Fiscal Strength at BART

By James Fang

Balanced Budgets Every Year

• Since James was elected to the BART Board, BART has achieved sixteen consecutive balanced budgets.
• Three national credit rating agencies have assigned BART an impressive "AA" rating, which will help save San Francisco taxpayers millions of dollars in the future.
• BART's bond rating is the highest of any Bay Area transit agency.
• During James tenure, BART's farebox recovery ratio has risen to 60%, one of the highest in the nation.
• James has fought to save every taxpayer dollar possible by increasing operational revenue. Today, most of BART's operating budget is paid for using passenger fare receipts and other fees.

• James advocated regulating BART Board Directors' expenses.
• He has the lowest expense account of any BART Board member.
• He hasn't charged a single expense to BART in the last two years.

• James led the charge to extend BART service to the San Francisco International, to help feed San Francisco's $7 billion tourist industry.
• More than 7,000 passengers now ride BART to and from SFO each day.
• He worked with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dianne Feinstein to secure federal funds for the $1.5 billion BART/SFO Extension project.
• He personally knocked on the doors of Virginia Congressman Frank Wolf, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Alabama Senator Dick Shelby, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, to enlist their support for the project.
• James co-chaired the committee responsible for the passage of a San Francisco ballot measure that secured additional funding for the project.
• James also served as the chairman of the BART/SFO Extension and the Engineering and Operations Committee. Campaign Finance Reform

James advocated prohibiting BART Board candidates from accepting campaign contributions from contractors who have qualified within the last six months to bid on BART projects.