BART Directors Vote for Bond for Retrofitting

Bay Area Rapid Transit system directors voted to put a $980-million bond on the November ballot in Contra Costa, Alameda and San Francisco counties.

The bond, approved by the panel Thursday, would be used to pay for part of an estimated $1.31-billion earthquake retrofitting project. Two years ago voters defeated a similar $1.04-billion bond measure.

“What we see before us today is an effort to ... look at ways to spread the cost differently than last time,” said BART Director Dan Richard. “We heard the message from the voters that they did not want all the costs put on their property tax bill.”