You can check current BART delays here and on the BART Twitter.
B.A.R.T. stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit, in case you did not know.
While writing this article I realized I am way more upset at BART than I knew so I’ll start there. As someone who rides BART every day Monday through Friday, I must say I am getting very fed up with the poor public transportation system.
Update: I should probably state that I moved out of Oakland and a huge reason was BART. Riding to SF for work every day was a major stress on me and I’m sure you know if you are a daily commuter. I quit my job in SF and moved to Portland because Oakland sucks and all the real jobs were across the water. However, do not move to Portland. I left there after nearly 3 years and am now trying out Las Vegas.
BART is overpriced!
For one, it’s way overpriced. It seems like BART is increasing the fares every single year.
To go from 12th ST BART City Center Oakland to Civic Center BART in San Francisco and back it is costing me $6.30 a day. That’s $31.50 a week or $126 a month!
If I’m going to pay that much I expect seats I can at least sit on, trains that are going to be on time and a ride to work that doesn’t require me being delayed under the Transbay Tube for up to 30 minutes at a time.
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Strike? BART Employees are overpaid!
BART has gone on strike and threatens to strike again even though they have a reported $125 million dollar operating surplus.
The employees who get paid very good for sitting in a box all day think that they should get paid more.
I think BART should lower the fares and do something about overcrowded trains.
The unions contend BART has a $125 million operating surplus, and that their members deserve some of it for increased ridership and high service reliability rates.
Employees want a 5 percent annual raise over the next three years. Train operators and station agents are currently paid in the low $60,000 range, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Employees average $16,590 in overtime pay.
It seems to me they are making a LOT more on overtime and these guys are balling out of control for doing nothing.
$75,000 plus? What exactly DOES a station agent do? As far as I know, they talk all day, read, and adjust a fare from time to time.
Train operators? It’s all automatic. They stick their head out, make sure no one is in the door and press the button to close it.
If I’m wrong someone please correct me so I can understand why they deserve $75,000 a year for doing nothing.
BART is dirty!
About that, the trains are disgusting. I would never sit on those seats because I see some of the dirtiest people on earth sitting on them. I have even seen a guy piss and or crap himself on the seat, get up, leave a wet spot and someone else a few stops later unknowingly sit in that seat. You just have no idea who was there before you. If you’re wondering why I didn’t say anything it’s because I wasn’t near enough and there were about 10 people in the vicinity that could have said something. As we all know, people don’t talk to each other on BART, even to help one another out. Oh well, just watch your BART seats!
Incurable bacteria have been found on the seats!
Sure one can say BART is trying to replace the seats with the new vinyl-like material for easier cleaning. But how often are those even cleaned?
Just don’t sit on BART.
BART is overcrowded!
I couldn’t sit if I wanted to anyways. My trains are so crowded in the morning that it is shoulder to shoulder standing room only. These trains are so overpacked it’s ridiculous and uncomfortable. People smell, sick people spreading SARS everywhere and of course the jerk or two who snuck their bike on the car and took up 4 or 5 spaces worth of standing room.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could bring my bike on BART but until BART accommodates to us and makes a bike only car in back it is rude for just YOU to break the rules while I suffer.
When leaving San Francisco in the evening, it’s a madhouse. People line up in front of the yellow lines waiting for the next train to arrive, but when it does not all of them are getting on that train so they sort of just stand there in your way. It’s rather annoying, I get structure and needing to get on and off fast, but blocking others doesn’t help and when there are 4 possible trains that can come through the station at any given time, it doesn’t work too well. These people are just lining up to try and get on first so they can sit down and play Candy Crush or play some game on their laptop.
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And even worse, when getting off the train in the morning and trying to get up the escalator, there are a ton of people who just don’t understand escalator etiquette. If you are standing still like a fat lazy American, you must stay to the right. Do not block the left side! People like me want to not only walk up these escalators but double step while running! Get me out of here, I gotta get to work, I’m already running late and a Starbucks triple espresso is a must.
BART hates bikes!
BART can easily fix this. If they gutted the last car of every train so that it was seatless and just had a bunch of bike hooks, racks, nothing, whatever, we could all ride our bikes to BART and to the office. But now a lot of us are forced to take buses to BART stations and leave our metal horses at home. Get on it noobs. Simple fix, you’re way behind the times.
How can you promote public transportation, saving the environment and all that but then seem so against bikes, the best form of green transportation?
BART loves cars!
Because of the bike problem, you are encouraged to bus or even drive your car to the station and find and pay for parking. Yes, that’s right, pay for parking, just another fee.
Most of these stations you have to get there at the crack of dawn to even find a parking spot. But if you do, you pay the parking fee and then leave your car all day. There have been many car break-in and thefts in BART parking lots. I myself had my car broken into, in broad daylight at the MacArthur Station. I had only left it there from about noon till 2pm. The whole ordeal cost me a lot of money. BART Police may just very well be worthless.
