Riders invited to Sept 27th evening BART Board meeting in Pittsburg on system safety
Rider safety will be the focus as the BART Board of Directors holds its Thursday, September 27th meeting at 5:00 P.M. at Pittsburg City Hall. The BART board voted in August to hold a special night meeting in a suburban location to further discuss General Manager Grace Crunican’s Safety and Security Action Plan.
“The special time and location of this board meeting will give more members of the public the chance to share their thoughts about public safety directly with board members,” said BART Board President Robert Raburn. “We need their input as we take action to make BART safer.”
The meeting will include an update on BART’s proof-of-payment strategy. There will be a presentation with citation data as well as a hearing on a request to hire more community service officers to expand the program, which was launched in January. Further, the board will get an update on station infrastructure efforts to deter fare evasion. That is likely to include a discussion on whether to replace BART’s fare gates.
BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas is scheduled to present a new report from the University of North Texas on the BART Police Department. The report includes recommendations for adequate police staffing levels at BART.
The board is moving towards adopting a district surveillance policy. A final vote on this policy could come at this meeting depending on actions that take place at the September 13th meeting. BART has already made clear that any boosts to system safety will not include the implementation of facial-recognition technology.
The board could also vote on a plan to provide alternative bus service for when the system moves to a 5am start time as part of the Transbay Tube seismic retrofit project. The switch to the 5am service start is expected to happen on February 11, 2019.
We also anticipate an update on efforts to increase parking around the new BART to Antioch line.
The meeting is open to the public. The public may comment at various points throughout the meeting- including the public comment period or during specific agenda items. The agenda will be posted the Friday before the meeting at https://www.bart.gov/about/bod/meetings/2018
Because this meeting is not taking place in the BART board room, we will record it and post it on our website several days later due to the post production time needed. It will not be livestreamed.
The meeting will be held in the Pittsburg City Council Chambers, which is on the third floor of the building. The council chambers are located at 65 Civic Avenue, which is a short walk from the Pittsburg Center Station on the new BART to Antioch line. Courtesy of Tri-Delta Transit, there will be a shuttle available in the pick-up lot at the corner of Railroad Avenue and California Avenue to transport attendees between the BART station and the City Council Chambers. The shuttle will run from 4:15 pm to 11:15 pm. There will be directional signs at the Pittsburg Center BART station and the shuttle pick-up and drop-off locations. See map below:
Pittsburg City Hall shuttle route
Driving Directions:
From all points west:
Take Highway 4 eastbound toward Pittsburg/Stockton
Exit Railroad Avenue (exit 23)
Turn left onto Railroad Avenue
Turn left onto Center Drive, drive past the Justice Center and the Library
There is a parking lot in front of City Hall
Parking is free.
From Antioch/Oakley/Brentwood:
Take Highway 4 westbound toward Martinez
Exit Harbor St/Railroad Avenue (exit 23)
Turn left onto California Avenue
Turn right onto Railroad Avenue
Turn left onto Center Drive, drive past the Justice Center and the Library
There is a parking lot in front of City Hall
Parking is free.
Editor’s Note: We need to pack the room and make sure our voices are heard, by letting the full BART Board know about our concerns with safety, so that they don’t just hear from the folks who live close to and/or were able to attend their day-time meeting during the summer at the BART Headquarters in Oakland.
