BART Board Approves New Oakland Airport Connector Funding Plan
The BART Board of Directors last week reaffirmed its commitment to building the proposed $484-million Oakland Airport Connector, a train-to-plane connection between the Coliseum BART Station and the Oakland Airport, even though the federal government in February withdrew $70 million in stimulus funds.
Last Wednesday, BART�s general manager received a letter from the Federal Transit Administration commending the agency for its efforts to address Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requirements. The withdrawal of funds postponed award of the contracts that were intended to take place at the end of 2009. BART says it worked vigorously to comply with Title VI to determine how the project and major service changes may affect low-income, limited English speaking and minority riders. An FTA-approved Title VI Corrective Action Plan was implemented. As part of the plan, a Fare and Service Equity Analysis was created, accompanied by an explanatory note. BART has held more than 40 meetings around the San Francisco Bay Area and within the vicinity of the proposed connector alignment to inform the public and obtain feedback regarding BART service and transit equity.