BART Security Sucks
BART gives you a false sense of security with its fake video cameras in every train car. Yes, fake. I’ve always told people they are fake yet they did not believe me. However, the truth came out after someone was shot and murdered on BART.
BART delay, every day?
So now here we are shoulder to shoulder from the East Bay to San Francisco after leaving our bike at home and overpaying for a ride, the train stops in the Transbay Tube! Almost every morning it seems and sometimes it’s only 5 to 10 minutes while other times it’s up to a half-hour or more delay. Nowadays it’s becoming even more common to be stuck in a delay for over an hour.
It’s like there is always a “medical emergency” at Embarcadero, an “equipment failure” or “a few trains ahead of us”. Most of the time you don’t even know why you’ve stopped because you can’t hear a word of what the conductor is saying over busted speakers or they are too loud and distorted or they just don’t say anything at all. It’s very rare that you can hear and understand the announcement and when it is there is little to no helpful information given. If there is one thing they are not, it’s clear and transparent.
You keep cramping me underwater there talking about medical emergencies and I’m gonna have a panic attack and you’ll be dealing with me next! Not really. But come on get it together.
I hear you have medics on stand by at Embarcadero or at least I read this. Somehow this has to be more efficient.
Maybe they should be down on the platform waiting and you can get said person off the train in a matter of seconds and keep trains running on schedule. I don’t know why this always takes so long.
BART trains are so loud!
Speaking of the Transbay Tube and all, why are BART trains so loud? Is it possible that we have the loudest most deafening public transit in the country?
They are loud because of imperfections in the track and they do have rail grinding machines but hesitate to do this often cause it causes them to have to replace the tracks more often. I say, because we pay such high BART fares, our ears should be the bigger priority and they should work on reducing the noise levels as much as possible.
In the TransBay Tube the noise can reach over 100 decibels according to studies done by BART.
They claim that the trains average a noise level of 70 to 90 decibels, which can indeed cause hearing loss at sustained levels. I feel as if my hearing has suffered directly as a consequence of using BART to get to work. If there is ever any sort of class action lawsuit, I would like in because of my hearing loss from BART.
Living next to a BART track does indeed bother a lot of people but many are used to the noise levels. I myself, no matter where I have lived in Oakland could hear the trains. Even when I was a mile away from the Fruitvale Station down 35th. I’ll admit, I sort of like it and at my last place on East 14th and 6th I could hear the trains often, it wasn’t loud enough to bother me.
BART is behind the times!
I understand another thing is boarding time. And I hear we’re lucky enough to get new 3 door cars in 5 years for a faster more efficient boarding procedure but come on. Why did that take so long and why do we still have to wait this long? It seems like this would speed things up a little but also something you shouldn’t have slept on.
You say your budget is so slim but with the amount of money you are charging 370,000 plus weekday passengers, I can’t imagine how there would be a budget problem. Where is this money going? How much do you pay that guy that says please stand clear of the doors again?
Here BART gets honest on their own Twitter about this harsh reality.
And this is just about what ever day is like.
BART is a homeless shelter?
Exiting BART, the relief of not being crowded and stuck underground. That moment when you know it is no longer possible to die in an earthquake under the Bay. What could ruin that feeling of freedom?
I’ll tell you what! I get off at Civic Center and I have to deal with the accordion playing dog guy(who’s not that bad), the whining cowboy with his terrible voice(WHY?) and then a homeless encampment. Every morning! The foul stench off piss and crap all down the hall in the BART station.
The escalators are almost always out of service because you let these guys live down there and they urinate and poop in them! I am constantly stepping over streams of pee.
You recently removed the garbage can, which is good because I have seen people pissing on it many times.
Maybe if you didn’t shut down all the bathrooms underground this wouldn’t be as bad?
You know me, the paying commuter has to use the bathroom too! I know you say it’s to prevent terrorism but what terrorist needs a bathroom to blow themselves up? You’re ridiculous.
So what else are you going to do to stop this? Why do you let these people sleep in there, beg me for money every single morning and use the bathroom on the floor of my public transportation system that I pay so much for?
BART is a Corporate Tax Shelter!
So I do not fully understand this concept but here is my attempt at explaining it as short and simple as possible.
BART takes part in Lease-In Lease-Out agreements(aka LILO’s) where BART leases it’s own trains and service equipment to corporations like General Electric and then immediately leases the same exact equipment back from General Electric costing the taxpayers money and shielding General Electric from paying Federal Taxes.
So the physical inventory never leaves BART’s hands and they shuffle paper and money around back and forth to game the system. Apparently the IRS is trying to put a stop to this. I think that is how it works but please do read the full article that goes into depth.
BART Corporate Tax Shelter.
Robbery on BART is way high now.
