which job title specifically are you referring to? from the pay schedule linked above, the closest thing I see is Station Agent, with a pay range of $73-86k.
and where are you getting the data on the median salary of a BART rider?
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?a=san-fra...
Many of them make over 150k, some over 220k
BART claims says their median rider makes 50k, based on a survey they conducted in 2020. You can find various sources by searching "rider profile" or something like that.
https://abc7news.com/bart-news-building-a-better-bay-area-ov...
What I mean by "corruption" is that the compensation in the story you shared is from 2018, and it's still going on in 2021 (the compensation data I shared)
Personally, I think everyone should be able to afford to live comfortably wherever they are. And I think janitors and other people who do often thankless and grueling work should be compensated substantially more than they are, not less. If it were up to me, no one would have to work overtime to afford average rent where they work so hard already.
The part that makes it corruption is that BART is overpaying to pad the pockets of specific more senior members of the union at the expense of less senior members and the public.
To make it concrete, I have a very nice and spacious apartment in a good location in SF. Around 85% of BART employees could easily afford my apartment, based on public data (less than 30% one month pay).
$2.5K is on-the-cheaper-side 1 bedroom, no?
All these involve overtime which means: - lower quality of life - either not having kids or having to hire someone to take care of them
There is definitely something wrong if the system allow people to only take a handful of days off a year, is there a hiring freeze or something? Any sane manager would prefer having more workers that rest fully and stay motivated than people extending their times and becoming fatigued, demotivated and grumpy in the process.
[1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/sanfranciscocitycalifornia