BART Announces Systemwide Renovation Hits 93 Percent Completion Mark.

News Editors

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2003

BART officials announced today (Thursday, April 10, 2003) that the transit system's 10-year Systemwide Renovation Program is 93 percent complete just 7 1/2 years after it began, resulting in improved productivity and reduced maintenance requirements.

The $1.2 billion program incorporates the latest in transit technology and adds 25 years of life to various facets of the 30-year-old BART system. The program was paid for largely from passenger fares.

"This work will carry BART and its passengers well into the 21st century," said BART General Manager Thomas E. Margro. "The renovations create a more user-friendly and more reliable system for our customers."

Finished work includes the thorough renovation of all 439 original, 30-year-old BART cars, each having logged more than 1 million miles of service. The cars were completely taken apart and reassembled with new, state-of-the-art high-tech equipment - including brake and suspension systems, train propulsion, interior lights, and carpeting and seats - by the Bombardier Corp., a major international transit equipment manufacturer, at a facility in Pittsburg, in Contra Costa County.

Of 120 escalators in the 39-station BART system, 114 have been renovated; the remaining six will be completed mid-2004.

All 60 passenger elevators in the system have either been replaced or overhauled.

All of the popular bill-to-bill changers have been installed in each BART station.

The installation of new, customer-friendly ticket vending equipment and the gate capacity expansion are in progress and should be completed by the end of this year.

Twenty BART stations have been renovated.

And, to make more BART cars available for service each morning with the extension to San Francisco International Airport, all four maintenance shops and yards (Concord, Hayward, Richmond and Daly City) have been renovated and expanded to efficiently handle the additional requirements.

Remaining projects include completing installation of new fare gates throughout the system, estimated to be completed in about a year, and installation of new traction power equipment to provide the 1,000 volts of electricity needed to propel the trains.

"The price tag is high," quipped BART Board President Pete Snyder, "but it is money very well spent. The investment shows up in the improvements in service and reliability, and when the new ticket vending machines, with their easy to use, ATM-like interfaces, are installed, passengers will see a whole new face of BART."

The Systemwide Renovation Program was paid for largely with past fare increases supported by BART customers.