OAKLAND (KCBS) - Whether it's more people getting jobs, or sky high gas prices, more people have been riding BART. That means a surplus transit officials hope to spend fixing up the system.

"We've deferred maintenance on a couple of things—not on safety sensitive issues—but on things that might affect the customer's ability to be able to get on BART conveniently," said Linton Johnson, BART's chief spokesman.

Ticket machines, escalators and signs are what need repairing, he said.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:

The size of the surplus is hard to predict with five months left in the fiscal year, Johnson said, but ridership grew four percent in February compared to the previous year.

Those 20,000 riders, about the same as adding half the fans at AT&T Park, could leave BART sitting on an extra $4 million by the fall.

"We're on track to have some sort of positive result at the end," Johnson said.

The BART surplus is a stark contrast to Caltrain's $30 million deficit or San Francisco Muni's $21 million shortfall.

Johnson said any grand maintenance plans could still be deferred depending on the severity of the cuts from Sacramento.

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