BART Thinks About Peak Hour Pricing

"Only so many people can fit onto the trains, flow through the stations or find space at station parking lots, said Kenya Wheeler, BART senior planner. And while BART can currently accommodate all the passengers traveling through its system, heavy use during peak hours is pushing the system near its limits.

Earlier this week, BART hit a one-day ridership record when the agency counted more than 405,000 people boarding the system. Last month, the average weekday ridership was nearly 370,000 - about 15,000 more than in August 2007. High gas prices, heightened concern over air pollution and increasingly congested roadways are driving a surge in transit ridership, not just in the Bay Area but across the country, transit experts say. Reaching capacity is a mounting concern voiced by transit operators, according to a study released this week by the American Public Transportation Association."