BART approves budget with $18 million in cuts, staffing reductions

The first BART changes San Franciscans are likely to notice will be in the stations and on the platforms: fewer staff on hand, thinner support services and more pressure on the system if the agency cannot close a projected $375 million hole. BART’s board adopted a balanced FY27 budget on Tuesday that trims $18 million and reduces employee headcount, even as officials say they are trying to hold current service levels together.

The plan covers July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, and sets BART’s operating budget at $1.2 billion with an $828 million capital budget. The district says it is entering a defining year because federal and state emergency money that has helped balance service is expected to run out in 2026, leaving the Bay Area Rapid Transit District exposed to a structural deficit if no new revenue arrives.

That gap comes after years of weaker ridership and a fare model that still carries much of the load. BART says riders are still about 50% below pre-pandemic levels, and fare revenue remains far under the agency’s old expectations. In its budget strategy, BART says it has identified $108 million in cost savings and deferrals to maintain current service levels, on top of $35 million in ongoing cuts and cost controls already used to balance the FY26 budget.

The board’s action follows its earlier move on February 26, 2026, when it initially approved an Alternative Service Plan for a projected $376 million deficit. That plan laid out the scale of what BART could face without new money: service cuts, station closures, fare increases, a 40% reduction in system support services and layoffs of 1,200 employees. BART is now planning for two FY27 scenarios, one with new regional revenue and one without it.

The agency is also bracing for a possible regional transit funding measure that could reach voters on the November 2026 ballot through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. For San Francisco riders headed downtown, students moving through the core of the system and airport passengers depending on reliable transfers, the stakes are immediate. The budget keeps the trains moving for now, but it also makes clear that the biggest question is not whether BART will tighten further, but how soon riders will feel it if the money does not come through.