It’s been happening in small number for years on end going mostly unreported, but recently has turn into an epidemic. There was even a full on train heist takeover in Oakland at the Coliseum station where a small army of mostly black teens took over a train car and robbed every person on the car and escaped.
BART is a death trap!
Maybe a little bit? Not really? Actually, it’s bound to happen.
I want to talk about recent safety on BART. There has been a train fire(thankfully at a station), multiple deaths, brake failures, various breakdowns, system failures and more lately. BART blamed the equipment failures on aging systems such as 40-year-old cars and whatnot. The problem here is everyone is so overpaid that none of our ridership money is going towards the immediate upgrades needed.
BART needs to prioritize, make massive pay cuts on the management side and some pretty big pay cuts on the train operator and station agent side.
The only employees at BART that actually deserve a good salary are the mechanics, maintenance, system engineers and so on who actually have trade skills specifically geared towards keeping BART running safe and at full capacity.
The people who clean the trains deserve more than the agents and operators if you ask me. However based on how damn gross the BART cars are, I would say they haven’t hired anyone to clean the trains yet.
Do I even like BART?
Ok, so you know why I hate BART and now I’m just frustrated because I’ll be walking down into Civic Center soon to go back to Oakland. I can’t even think of reasons I like it anymore other than it gets me from A to B.
The system is so old and out of date that you can’t even run trains 24 hours on weekends. What good is BART from SF to Oakland if I have to run to a station at midnight like Cinderella?
p.s.
TURN OF THE DAMN HEATER! It’s 80 degrees out and this car is hot and stanky!
Facts about BART:
104 total miles of track expanding 4 counties.
44 stations total with 16 on the surface at ground level, 13 elevated above the ground and 15 underground subway stations.
669 BART cars total running at a max of 80mph and an average of 33mph.
300 ticket machines, 579 entry fare gates, and 168 add fare machines inside of stations.
As 2013 BART has about 400,000 weekday passengers(per day).
Construction began June 19th, 1964.
The Transbay Tube is 135 feet beneath the surface at it’s deepest point.
Source
Crime On BART
BART has become a real target for criminals, especially in Oakland. Young black youth are running wild, attacking people, fighting on trains, breaking into cars, even pulling Wild West style train heist of entire cars and robbing all the people of their cell phones, laptops and wallets. But BART is too scared to tell you the truth because you may stop riding BART or they may be labeled racist for disclosing the ethnicity of the bandits.
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BART is becoming the Wild West.
Watch a BART Director, Deborah Allen expose BART.
BART says African Americans make up 53% of arrest, but only 12% of riders. So we know where the problem is, but no one wants to address it because “racism”.
BART Construction: “Along the Way” 1968
This is an awesome video about the BART system being constructed in 1968.
BART, the next 40 years and the 16 billion dollar problem.
Why should we pay so dearly when they have 400,000 of us a day paying on average $6 each day? Where is that money going? 2.4 million a day?
BART Dance Performer
One good thing about BART is the random performers instead of the beggars. But the beggars are still there.
I change my mind, this is no longer a good thing because it has become way too frequent and is an invasion of our commute.
It was cute the first few times but you beggars have to understand we just got done with a very long day of work and many of us are listening to our own music, reading books, the news, working on our laptops, etc etc.
You get on the car with your loud crappy boombox and assault our commute with the same stuff every day and then ask for money.
Go do that outside of the station where we have the option of just walking by and ignoring you if we please.
Do not get in our face and force it upon us where we have no choice.
RUDE.
One possible solution to this is for BART to have an “entertainment car” where people can perform, BART could sell food, drinks and more. This car would, of course, be a very busy popular attraction and many problems could arise from it, but it would raise money and keep the beggars out of my face unless I choose to visit that car. Which I would for drinks!
Oh, and Silent Disco. Pretty cool.
Extra Videos
whale says
BART is a dirty outhouse. Becuase of all the UV mercury fillament lights on the trains and in the station. Feels like sh@t to ride or be in the stations. As soon as you exit BART you feel better. Bart fails as soon as it enters Oakland from any train until it leaves Oakland. Too slow.
Leb says
I hate Bart. They are doing track maintenance at 9:00at night. Those morons should be working at 2:00 am. Not when people are trying to get home. I don’t understand. Is the entire Bart management made up of morons? No other transit service favors its employees over its riders. This is ass backwards. All Bart management should be fired and they should start over.
James Burrough says
Bart workers are the laziest and most overpaid people in California. Ever ask one of them a question that sit in the information booth? They are rude, lazy and should be replaced with someone who appreciates their job and knows what “hard work” really is.
Nate says
I hate riding BART right now because I pay too much. I live all the way past Antioch and have to show up for work in San Leandro. It costs me 15 bucks to park and round trip. During the weekdays at Antioch Bart station, the parking is always full by 5-6am. Only has 1k parking!
