Bay Area officials say the federal government has been holding up a $1.25 billion federal grant that is needed to increase BART's passenger capacity for the train system.
BART officials on Wednesday upped the pressure to get the funds, saying that a fatal crash on the Bay Bridge brought them 10,000 additional passengers.
This month, California's U.S. senators sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation secretary urging immediate action on the grant application that has languished for 18 months.
BART is seeking the grant to buy a new train-control system, new rail cars, a set of storage tracks for its Hayward yard and traction power substations to carry more people through its Transbay Tube.
About 27,000 passengers currently move through the tube every hour. The improvements would boost that number to 39,000 people.
BART General Manager Grace Crunican said the hectic commute the Bay Area experienced Wednesday morning "shows how one accident can impact tens of thousands of people" and illustrates the vital role BART plays in getting people across the San Francisco Bay.
Crunican said she is renewing her call for the federal government to help fund BART's Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program, which she said is a package of strategic investments that will increase the train frequency between San Francisco and Oakland by more than 30 percent and overall capacity by 45 percent.
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Crunican said the grant funding is being held up in the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants Program.
