BART General Manager Robert Powers took on a job earlier this year leading a transit agency that’s both crucial to the Bay Area and often the source of deep frustration for many riders. One of his first moves was to go out and meet his customers face to face and hear what they have to say.
To do that, Powers launched a "listening tour" to talk to riders in each of the system's 48 stations. He's visited nearly two dozen so far, and he's scheduled to be at San Francisco's 16th Street Station between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Surprisingly — or at least surprising if you're a) a regular BART rider and/or b) familiar with the litany of complaints and concerns that BART patrons often voice on social media about the system's cleanliness, packed trains, late runs, fare evasion, homeless riders and public safety worries — Powers says much of what he hears during his tour has been "soul-uplifting."
"When I talk to the riders, there is an emotional connection between them and BART," Powers said during a recent visit to the Embarcadero Station in downtown San Francisco. "They very much depend on BART, they understand how important BART is to the Bay Area and their quality of life, and they generally want BART to be successful."
Powers, a University of Illinois-trained civil engineer who joined BART in 2012 as assistant general manager for planning development and construction, was appointed to succeed now-retired GM Grace Crunican in July. He says he undertook the listening tour because he wanted "no filter" between him and the riding public.
"I felt I had to get out and listen to the concerns that our riders had and hear from them directly without anyone in between me and them," Powers said. "... I don't want anybody's staff, I don't want anybody writing it up. I want somebody to look me in the eye and tell me their concerns about BART. What's working and what's not working."
And on his Embarcadero visit, Powers had little trouble getting customers to tell him what they thought.
One, Jeff Calabrese, brought up a couple of familiar issues.
"I’ve had a number of incidents — I’ve been riding BART for 15 years now — a number of incidents, some where the police never showed up, and San Francisco police have had to come and jump in," he said.
Calabrese wasn't finished.
"The amount of homeless who sleep on BART is just out of control," he said. "I've gone into a car and three-quarters of the car — not kidding — has been full of homeless people."
Powers assured Calabrese that BART takes the issue of homeless residents seriously and has taken steps — which include partnering with local governments and social service agencies — to try to address it.
"You know homeless is much bigger than BART, but we’ve got to be part of the solution," Powers added. "And the police presence, I agree. We need to get more police presence in the system. Not necessarily only police — they could be community service officers or ambassadors walking the system."
At one point, Powers ventured to approach a group of women chatting on the Embarcadero platform. After introducing himself, he asked, "How are we doing with cleanliness?"
"I never would have chosen upholstered seats," one woman volunteered, prompting laughter from her companions. She was referring to BART's old-style seats, which lab tests sponsored by a Bay Area news outlet found to be swarming with bacteria.
"We got rid of all those!" Powers said, reminding the group that BART ditched the upholstery for vinyl-covered seats after the lab results were published..
Still, one woman said, "You could do better!"
