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BART Budget Includes $35 Million Surplus

OAKLAND (KCBS/AP) - Bay Area Rapid Transit Agency officials expect to have a $35 million surplus in their latest budget - money that is expected to go toward new seat cushions, and elevator and escalator improvements.

BART's directors adopted the $619 million operating budget on Thursday. It does not include any service reductions or fare increases.

BART is also considering using some of the $35 million surplus on a pilot project that would run trains an hour later into early Saturday morning.

A federally mandated study of the project's effect on minority and low-income communities is currently under way.

KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:

Noise abatement is also on this long budget to-do list.

"It's not damaging to your ears, it's not a health hazard, but it certainly doesn't make for a pleasant ride," reasoned BART chief spokesman Linton Johnson of the grinding sound - produced by ripples on the rails rubbing on the wheels in spots like the Transbay Tube.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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