BART ridership dropped slightly in the summer

Commuters board a train heading to San Francisco at the Rockridge BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Aug. 30, 2016. Commuters board a train heading to San Francisco at the Rockridge BART station in Oakland, Calif. on Aug. 30, 2016. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close BART ridership dropped slightly in the summer 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

Here’s something for BART riders to contemplate while crammed elbow-to-belly button on their daily commutes: The number of people packing onto trains is down for the first time in six years.

The number of weekday riders from July to September has declined ever so slightly — by about half of a percent, or about 2,100 riders per day, BART officials said Thursday. But the number of weekend passengers fell by 4.3 percent on Saturdays and 6.2 percent on Sundays.

Overall, ridership declined 1.3 percent compared with the same period last year. Those figures, released in a quarterly report to the agency’s board of directors, are below BART’s projections — officials had expected ridership growth to continue, by about 6 percent.

The little bit of extra breathing room during commutes might seem like good news for BART riders, but since the system gets so much of its revenue from fares — about 78 percent — the transit agency will have to trim its operating budget, said Paul Oversier, assistant general manager for operations.

How BART will make those cost-saving cutbacks will have to be determined. BART staffers are keeping a close eye on spending and will present a plan to directors in December, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said.

BART ridership typically rises and falls with the economy, particularly the employment rate, as well as traffic congestion. All of those remain high. So BART officials suspect that the decline is the result of the system being hit simultaneously over the past five years with aging and growing pains as ridership climbed by more than 100,000 and the system turned 44.

Breakdowns of trains, train controls and electrical systems have increased, leading to a rise in the number of delays and a decline in what was once the agency’s pride — its on-time performance ratings. Trains are crowded, forcing many passengers to stand, sometimes for rides that can take an hour. At the same time, riders complain that trains and stations are dirty.

“We’ve reached our capacity,” Oversier said Thursday. “If you ride at rush hour, it is not particularly pleasant. It’s like riding the New York subway.”

While the drop in ridership may be slight, some BART riders interviewed Thursday afternoon say they’ve noticed.

Michelle Hughes, 28, lives in Alameda, works in San Francisco, and catches BART from the city at 3:40 p.m. to get to school in Berkeley every day.

“The trains are less crowded, I’ve noticed,” she said Thursday while waiting for her train at Civic Center.

Instead of driving, Hughes depends on the Bay Area public transportation system because she can count on it to get her to school on time.

“I like that it’s consistent,” she said. “Driving — with traffic — can be so inconsistent.”

When she rides in the morning, she sometimes notices delays, she said, but not as much in the afternoon when time is more of an issue.

Fred Lantin, who catches a 6 a.m. BART train in the East Bay every weekday morning to get to his construction gig in San Francisco, said train cars are usually packed on his way in, but there seem to be fewer riders in the afternoon, before the evening commute and the surge of 9-to-5ers.

“I usually get a seat in the afternoon. It’s changed,” he said. “On Thursday and Friday, it tends to be pretty light.”

But sometimes on a Friday after work, he’ll go out with the guys for a beer and gets stuck in the evening crush load. It’s then that he sees no evidence of a ridership drop.

“People that work 9-to-5, it must be killing,” he said. “I hope they have good legs.”

BART is trying to fix its problems, in part with money from a $3.5 billion bond measure voters approved Nov. 8. That money will be spent over the coming decade to rebuild the rail system — including tracks and new electrical cables and substations to a new train control computer and a modern maintenance yard.

New railcars — about 100 more than BART has now — have been ordered, are being tested and should begin carrying passengers next year. Oversier said the new cars, which have fewer seats but wider aisles and more standing room, can carry more passengers. The arrival of the new cars, in addition to using some of the existing ones, will permit BART to run 10-car trains on each line during commute hours, he said.

After reviewing the report at a Thursday board meeting, BART directors said they’d like to get more information on why people are avoiding the transit system or riding it less frequently.

They speculated that BART’s decreased reliability and the conditions of stations, especially in downtown San Francisco, may be pushing riders to their cars.

Director Joel Keller, who represents eastern Contra Costa County, said he thinks the grimy downtown San Francisco stations, and the need for riders in his district to weave their way past homeless people on the concourses, dissuade some of them from riding BART into the city to go to the theater or restaurants.

Tom Radulovich, the board president, said the increase in delays may be convincing some commuters they can’t always count on BART.

“I talk to a lot of people who used to like their commutes,” he said.

Some, like Herrick Jackson, 76, still do, though his trips into San Francisco for therapy allow him to ride during the less-traveled afternoon.

Jackson doesn’t have a driver’s license, so he depends on transit to get around. BART, he said, isn’t a bad way to go.

“It’s a great thing,” he said. “It’s easy and it’s quick.”

Michael Cabanatuan and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com and esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan and @EvanSernoffsky