BART’s 2026-2035 Sustainability Action Plan establishes new environmental performance goals and best practices

BART recently released the 2026-2035 Sustainability Action Plan (SAP), outlining how the agency will uphold its commitment to advancing regional sustainability in the Bay Area in the decade to come.

Sustainability is both what BART does (providing access to clean and reliable transit) and how BART does it (reducing our environmental impacts while operating the system). The new SAP identifies initiatives that support regional climate resilience, public well-being, increased ridership, and responsible environmental practices.

The 2026-2035 SAP was compiled using the lessons learned from the 2015-2025 SAP and extensive outreach to riders, BART employees, the BART Board, and community members. BART's Sustainability Department conducted surveys, held community meetings, and established internal working groups to help calibrate priorities. The department also examined historical performance data and built models to forecast BART's future resource use.

The plan is organized into seven categories that reflect different aspects of BART's Sustainability Program. Within each category, BART has identified a mission-oriented goal, performance metrics to be tracked relative to 2030 targets, and organization-wide actions that will enhance our sustainability best practices.

Key priorities include:

• Increasing BART's share of greenhouse gas-free electricity to 100% (currently BART's electricity is 86% GHG-free as of calendar year 2024)
• Upgrading water fixtures to conserve water across BART facilities
• Expanding recycling and composting efforts across BART facilities
• Adopting a Green Procurement Policy to aid in selecting sustainable materials
• Conducting a multi-hazard climate risk assessment
• Building more Transit-Oriented Development at our stations
• Improving rider satisfaction by focusing on station cleanliness and safety

"BART has made significant progress in advancing sustainability over the past eight years, but there's more work to do," said Michael Cox, BART Manager of Sustainability Projects. "Our goal for the new action plan is to establish practices that will pay environmental and cost dividends even beyond 2035. Getting input from many stakeholders helped us ensure we are planning projects that prioritize riders and help our system run more efficiently."

BART will publish annual sustainability reports throughout the 2026-2035 SAP period to provide progress updates. The forthcoming Calendar Year 2025 Sustainability Report, which will be released later this year, will be the final report summarizing work related to the outgoing 2015-2025 SAP.

Learn more about sustainability at BART at bart.gov/sustainability.