BART’s board of directors will vote Thursday on a motion to purchase 130 new Tasers for its police department.

The contract proposal, recommended by the BART staff, would more than double the current amount of Tasers — 60 — that the agency’s police force has. To purchase the Tasers — at the cost of $140,000 — BART’s board must approve the measure with a two-thirds majority.

On Jan. 1, 2009, BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fatally shot passenger Oscar Grant on the platform of the agency’s Fruitvale Station. Mehserle, who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter, claimed at the time that he meant to fire his Taser at Grant.

The San Francisco Police Commission, which governs The City’s police force, recently rejected a measure to add Tasers to its force.

wreisman@sfexaminer.com