The BART Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released a new audit examining BART's inventory management and purchasing operations.

Our audit recognizes the meaningful progress BART has made in modernizing inventory operations, including updated policies, QR-code tracking, improved purchasing timelines, stronger Maximo system controls, and ongoing reviews of obsolete inventory.

We also identified opportunities to build on those efforts and further improve efficiency, strengthen accountability, and better safeguard public resources.

Key findings include:

• Approximately 75% of inventory remained unused on warehouse shelves.
• Only 66% overall agreement between physical inventory and Maximo data records.
• Lapses in controls over some purchasing processes, warehouse security, system access, and inventory governance.
• Tools are purchased with credit cards instead of being tracked through inventory increasing risk of waste and loss.

We issued 17 recommendations, all of which were accepted by BART management.

We encourage you to review the summary video and full report for detailed insights.

Strengthening BART Inventory and Purchasing Through Better Coordination and Compliance.pdf

Thank you for your continued interest in our work. For access to all BART Office of the Inspector General reports, please visit our website at www.bart.gov/oig.

Sincerely,

Claudette Biemeret
Inspector General
Email: InspectorGeneral@bart.gov
Phone: 510-464-6141