BART

How the OAC fares: An updated financial outlook

Posted by Eric ⋅ 23 April 2014 ⋅ 6 Comments

BART’s Oakland Airport Connector now under construction may be soaring through the air above Hegenberger Road, but its projected operating budget lies much closer to the ground — so close that it’s digging a hole underground. Back in 2009, when BART was lining up all the local approvals it needed to obtain federal stimulus funding, … Continue reading →

A short-lived attempt

Posted by Eric ⋅ 15 May 2011 ⋅ 7 Comments

Is the Oakland Airport Connector “too costly to stop,” as Matier & Ross wrote at the Chronicle? BART director Robert Raburn, who was elected in part on an anti-OAC campaign in the very same district hosting the OAC, at least made an inquiry and tried to do something to stop it — but then immediately … Continue reading →

West Dublin/Pleasanton BART: Tempering Great Expectations

Posted by Eric ⋅ 22 February 2011 ⋅ 8 Comments

On February 19, 2011, BART officially opened the 44th station in its system: The West Dublin/Pleasanton station, a $106 million project that bridges the long 10-mile gap between the Dublin/Pleasanton terminus and Castro Valley. Like Dublin/Pleasanton, its sibling station 1.5 miles to the east, West Dublin/Pleasanton was built in the median of Interstate 580. Pedestrian … Continue reading →

A new direction for the BART Board of Directors: The choice is ours

Posted by Eric ⋅ 29 October 2010 ⋅ 11 Comments

If there is a silver lining to be found in the protracted Oakland Airport Connector debate and other BART drama that has ensued over the past couple of years, it’s that BART’s Board of Directors and the agency generally have been subject to an extra measure of public scrutiny. There’s a related silver lining: candidates emerging to challenge lackluster incumbent directors. And … Continue reading →

BART Board selects alignment for Livermore extension

Posted by Eric ⋅ 1 July 2010 ⋅ 44 Comments

This past year BART has been working its way through the environmental review process for the planned extension to Livermore. The goals of this process were to select a preferred alignment alternative from among the many considered and to preserve necessary right-of-way. A draft Program Environmental Impact Report was released last fall, which provided preliminary … Continue reading →

Record of Decision issued for BART to San Jose

Posted by Eric ⋅ 25 June 2010 ⋅ 10 Comments

BART to San Jose has advanced one step forward in the New Starts process. The Federal Transit Administration has now issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the BART extension, which marks federal approval of the project’s environmental impact statement. The ROD only covers the initial phase between Warm Springs and Berryessa, including two new … Continue reading →

Is the Oakland Airport Connector Dead?

Posted by Eric ⋅ 22 February 2010 ⋅ 8 Comments

Last week brought the great news that FTA refused to disburse $70 million of ARRA federal stimulus dollars to the BART Oakland Airport Connector. The natural follow-up question is one I have now been asked numerous times by friends and blog readers: is the Connector dead? Have we at last melted the Wicked Witch of the West? … Continue reading →

FTA Rejects Federal Stimulus Funding for BART Oakland Airport Connector

Posted by Eric ⋅ 12 February 2010 ⋅ 24 Comments

The big news from the day: even though BART and FTA have been working the past couple weeks on a plan to correct the Title VI deficiencies in BART’s Oakland Airport Connector project, today Peter Rogoff sent a letter (PDF) to BART and MTC announcing that BART’s corrective action plan for the OAC has been … Continue reading →

OAC Judgment Day is Postponed, But Draws Near

Posted by Eric ⋅ 28 January 2010 ⋅ 6 Comments

Groundhog Day came a couple days early this year. Yesterday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission faced yet another contentious meeting regarding the BART Oakland Airport Connector. And the Commission faced a remarkably similar question to that which it faced almost one year ago. This time, though, the stakes were higher. Last year, BART promised to MTC … Continue reading →

FTA Holds Back on BART OAC Funding

Posted by Eric ⋅ 21 January 2010 ⋅ 3 Comments

After months of disheartening news in 2009 in which agency after agency rubber-stamped BART’s ill-conceived Oakland Airport Connector project, it was welcome news to learn that the Federal Transit Administration decided to withhold $70 million of ARRA stimulus funding, which BART needs to build the OAC. This announcement comes just a few months after Public … Continue reading →