It was a landmark decision last week. For the first time in Bay Area history — if not nationwide — a rail transit agency decided not to build more rail. And it was a smart decision that will benefit rail transit going forward.

As I blogged about, the BART extension to outlying Livermore would have been costly and attracted just a few riders. It also would have pulled resources away from the core system, exacerbating its reliability problems. Instead, a bus rapid transit line would deliver all the benefits of BART at a fraction of the cost and build time.

In recognition of the fiscal pressures, BART’s elected board made the sensible — and one-vote margin — call last week to ditch the gold-plated option. Unfortunately, Livermore officials don’t want the bus rapid transit line as an alternative, as they apparently hold out hope that some other agency will build the BART extension (an idea that has precedence but would still be irresponsible). So for now they’re left with nothing.

But rail proponents should recognize that heavy-rail options like BART are only suitable for high-density areas. Bus rapid transit may not sound as nice to the public at first glance, but it can be a high performer in practice.

As if on cue, BART opened the same week a new “mini BART” line to exurban Antioch, using cheaper biodiesel-powered trains as a cost-savings and right-sizing measure. While not bus rapid transit, it’s a recognition of the fiscal and ridership realities of serving the low-density region with mass transit.

Meanwhile, here were the votes on the Livermore proposal:

Against the extension:

Bevan Dufty
Nick Josefowitz
Rebecca Saltzman
Lateefah Simon
Robert Raburn

For the extension:

John McPartland
Debora Allen
Joel Keller
Tom Blalock

Congratulations to the BART board on a smart move, and to all BART riders who care about the system’s long-term sustainability.