Let's Take BART Wherever We Want To Go

Peter Klivans for

BART Board of Directors District 9 

Hi!  My name is Peter Klivans and I'm running for BART Board of Directors District 9.  I live with my wife and four young kids in Cole Valley.  I'm also an attorney. 

 Why I'm Running

I'm running for the BART Board of Directors because I want to work to make BART an even better transit agency, for both District 9 voters and all Bay Area residents.  I think that BART is great -- it's fast, clean, often cheaper than driving, and green.  But I also think that with a bit of imagination, BART can be a truly world-class transit system.  I believe that the key to a world-class BART system is to unlock the full potential of BART's existing resources -- resources including its stations, its riders, its employees, and its extensions:

•  Stations:  We need to build communities around BART stations, not parking lots.
•  Riders:  We need to increase ridership by offering a hassle-free BART system that takes riders wherever they want to go in the Bay Area.
•  Employees:  BART's employees are its most valuable resource.  They know how to make BART even better.
•  New Lines:  Line extensions are a resource for BART, not a burden.  With some creative thinking, new lines can be self-financed.  BART needs to build new lines both within San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area, including on the congested I-80 and I-580 corridors.
  

My Qualifications

As an attorney and father of four young children, I have experience in working through complex tasks and balancing a variety of interests.  My kids are ages 3, 4, 5 and 9, so on a daily basis I have to be patient and able to work out disagreements so that everyone is happy with the result.  As an attorney, I have to work through complex issues and be able to work smoothly with a variety of co-workers, clients, and courts.  I'm also a CFA Charterholder with a background in financial analysis of large entities.  Finally, I'm an enthusiastic user and supporter of public transit, and I believe that public transit has the potential to be everyone's first choice for travel whenever it's too far to walk or bike. 

My wife and I have been involved as participants in our local community.  My wife is a kindergarten teacher at César Chávez Elementary School in the Mission.  My older kids have attended and are attending Grattan Elementary School, where I volunteer on a regular basis in the classroom.

As a BART Director, I will strive to make better use of BART's existing assets.

1)  Stations:   BART's stations are hidden assets waiting to be uncovered.  For example, many existing BART stations are surrounded by large parking lots.  Why not auction off the right to develop condominiums, retail, and office complexes in place of these existing parking lots?  High-density parking garages can replace all of the current parking spaces without taking up anywhere near the current amount of space.

• The money raised can be used for system expansion.
• The people who live, work, and play in these developments will likely be frequent BART users, thus resulting in permanently higher ridership and revenue.
• By building condos, stores, and offices on top of and next to existing BART stations, the Bay Area will be encouraging environmentally-friendly development.
• Multi-level parking garages can be built to replace the existing parking lots.

BART has already worked with developers to do a limited version of this kind of redevelopment at the Dublin/Pleasanton Station.   For example, below is a picture of the parking lot on the north side of the existing Dublin/Pleasanton Station.  As can be seen in the photo, private development has already taken place just beyond the BART parking lot.  Other space was opened up by building a parking garage, not in the photo, and development continues.  But why not unlock significant financial resources for BART's use by building similar developments throughout the BART system?  For example, at the Dublin/Pleasanton Station itself, an even larger parking lot than the one below is located south of the station.  In addition to the one-time boost to BART's finances from auctioning off these development rights, BART would enjoy a continuing revenue boost thanks to the higher ridership of people living right on the doorstep of a BART station.  More financial resources for BART mean more improvements system-wide, including at stations used by District 9 voters.

2)  Riders:  BART's riders are one of its greatest resources.  Every additional rider is a success for BART -- a success that means not only more revenue for BART, but also less  traffic for the Bay Area and less impact on the environment.  Therefore, BART must strive to attract more riders and provide each of them with the best possible experience.  For example, BART must constantly remember that every additional minute that a journey takes is a minute that pushes someone to use their car.  So why not shave every possible minute off of that journey -- by building platform-to-platform transfer gates between Muni and BART in the Market Street stations; by installing attractive, transparent elevators in the middle of the platforms; by making BART bicycle friendly at all times of the day.  When a journey might take 15 minutes by car, or 25 minutes by BART + Muni, shaving just a few minutes off the latter will bring more people on board. And more people on board means an increase in ridership and revenue, and less overall impact on the environment. 

    BART must also make greater efforts to increase advertising revenue in order to pay for better service.  For example, why not install silent video screens on board that offer service announcements such as the name of the next stop, and pay for the screens with silent ads?

3)  Employees:  Is every employee at BART doing his or her job as efficiently and productively as possible?  Why not ask them?  BART needs to make a renewed emphasis on learning from its own employees how to best improve work efficiency and productivity.  Any cost savings need to go straight back to the employees in the form of higher wages and benefits.

 4)  New Lines:   With some creative thinking, new lines are a resource for BART, not a burden.  For example, why not build new BART lines on the congested I-80 and I-580 corridors, financed by the profits from pedestrian- and transit-friendly communities developed around new stations on these corridors?  We are already building sprawl along these corridors.  Why not direct the sprawl upwards and outwards from new BART stations along these highway corridors?  If BART acquires land for new stations near these highways, and then sells the rights to develop this land, these lines will be self-financed.   Too expensive?  Too impossible?  Not with some imagination.  For example, the SFO Airport extension which opened in 2003 cost $1.5 billion.  It added four stations to the system and involved lengthy tunneling.  Why couldn't an extension of similar length along the I-580 corridor from the existing Dublin-Pleasanton Station be financed by auctioning the rights to develop communities, each containing several thousand units of housing and offices, surrounding new stations on the line?   Again, there's a two-fold benefit.  Not only can BART raise money to finance the extension, but there's a built in ridership base in addition to the current frustrated I-580 commuters.

• Extending BART along I-80 and I-580 means less traffic, less pollution, and less impact on the environment.
• Building dense, pedestrian-friendly communities along these corridors will channel development that's already happening in positive ways.
• San Francisco District 9 and other Bay Area residents will be able to get to these areas faster and cheaper than they currently can.
• Revenue from BART-centered developments and higher ridership along these corridors can also be used to finance new BART stations and lines in San Francisco as well.

Another example is the long-delayed Oakland Airport Connector.  BART doesn't need to build a new transit system for this short distance, it just needs to extend existing track to the Oakland airport.  The area between the existing BART Coliseum Station and the airport is largely filled with parking lots and low-density development.  Why not just extend the existing track to the airport, with a couple of stations along the way, again, with communities around them instead of parking lots?  By working with area property owners and local officials, BART can finance the new track with a portion of the profits to be made by developing the areas around the new stations.  Then, just as BART runs a few trains an hour to SFO instead of the end of the line at Millbrae, BART can run a few trains an hour to Oakland Airport instead of the end of the lines at Dublin/Pleasonton and Fremont.  District 9 voters will then enjoy direct BART connections not only to SFO but also to Oakland Airport.