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As BART officials prepare to discuss a list of potential station closures during a board workshop Thursday, BART Board President and former Dublin mayor Melissa Hernandez publicly criticized the transit agency’s cost-reduction proposal, which would cut off service to the entire Tri-Valley by 2027.
“Three of the four stations in my BART District are proposed for system-wide closure,” Hernandez said in a statement on Tuesday. “This is not acceptable.”
For years, BART has been facing significant fiscal challenges including decreases in ridership and changes in commuting habits, particularly since the COVID pandemic arrived in 2020.
According to BART documents, the agency is currently managing a roughly $1.2 billion annual budget that has been running yearly deficits of about $370 million.
That’s why, back in October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 63, which authorized the placement of a half-cent sales tax revenue measure in the 2026 ballot. Voters will look to consider a 14-year regional transportation sales tax that would “generate approximately $980 million annually across the five counties.”
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the revenue measure would help prevent major service cuts at BART and other Bay Area transit systems.
“Approximately 60% of the revenue that would be raised if voters approve the measure will be dedicated to preserving service on BART, Muni, Caltrain, AC Transit — which an independent analysis confirmed face annual deficits of more than $800 million annually starting in fiscal year 2027-28,” according to an Oct. 13, 2025 MTC press release.
However, BART is currently looking at alternative scenarios for if the measure were to fail getting enough votes in November. The proposed alternatives involve shutting down numerous BART stations throughout the Bay Area, including both of the Tri-Valley’s stations.
Hernandez, who was sworn in to the BART Board of Directors in 2024, said she joined the agency because she wanted to “use my experience in transportation policy to help a system in trouble”.
Since joining, she noted several positives including increasing ridership and revenue through the installation of new fare gates, cleaner stations and trains, and a 41% decrease in crime across all stations.
However, after seeing the alternatives listed in the presentations ahead of Thursday’s workshop meeting, she said BART needs to find different alternatives to address the agency’s financial challenges that won’t impact its riders.
“So many of us in our community depend on BART as an affordable way to move around and we cannot let this system fail,” Hernandez, who is running for Congress this year, said in Tuesday’s statement.
She noted how Thursday’s presentation on the agency’s proposed two-phase approach to close a total of 15 stations by July 2027 and reduce its hours of operation will greatly affect residents across the region.
“Residents here rely on BART as an affordable option to get to and from work,” she said. “Many will face economic hardships and the fear their job may be in jeopardy as they find their non-BART options are less affordable and less reliable.”
Apart from the higher traffic congestion and air pollution that would come from these closures, Hernandez also pointed out how residents in her district “provide a disproportionate share of sales tax revenue that funds BART’s operations” and that the proposed closures are “not just inequitable, but also unfair.”
“Staff needs to come to the board with more than a ‘shock and awe’ proposal,” Hernandez said. “I expect a more thoughtful analysis and a deeper dive into how we can save money. We can’t fix this problem by hurting the riders.”
Thursday’s board workshop will be mostly discussion and informational as these station closures are, again, part of alternative scenarios the agency is eyeing in the case that the November revenue measure does not pass.
The meeting is set to take place at the BART board room in Oakland on Thursday starting at 9 a.m. The workshop will also be streamed on Zoom.
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Former State Senator Steve Glazer as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Bay area Public Transit tried to address this financial crisis a few years back and was ignored. Here is his statement, previously published in the Pleasanton Weekly, “Bay Area leaders have not stepped up to fix the fiscal oversight problems with BART, as well as the underfunding of the Inspector General’s office”, an office he created to independently oversee BART financials. “In June 2022, an Alameda County Grand Jury found that BART’s leadership had repeatedly blocked the inspector general’s authority and autonomy”. I can’t vote yes for the propose tax increase across five counties to keep the status quo as is.