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Yesterday, Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board approved a $582.1 million fiscal-year 2011 budget that would use much of a projected $4.5 million surplus to clean up trains and temporarily reduce fares. In addition, the board set aside a portion of the surplus to increase BART’s “rainy day reserves.”

The board plans to use $2.3 million to temporarily reduce fares by 3 percent for four months, pending the outcome of public meetings. The board also opted to set aside $750,000 for deep cleaning of up to 50 rail cars, including new seats; $200,000 to defer an increase in East Bay paratransit fares for four months; and $75,000 for real-time monitors showing train schedules at venues surrounding BART stations. In addition, the board will allocate an extra $1 million for the reserve fund.

BART anticipates a surplus because courts ordered the state of California to return some of the voter-mandated transportation funding in March, which the governor and the legislature had previously diverted to the state’s general fund.