BART responds to latest union allegations

 BART spokesman Rick Rice issued the following statement:

"We are nine days away from a critical deadline that will impact every person who travels in the Bay Area. We cannot avert another strike if the Unions continue to wrongfully bash the District and its bargaining team with false attacks.

The issue recently raised by the Unions involves a $500 payment to Veolia Transportation for administrative services.

East Bay Paratransit is a consortium between BART and AC Transit to provide federally mandated paratransit service for the disabled. Veolia has been under a publically bid, competitively awarded contract for the last six years, to provide administrative and brokerage services for East Bay Paratransit.

The bills from MV Transportation, Inc. ($12,734) and A-Para Transit Corporation ($16,714) were for wheelchair lift equipped vans to provide accessible service at the five stations from which BART operated bus service during the recent strike. BART secured the paratransit buses to ensure that potential disabled passengers would have access to transportation at each of our staging areas.  The bills were submitted to Veolia, who in their role as the paratransit broker, added a $250 administrative fee to each bill. Veolia's share of the $29,948 bill from the paratransit providers was $500."