedule is now faster than ever – 20 cars a month are being delivered to BART – and, as of December 31, 2023, 672 of the 775 cars were on BART property.
I can’t comment since I haven’t lived in the Bay Area since 2014. But before then, BART stations tended to be pretty clean (there was not urine and feces, come on) and the trains were well kept up.
The wool upholstery was getting old and stinky from years of getting wet and BART was in the process of replacing the seats with new vinyl ones. They also replaced the carpeting in the older trains with rubber floors, which probably meant cleaning was much easier. I seem to recall they started doing those two things in 2014 (so says Google)? Which is when I moved. That was done by 2015.
Every transit system has its problems, but BART is well run and well managed, IMHO.
But honestly, all the Nattering Nabobs of Negatavism (to quote VP Spiro Agnew, a DEEP cut) get old on here. Even with a good story like this. Some “railfans” wish it was still 1950 and nothing will change their minds. Everything new is inherently bad. That gets OLD.
Well, I don’t recall ever seeing a “seat torn up” or “graffiti marked” on any BART train, and I’ve been riding them since BART opened. BART’s problems are “work from home” and “shop from home”. The neighborhoods are thriving, but downtown office buildings and shopping malls are not.
ROFL. Like clockwork. “Here’s a good news story, but I’m going to post a Debbie Downer response. When I probably don’t live there and never will.”
This time, two of them.
As my dear sainted Mama used to say “If you don’t have anything nice to say, hush.”
I’ve not been on BART (or anywhere in California) since 1995. Back then BART was spotlessly clean, cars and stations both. As for Thomas’ and Anton’s comments below, I can’t react, I have nothing to go on as to current conditions.
Mike, do you refute the negative comments below, or just criticize Thomas and Anton for making them.
Sorry Mike, sometimes people posting on pages such as this do have negative things to say.
Where does BART’s ridership currently stand in comparison to pre-pandemic (2019)? I don’t know their current ridership stats. though I’m guessing they are still well below pre-pandemic levels, esp. given all of the “issues” in the San Francisco area.
While it is indeed nice (and surprising) to see a major rail-transit car order come in UNDER budget, the transit “quality of life” issues mentioned above by Mr. Bruce are indeed a concern. Again, I’m not familiar with the current stats., but crime on the BART system in the past few years (2020 and beyond) have been a major issue (and deterrent) to bringing riders back to BART.
BART publishes very detailed ridership reports, for anyone who cares to look them up. From the most recent edition: “Total ridership for 2023 was 48M trips. That is up 16% from 2022. Average weekday ridership for 2023 was 158k, up 18% from 2022 while average Saturday and Sunday ridership averaged 89k and 65k, an increase of 12% and 13% respectively… Total ridership in December of 3.6M trips was 39% of pre-COVID expectations (November was 4M and 43%).”
“Riders love the newer, cleaner modern feel of the cars and now we have great budget news for the project.”
Yea, but it won’t take too long for them to have the seats torn up and graffiti marked, the interiors stained with urine and feces, and the cars graffiti marked as well. Such is the inevitability of “public transportation” – people who don’t care if they damage the units, as long as they get where they want to go.