BART Strike Options for San Leandrans

The limited BART bus service provided during the July strike will now include the San Leandro if there is another BART strike. Last week I made a request to Rebecca Saltzman and Robert Raburn, the BART Directors that represent San Leandro, to add San Leandro to the list of cities on the BART charter bus service. They listened and asked BART staff to add our city.
 
You can find a summary page on the limited BART bus service and other options during a strike at http://www.bart.gov/docs/labor2013/bart_strike_2013_BART_shuttles_MAP_080113.pdf

If there is a strike, the City will try to assist those that are able to telecommute.  The main San Leandro Public Library will provide a designated seating area and work space with free WiFi internet access early next week.  If you lack internet access or can't work at home but have a laptop or tablet computer, our librarians will assist you in finding a space to work. 

The work space will be available on Monday, August 5 and Tuesday, August 6 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm in the Karp Room of the San Leandro Public Library, located at 300 Estudillo Avenue. A limited number of power receptacles will also be available for commuters who need to charge their laptops or other mobile devices.

The Bay Area transportation resource website www.511.org is an excellent resource for commute options in the event of a strike.  It recommends that commuters form a carpool or try casual carpooling, and take advantage of free parking at any BART station.  See http://alert.511.org/p/carpooling-as-of-7513-400-pm.html for more details.  

You can use www.511.org to find drivers and riders wishing to carpool without having to wait in line to pick up riders. Visit http://rideshare.511.org to create your own carpool group. 

AC Transit express buses are also an option for San Leandrans that commute to San Francisco.  More information can be found at http://www.actransit.org/2013/07/31/in-the-event-of-a-bart-disruption/

Keep in mind though that these buses will likely be swamped with riders.  As some of the lines start in Hayward and Castro Valley, if the buses are full by the time they reach San Leandro it's possible they will bypass our stops and head directly to San Francisco.   Depending upon where you live in San Leandro, it may may be best to drive to the starting locations of the lines, find all day parking, and get on the line at these locations.  

I was told by some San Leandrans that commuted to San Francisco during the last strike that the ferry service from Alameda worked well..  Take a look at http://alert.511.org for all the commute options in the event of a strike.

Finally, keep in mind BART carries 400,000 persons a day.  The limited BART bus service will a capacity systemwide of about 4,000 riders.  BART can't replicate with buses what it provides with trains.  A strike will substantially impact every San Leandran that must travel outside of our city during the work day.  

I hope there will not be a strike on Monday.  

Every worker should receive a competitive wage, and one that takes into the account the skills and training required for the position.  However, the wages an employee receives are only a part of his or her total compensation.  Benefits such as vacation time, sick leave days, retirement benefits and healthcare can add another 25% to 45% to the compensation the employee receives.  In the public sector, these costs can be substantially greater. 

In making a wage offer the employer must also consider necessary, non-employee costs, such as maintenance, technology and capital improvement needs.

From the state to local government, every public agency across California over the past several years has realized that it must bring employee retirement costs under control.  Even during the recession when wages were frozen at many public agencies, the total compensation many public employees received increased because the annual charges assessed by CalPERS and paid by the public agencies continued to increase.  

Now as we leave the recession, many public agencies are seeing an infusion of new revenue.  But they are not seeing an equal increase in net revenue - and in some cases are running deficits - largely because the cost of employee benefits continues to rise.  

Having employees contribute to the annual cost of their pensions - while they are employed by the agency and prior to their retirement - is essential for the long term fiscal sustainability of the agency and the retirement security of the public employees.  

BART management is seeking a partial (not full) contribution by employees for the cost of their pension benefits combined with pay increases, even though BART has been in service for 40 years and has tremendous capital improvement needs costs.  

This is why I have not joined with those political leaders that have criticized BART Directors for purportedly failing to reach a deal with its station agents and train operators.  It would deserve the public interest if BART agreed to a deal that did not meaningfully address the impact of rising employee benefit costs and ignored the system's long term capital improvement needs.