A new report from Bay Area Rapid Transit police shows that crime on trains and stations is down significantly in the first seven months of 2025.

Violent crime has dropped compared to the same time period in 2024, according to the July monthly Chief's Report, but some other crime metrics have remained stable or increased.

As more people head back to the office, utilize BART more, safety remains a big priority. Carson Singer has been using BART to get around since he was 12 years old. He's 24 now and says he's never felt unsafe and the new data supports his feelings.

"I've never had an issue on BART," said Singer.  

The BART Police Department says violent crime has dropped 36% in the first seven months of 2025, with property crimes, robberies and car burglaries all down.

Singer says lately, he's noticed even more precautions.

"I've definitely seen more officers. I also feel like having the new [fare] gates help with that as well," Singer explained.

The recently-installed fare gates make it more difficult for anyone to get through without paying their fare, but not impossible. Some people have been seen walking closely behind paying riders to get through the gate before it closes.

Singer believes fewer riders without tickets contribute to even fewer people creating safety hazards, but incidents still happen. BART rider Matthew Costa takes the train nearly every day, and a few months ago, he became a victim.

"Someone pulled a knife on me back at one of the stations in Oakland on my way back to the city," said Costa. "I stood my ground and said, 'If you're going to stab me, stab me.' I didn't run, I didn't show fear, and they put that knife back, and I called the BART police on the train."

Costa says BART police responded quickly and removed the person.

"They definitely did make me feel safer, and I called them right away when that happened," he said.

That is an example of one of the crime categories that hasn't improved, assault. Aggravated assaults remained stable, while simple assaults, which are a lesser physical attack that doesn't constitute battery, went up.

BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin says the department is focusing on that.

"There are still a few assaults occurring out in the system," said Franklin. "I think it reflects some of the issues that are happening in the areas around our stations and around our systems. That's always an area I want to work on."

If a crime does occur, Franklin wants to solve it quickly.

"We have over 4,000 cameras out in our system, so when these incidents occur, if we're not already there, we've got great sources of evidence to really run down every lead that we can," said Franklin.

Franklin is also working on hiring more officers as his department currently has 21 vacancies. He believes filing those gaps will help continue to lower the crime numbers.

But for riders like Singer, he's not concerned and recommends BART.

"Don't listen to fear mongering," Singer stated. "Use it yourself."