The surcharge on trips to and from San Francisco International Airport will rise from $1.50 to $4.00, so a BART ride from downtown San Francisco to the airport will go from $5.35 to $8.10.

“However, that’s still a bargain when you consider the alternative such as a $35 cab ride or a $20 shuttle van ride,” said BART Board Vice President James Fang. “The idea of a 10% across-the-board fare increase didn’t sit well with most board members because it put too much of a financial strain on our regular commuters,” BART Board President Thomas Blalock said. “We wanted to find a way to raise revenues without over burdening our loyal customers. Our riders already knew that our fares go up every other year by the cost of living – we simply accelerated the date on which the fares would normally go up by six months. We also raised our lowest priced fare to be less than or in line with the cash fare of other Bay Area transit agencies.”

The struggling economy, lower ridership, the elimination of state funding assistance plus the continuing increase of cost of health care and pension benefits are the main reasons why BART faces a nearly $250 million deficit over the next four years.

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