BART Board adopts FY27 budget with $18M in cuts and reductions in employee headcount

The BART Board of Directors has adopted a balanced FY27 budget ($1.2B Operating and $828M Capital) for what will be a defining year in its history of providing safe and reliable transit service to the Bay Area. The budget covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, a period when pandemic emergency funds run out, the District faces a structural deficit of $375M, and a regional transit funding measure will potentially be on the November ballot.

The BART Board has planned for two financial scenarios, one in which new revenue becomes available, and one in which no new funds are provided to BART in FY27. For the latter, the board has initially approved an Alternative Service Plan detailing service cuts, fare increases, and layoffs to close the $375M deficit.

Preventing service cuts through new revenue, cuts, deferrals, and borrowing

The budget adopted today assumes the transit funding measure is approved and will provide $74M in new revenue to BART during the fiscal year. Even with new sales tax proceeds from an approved funding measure, BART still needed to solve for an additional $302M to close the FY27 budget in a way that would not impact riders or cut service.

The budget makes $18.2M in ongoing cuts with $7.3M from ongoing department reductions and efficiencies and eliminating 63 operating full-time positions, saving $11M in labor costs.

"This is a leaner budget with less spending and a smaller headcount," said BART Board President Melissa Hernandez. "The board challenged staff to find efficiencies and reduce costs in a way that would not be experienced by the riders and would not negatively impact the improvements we have made resulting in the highest reliability and satisfaction rates in years."

The FY27 budget relies on $88.5M in borrowing to prevent service cuts and bridge the funding gap until proceeds from the revenue measure become available to BART.

Ridership growth coupled with cuts, efficiencies, and better investment returns due to cash management from BART's new Office of the Chief Financial Officer structure have generated nearly $25M in additional revenue. In addition, BART anticipates stretching $52M in state emergency funds into FY27. Emergency funds were originally expected to be depleted before July 2026. This has reduced the level of borrowing and deferrals needed to close the FY27 budget by $78M, helping reduce long-term costs to BART.

BART's financial crisis was created because BART's financial model has historically relied heavily on fare dollars to pay for operations and riders are now taking fewer trips each week because of remote work.

Ridership reaches new post-pandemic milestone

While the number of trips served each year remains at about half of what it was pre-pandemic, ridership projections included in the budget mark the first time since the pandemic the average weekday ridership estimate will be more than 200,000 trips. It was originally projected to be 191,000 trips, but FY26 had more than a 12% growth in ridership, fueled by higher customer satisfaction, a declining crime rate, strong weekend ridership recovery, and improved on-time performance.

No fare increases and all discounts maintained

The budget does not include a fare increase during FY27 and maintains discounts for seniors, youth, low-income people, and people with disabilities. The budget assumes $2.5M in additional revenue from demand-based parking increases and more people parking as ridership ticks up.

Budget funds current service levels with improvements

Assuming the funding measure is successful, BART will continue to operate current service levels with a schedule change on August 10, 2026, with targeted improvements that will enhance reliability and reduce wait times for some riders. By making a change in how trains travel through Daly City Station and operating it as a center platform station, service will be improved throughout the system with improved headways, transfers, and less train congestion.

Trains will be more evenly spaced apart for Richmond-bound riders. Yellow Line and Red Line trains will be spaced 10 minutes apart instead of 5 and 15 minutes today. Dublin- and Berryessa-bound riders will also have better spacing between trains, from 3 and 17 minutes today to 8 and 12 minutes. There will be a new cross-platform transfer at Bay Fair for Dublin (Blue Line) to Berryessa (Orange Line) riders and the reverse trip. And riders coming from Antioch (Yellow Line) transferring toward Richmond (Orange or Red Line) will save 17 minutes with a new four-minute transfer.

Capital budget funds infrastructure investments

BART's $828M Capital Budget reflects its continued commitment to reinvest in core infrastructure to improve safety and reliability of service. Major projects include a new Communications Based Train Control system, traction power upgrades, elevator modernization, escalator replacement, and a highly prioritized computer network modernization project intended to prevent major service disruptions caused by outdated equipment. FY27 marks a major shift into construction for a large majority of funded projects that have completed planning, design, and procurement of materials. In FY27 BART will replace key track equipment near Fremont and Oakland and will complete construction of a modernized Operations Control Center.

These projects are funded by voter-approved Measure RR and other local, regional, state, and federal grant sources, in addition to reduced allocations from BART's Operating Budget, which leverage the outside funding needed to fully fund these essential projects.

BART commits to financial efficiency action items

Along with approving a new budget, the BART Board also voted to adopt a series of recommended early action strategies meant to enhance revenue and reduce costs. The action items are the result of an independent Bay Area Financial Efficiency Review commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) of BART, AC Transit, Caltrain, and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SF Muni). The third-party review was called for by Senate Bill 63, which authorized a regional transportation sales tax to be placed on the November 2026 ballot.

The action items approved by the BART Board include:

• Improve fare compliance by further optimizing BART's new fare gates and continuing with BART's station hardening program
• Enhance parking revenue
• Lease fiber and communications assets
• Expand Clipper BayPass with more institutions and employers
• Improve speed and reliability of service through schedule changes, such as the planned improvements in August 2026
• Run shorter trains during lower-demand periods
• Examine contracts for opportunities to reduce costs, such as exploring changes to BART's lease payments to SFO
• Study the benefits, challenges and opportunities to expand retail amenity partnerships

The Financial Efficiency Review found that between 2019 and 2025, BART reduced operating costs by more than $516M through service reductions, workforce controls, and operational efficiencies. The four Bay Area transit agencies that are part of the review saved more than $1B combined over the six-year period reviewed by the MTC.