BART Measure RR Annual Report

Target Audience: The 420,000 daily riders of BART; residents of the BART District; taxpayers in the BART District.

Strategy Objective:Show good stewardship for the first full year of funding under Measure RR, a $3.5 billion infrastructure bond passed by voters in the three BART counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco.

Situation Challenge: The recently voter-approved Measure RR infrastructure bond to rebuild the BART system required an Annual Report. As with any multibillion-dollar, decades-long program, the first year of Measure RR was mostly about design and engineering; the program was in the ramp-up phase with much happening behind the scenes but not a great number of improvements immediately visible to the public. The challenge of the first Measure RR Annual Report was to show what funds have been used for to date and chart a roadmap for future spending on transit needs.

Results Impact: The Measure RR Annual Report was produced in enough print media copies for distribution at Bond Oversight Committee meetings, Board of Directors meetings and in outreach to the general public and community-based organizations. The report outlined specifically how the oversight committee is meeting its mandate; investments to date in each category of transit needs; and a forecast for the lifetime of the bond. Complex financial jargon was boiled down into easy-to-understand, conversational language, and the report was illustrated with detailed graphics and high-quality photography all using established BART branding. The report was also made available online as a downloadable PDF for environmental consciousness.

Why Submit: Any public transportation agency is likely to have mandated annual reports that can become mundane and routine when simply swapping out similar subjects from year to year. BART's Measure RR Annual Report provides a template for doing something new and more engaging. It tells the story of how these badly needed transit funds are being spent to make a safer and more reliable system, and how BART is upholding its promise to keep jobs and funding in the local communities.