NEWS
Survey says riders want BART to focus on reliable, affordable service
TAKE US ALONG
BY DOLORES FOX CIARDELLI
Canadian Fortress: The Weekly traveled with Leslie Baker and Tom English, shown right outside the Citadel in Halifax, Canada, which was designated a national historic site in 1951 due to its role as a naval station in the British Empire and the city’s importance to Canada’s development and evolution from colony to nation.
A recent survey of 819 BART riders concluded that riders want the next general manager to focus on providing reliable, affordable service. The survey asked responders to choose a single most important task for a new GM, and 54% picked “maintain quality service at an affordable price.” When asked what the GM’s top focus should be; 64% picked “operating a costeffective, on-time service.” Those surveyed had other tasks that they also felt were important. One of the most common replies was that so many things are very important, they couldn’t select just one. For “most important task” 23% picked building trusting relationships with the community and others. A lot of people wrote in their responses also, and BART officials
said they saw a common theme of improving administrative efficiency and controlling employee costs. For “top focus,” 30% chose “running a professional, efficient organization.” When asked to rate attributes or characteristics that would be important in a new GM, under “very important” responders chose: ■ People management skills (89%) ■ Leadership (87%) ■ Customer orientation (87%) ■ Communication (86%) And 34% added other suggestions in response to an open-ended question about qualities a new BART general manager should have. At least 10% of respondents mentioned: ■ Customer/community focus; better customer service at stations ■ Clean/modernize the system ■ Improve administrative efficiency/control employee costs
■ More for the money/keep fares down “Someone who puts customers first. Works hard to create a convenient, comfortable and affordable system, so people get out of their cars and into the BART trains,” one person wrote. The full report is available at www. bart.gov. A total of 819 respondents participated in the survey, including 430 who completed it at the website and 389 who replied to a random sample email survey. Sherwood Wakeman has been serving as interim general manager since April 23, the day after the resignation became effective for Dorothy Dugger, who had been the eighth GM in BART’s 40-yearhistory of operations. A nationwide search is under way for a new general manager, who serves as the agency’s top executive and reports to an elected board of directors. N
Social Security offices closing 30 minutes early Budget cuts result in less public time BY JEB BING
JAY FLACHSBARTH/JAYFPHOTOGRAPHY.SMUGMUG.COM
Consruction work continues on new “Lifetyle” Safeway supermarket complex at Bernal and Valley avenues, across from the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
SAFEWAY Continued from Page 5
with the city of Pleasanton acquiring a 318-acre section for a public park, including a lighted baseball field that opened last year. San Francisco’s public utilities agency continues to own the water rights under the property along
with a 3-acre undeveloped site on Old Bernal Road across from the Pleasanton Public Library. Pleasanton Finance Director Emily Wagner said the new Safeway store complex will add $123,000 to the city’s general fund in the store’s first year of operation and $285,000 a year after that. —Jeb Bing
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Starting Aug. 15, Social Security offices in the Bay Area will close at 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, 30 minutes ahead of their current closing time. Rob Pepper, Bay Area public affairs specialist for the agency, said Congress has trimmed the Social Security budget by nearly $1 billion more than the President requested for current fiscal year, “which makes it impossible for the agency to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as we have in
SAFE
the past.” The cutback affects the Social Security office at 24301 Southland Drive in Hayward, which serves Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley. The new operating hours of that office will be 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office is closed Saturdays and Sundays and on all federal holidays. Pepper said agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, but the shorter “public window” will allow them to complete face-to-face service with the visiting public without incurring
the cost of overtime. Most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office, Pepper explained. “For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform us of a change of address or telephone number may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213,” he said. People who are hard of hearing may call the TTY number, 1-800325-0778. N
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Page 6ÊUÊJuly 29, 2011ÊUÊPleasanton Weekly