The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rail system used to transport people around the San Francisco Bay area. They began a project of connecting the Oakland Airport to the system.

The following is from the San Francisco Chronicle:

It doesnt look like we are going to be putting the brakes on this project, said Robert Raburn, a BART board member who would clearly love to do just that. Raburn, whose district includes the area around Oakland International Airport, asked interim GM Sherwood Wakeman to estimate how much it would cost to kill the proposed $484 million connector.

The answer: The $95 million that BART has already spent on the planned 3.5-mile line from the Coliseum Station to the airport would be money down the drain. Paying off contractors who have already been hired would cost another $30 million to $150 million. The projects backers say it will create construction jobs and raise the Oakland airports regional profile. Some transit activists think the money would be better spent on increasing bus service in the area or fixing up BART itself. We still dont have the local money for buying new cars, which is a top priority with everyone, Raburn said.

The lines biggest backer was former BART Director Carole Ward Allen whom Raburn unseated in the November election.

It would be a huge waste of public funds to stop at this point, said BART Director Joel Keller, whose district stretches across northern Contra Costa County.

BART estimates the OAC will require some $10/trip operating subsidy more than 5 times required for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). And the BRT would provide faster door-door travel time, meaning it would likely generate higher ridership [BRT is an already existing alternative to the BART expansion].

Evaluate the decision to continue the Oakland Airport Connection project. Be specific