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BART director Janice Li weighs in on the hot-button issue of banning panhandling and performing on BART — she’s against the ban. Li, who sees transit as a public good, also airs her views on fare increases and fare evasion, accessibility for disabled riders, and infrastructure improvements and maintenance.

We should be focused on increasing ridership, we should be focused on having our stations be great welcoming places, and I don’t see how a ban on busking or panhandling gets us there.” —Janice Li, BART director

I host and report for “Civic,” a San Francisco public affairs radio show and podcast from the Public Press. I've been a multimedia reporter and producer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've reported on housing, health, immigration and homelessness for local news site Mission Local and produced conversations about local, regional and national current affairs for “Your Call,” a live call-in program on KALW-FM public radio.