BART Community Hubs

My Plan for Better Neighborhoods

One frequent question I get asked when I talk about my campaign for BART District 7 is, “What are your priorities?” There are many, like solving the fiscal cliff in the short term and structurally, however, the concept of community hubs can incorporate much of what I believe we should focus on for the long haul. So, what are community hubs? In short, community hubs will activate our stations by providing vibrant community-building activities for riders, workers, and neighbors alike –, making riders safer and adding amenities they can enjoy. We can accomplish my vision for Community Hubs by designing our stations as destinations for families and friends to enjoy public space with housing, restaurants, community events, and more! Vibrant stations can attract more riders, which means more farebox revenue and it will diversify our operating funds through leases and sales. We can be an example of creating human-centric areas on transit property. Human-centered design, through my approach to community hubs, will encourage cities to invest in surrounding infrastructure. All in all, it should improve the overall ridership and neighborhood experience. 

In many countries, you can walk into a station to shop with dense housing built on top or nearby to add riders. Tokyo has train station malls known as Ekinaka (translated to “within the station”). Even New York City has the Turnstyle Underground Market. At BART’s Powell Station,  when you exit the station’s fare gates, you have commercial spaces and access to the iconic Westfield Mall, which shows a foundation on how transit can complement commercial uses. However, we must be realistic; malls and other physical retail spaces struggle to survive. Our commercial infrastructure at BART must be flexible and paired up with consistent programming. BART has an extensive network of stations across the region, it can and should not only build more housing on its property but also move to create Community Hubs. These Hubs will be centers of active programming, where we can make each station a destination in and of itself. BART stations don’t have to be places you only go in and out of as you commute to work. BART stations can be centers for entertainment, recreation, shopping, cultural activities, and more. A place where community not only lives but is formed and strengthened.

The pandemic has reduced our ridership levels. People continue to work from home, which isn’t likely to change back. Not every station has the design or resources to implement Community Hubs, yet. Whether it's the low-density and car-centric infrastructure around it or historic disinvestment where neighbors are fighting to survive, as we face a fiscal cliff, we must also ask, where will the money to implement this program come from? The upside is we don’t need a lot to get started. Entrepreneurs and small local business owners don’t always have access to capital to lease an ample space. At BART, we can provide space at our stations for pop-ups, open kiosks, or small space leasing. Entrepreneurs would likely require technical assistance to ensure they have all the necessary licenses, permits, and tools to be successful. Partnerships with local agencies and business development organizations will be crucial. Undoubtedly, there will also be opposition from some people, and that’s okay because there’s something for everyone to appreciate in this idea. Working with our stakeholders, we can find out what their needs are and meet them. Despite the challenges, there is a massive opportunity for us to explore.

Why is BART an attractive location for businesses, and how can BART make this financially feasible for them? It can be cheap. Even at market prices, a 150-square-foot pop-up or kiosk would be significantly more affordable than starting a business where you must lease a thousand square feet or more. BART ridership, even with reduced ridership, stations get a lot of foot traffic. In March 2024, Lake Merritt Station had a weekly average of nearly 3,000 people going in and out of the station. The key is to become a place where people don’t just go in and out of but where they enjoy spending time at. BART could be a catalyst not just for urban design in the neighborhood it is located in but an opportunity for our budding entrepreneurs as well. Community Hubs will generate some revenue, but the most important benefit would be the additional riders it would generate outside of regular commuting patterns and the sense of safety one would feel by having more people and positive family-friendly activities at the station. We must also create space for local artists to share their art and culture, strengthening our sense of community.

With its combination of resources and stakeholders, Lake Merritt station is a prime location for consistent active programming. Laney College, the Oakland Museum, Wilma Chan Park, Lincoln Park, Friends of Lincoln Park, the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, and the Chinatown Business Improvement District (BID), with the Jack London District being a short walk away– these areas are all gems we can further polish and refine. I envision having night markets at Lake Merrit station and having more activities with the Laney students or the museum. Throughout the year, on Friday nights, the Oakland Museum has Off the Grid, a night market incorporating play, dance, food, and the museum. We can expand that footprint and incorporate more partners to attract an even larger group of people. Lake Merritt Station’s future developments include four new buildings on BART-owned lots. The plan would produce “557 units of housing, 35% of which would be affordable, and 500,000 square feet of commercial space for offices and shops.” The future of this station means even more potential for successful programming opportunities for creativity to flourish and utilization of the community hub model within stations.

The great thing is we don’t need to wait for development. We could begin piloting this idea with minimal investments. Community Hubs could start with pop-ups at stations outside of the fare gates or on the surface-level parking lots. When underutilized, we can also expand by looking for more farmers' markets, flea markets, or other activities within our parking lots on the weekends and evenings. Leases from these vendors would pay for staff time dedicated to developing these Community Hub activations through permitting, clean up, and ambassadors. Community Hubs will begin diversifying some of our operating budgets while increasing ridership outside the 9 to 5 commuters. As we continue to have folks working from home, we must look at attracting customers with different travel needs. As a large agency that impacts every community, BART should improve its operations and rider experience by increasing the quality of life at and around its stations. Reimagining our stations as Community Hubs through expanded programs and amenities will make that happen.