Increased police presence on BART helps decrease safety-related train delays

SAN LEANDRO, CA (KCBS RADIO) – Good news for BART riders: the transit agency is reporting a significant decrease in train delays caused by passengers behaving badly.

More officers are on trains and in stations, but shorter trains have also helped.

“It’s also safer when you have shorter trains because the police don’t have to walk every single train so their presence is higher,” BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told KCBS Radio.  “It doesn’t take as long to clear them in a police hold because the trains are shorter and more people makes you feel safer than if it is an empty train.”

The number of BART incidents causing train delays dropped from a high of 374 in May of last year to 255 last month.

Many BART passengers at the Bay Fair station say they've noticed the difference in public safety.

“It seems like they’ve got more people on the watch for crime and everything,” one passenger said.  “I feel more comfortable with it.”

The number of law enforcement contacts on BART has nearly doubled so far this year, and the transit agency says that's evidence that police are preventing unwanted behavior before it becomes a problem.