| The board of directors for BART will decide Thursday whether to approve a plan that would eliminate the connection of the Dublin-Pleasanton line all the way to San Francisco Airport.
The plans are an effort by the rail operator to improve overall service to SFO by adding trains in higher ridership areas and eliminating trains in low ridership areas.
One of the low ridership areas is the route going to the airport from the Dublin-Pleasanton station, according to BART spokesman Linton Johnson.
In the month of April, Johnson said an average of 726 people per day boarded at different stations along the Dublin-Pleasanton line (blue line) to go to SFO. In comparison, a total of 1,007 people per day boarded different stations along the Pittsburg/Bay Point line (yellow line) to the airport that same month.
"We're talking about a third more passengers per day who use the yellow line versus the blue line to get to the airport," Johnson said.
Under the proposed plans, the Dublin-Pleasanton line will end in Daly City, instead of continuing on the blue line to SFO, which it does now. Pleasanton area passengers trying to get to the airport to catch a flight will have to get off at the Daly City station and board the yellow line to go the rest of the way. Another choice would be to board a train at the Walnut Creek station to take the yellow line to the airport.
James Paxson, president of the Hacienda Business Park Owners Association said he doesn't believe the changes will have that big of an effect on business travelers coming to and from Pleasanton.
If approved, the changes will go into effect in January, Johnson said.
The board of directors meeting begins at 9 a.m. Thursday and will be held in the BART board room at the Kaiser Center 20th Street Mall, third floor, 344-20th Street, Oakland.
Click the link below for the agenda for Thursday's meeting. The item will be discussed along with BART's fiscal budget on page 27.
BART board meeting 6/14/07 Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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