Bay Area Rapid Transit District
The Bay Area Rapid Transit District, or BART, is a special-purpose district body that governs the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in the California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco. The system itself also serves northern San Mateo County and Santa Clara County; however, these counties have bought into the system and have neither a voting stake nor any representatives in the district proper. History. The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (occasionally abbreviated in early years to BARTD) was created in 1957 to provide a transit alternative between suburbs in the East  Bay and job centers in San Francisco's Financial District as well as (to a lesser extent) those in Downtown Oakland and Downtown Berkeley. Of the six Bay Area counties initially envisioned as participants—San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara—only Santa Clara County refused to join when the district was first set up; it originally included both San Mateo and Marin counties. San Mateo opted out in 1962, preferring to utilize funds to build its freeway and expressway system. Marin left a month after San Mateo, fearing that it would be unable to absorb  its share of operating costs with San Mateo's withdrawal. Marin was also concerned by ongoing debate about the feasibility of running trains across a lower deck of the Golden Gate Bridge. Structure. BART is split into nine districts, each of which elects one board member. One board member acts as president. Board members appoint five officers: General Manager, Controller-Treasurer, Independent Police Auditor, General Counsel, and District Secretary. BART Board of Directors. , current board members, by district, include: