Sorry for reporting this so late, but for those of you that haven't been keeping up with the whole BART surcharge debacle, here is the latest. According to the SF Chronicle, BART is finally ready to reduce the airport surcharge from $4 to $1.50. The change is expected to take place in less than a month.
For those of you that are taking the shuttle from the Milbrae BART to the airport, that will of course end once this takes place.
Let's rant a little here. It is ridiculous that the airport and BART stick it to the very airport workers that run the place. Why is it that there's a surcharge for employees at all? Why can't they just end the surcharge all together for employees? BART will still continue to receive the standard fare. If they can find a way to reduce it to $1.50, they can find a way to eliminate the surcharge all together.
BART is another prime example of an inefficiently run government entity. They have continued to operate in the red for years with no immediate sign that they're going to ever get in to the black.
Couple this with the outrageous price of $225 a quarter for airport parking and you have the airport sticking it to the employees even more. Oakland charges approximately a third of what SFO charges their employees for parking.
SFO is notorious for their exorbitant prices. Remember, the out of whack landing fees at SFO is what caused Southwest Airlines to originally leave. One can only assume that Southwest worked out some kind of deal with the SFO bureaucracy in order for them to come back.
Meanwhile, worthless managers at Covenant Aviation Security, continue to get company paid parking privileges at domestic garages. One can only guess how much Covenant Aviation Security has to shell out for each of those parking passes.
Bottom line, BART is a crappy deal with or without the airport surcharge.
A blog dedicated to the TSOs, LTSOs, and BDOs at San Francisco International Airport that work for Covenant Aviation Security, LLC (CAS).
Return to sanity. First of all, you can hardly blame the airport for BART surcharges. The airport played a large part in lobbying BART for a reduction in charges. Sure, I'd like to see them eliminated entirely, especially when you see law enforcement riding for FREE all the time.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Airport sticking employees for a parking fee of $225. Yeah it's a raw deal, and sure CAS management has a sweet deal in the domestic garages; but the last time I checked there was a transportation allowance on my check which covered my parking nut. So I have to park at West Field and take the shuttle... cry me a river.
And to counteract that surcharge, the airport could just continue the shuttle buses or force BART's hand and get them to stop the airport surcharge.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that transportation allowance. Something that everyone gets regardless if they park, and yet you still have to pony up the money for the parking in advance.
"force BART's hand"? uh...I don't see the leverage... enlighten me. Deny BART airport access? Aside from contract obligations, etc... talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
ReplyDeleteContinue the shuttle? Bottom line is the airport is a for profit business (I believe)... so any final decisions are driven by that... welcome to America.