BART elects Simon president, Foley VP

The Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board last week elected Lateefah Simon president and Mark Foley vice president for 2020.

Simon has represented the San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties as BART District 7 director since 2017; Foley has represented Contra Costa county as District 2 director since 2018.

As president, Simon said in a press release she will focus on improving BART service, as well as developing partnerships with local governments and elected officials to address "quality-of-life issues" in the Bay Area that impact the BART system and its riders.

Foley said he would focus on the rider experience.

“Among the things BART must do is to regain the trust of weekend and night riders by providing service that is, first and foremost, safe but also provides service that is clean, cost-effective and reliable,” Foley said. “We’re making progress, but we’ve got a ways to go, and I’m going to do my best to make sure we get there.”

The appointees succeed Bevan Dufty and Rebecca Saltzman, who previously served as board president and vice president, respectively.