Plus I’m deaf. I went to apply for RTC card to help save money on the rides. I got all the paperwork submitted and they told me it would take 21 days to process the paperwork. WHAT THE HELL TAKES SO LONG TO JUST PROCESS PAPERWORK??!!!!! I understand at least one week but 21 days?! That’s just insane!!!
A few times I have noticed that some homeless people would ride and sleep on the seats. It stinks like toxic skunk ass in there. I noticed many people who don’t pay the fare.
BART needs to get off their lazy fat asses and do something about it! There are so many problems with bart and there is nothing being done about it.
Mark says
I have been a psychiatric nurse for 35 years. Last Saturday I entered the Civic Center station and commented to my friend Civic Center reminded me of an old fashioned insane asylum. People were peeing, pooping, fixing their hair using metal surfaces as mirrors. On the way to the train we were approached by four people wanting money. A couple of weeks ago at Civic Center I stepped off the train to witness a junkie shooting up whatever right in front of the train doors. That same evening on the train 5 people got on, talking about their latest drug deal, using up the reserved for handicapped and multiple use seats. This all occurred on two Saturdays in May.
Note I am not a regular commuter, just someone who goes to entertainment events once in a while. So BART board members, please listen. BART is a public health hazard just about to explode. Any time an IV drug user pees, poops, spits, it’s a dangerous public health issue. They carry blood borne pathogens, including hepatitis and std’s which can make you sick if you touch their secretions!!!! Blood borne hepatitis infection can lead to acute liver failure and liver cancer later on. In the hospital we would be using infection control precautions to take care of these folks. Why don’t people realize this is serious!!!!! Ask any health care professional you know. Yet I have never seen once BART police try to intervene with these desperately sick folks who need medical help a lot more than money. Not all BART stations are like this but please do something to stop this public exposure to dangerous bio hazards. The science fiction tale of the fatal supergerm is born out of these environments. Keep newspaper to put on the seats, use hand sanitizer frequently and stay well away from infected individuals. Let them hog up 10 seats and avoid getting sick
There’s also the issue of crime but that’s a whole other topic…….and rude people. If I worked for BART I would take this seriously and develop an immediate plan for correcting. People think about this
One last comment to thank those who give up their seats to the elderly and handicapped while having to stand on their trip home
BART police please show yourselves in these drug infested insane asylum stations and do something to make the public safe
Kira says
Bart is not safe, I’ve been riding it for about 5 years now on a commute from Concord to SF, and there’s always packed trains past Walnut Creek. Riding Bart, at the gate you’re greeted by homeless people, drug addicts and the station agent who’s watching a baseball game inside the office/box. They complain about their job when the riders are the real ones suffering here, the fares just go up year by year without any explanation and the service is gradually declining.
Get rid of the homeless people, beggars and dancers who invade riders’ commute daily with the same terrible loud music and “moves” which we have seen 100 times because they go on Bart everyday at the same time. The trains are overly loud, noise pollution fills the surrounding areas, and daily delays over police activity/medical emergency/mechanical problems can’t be an excuse anymore! Where is all of our money going to? The station agent that does nothing inside their office? When you ask them a question nicely or tell them about something suspicious on Bart, they just roll their eyes right in front of your face and tell you to tell the operator instead. Also suggest they should learn from Japanese trains which are far superior, fast, efficient, clean and friendlier; they even have an all-female train which I suggest adding to Bart’s trains. How can they control the crazy people and SF Bart be the train where crazy people reside daily? Bart is a terrible service which riders are forced to take with no other option if we don’t have a car.
JWM says
You are not safe on BART. Note the rise in muggings on the trains and platforms. BART’s response is that their cops can’t be everywhere at once. BART cops are useless. You are on your own conduct yourself accordingly.
Sarah Smythe says
I get upset every time I return to the downtown Berkeley station. The selfish zombies waiting to get on the train won’t let people off even when there are elderly people with canes. How can these people be so stupid and rude?!
OaklandMofo says
Oh, I know what you mean. When I rode BART daily I would always have to fight boarding traffic just to get off the train.
And if I was standing aside letting people exit the train, people in line behind me would cut in front anyway.
Bart Ryder says
TELL YOUR BART BOARD MEMBER TO FIRE THE CEO. SHE HASN’T DONE ANYTHING TO FIX PROBLEMS AND DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE. SHE IS TERRIBLE. FIRE HER NOW.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
Let me say this. This is not my experience of BART, by a long shot. I am an 11 year old who regularly commutes on BART from Castro Valley to Powell for school, and has done this recreationally with my father many times before too, and this is not my experience. I have had a mostly positive experience with BART. Never been robbed, never pickpocketed, didn’t find it particularly disgusting, (Powell is the worst) Also, if you are judging BART by just the Oakland stations, you are quite limited in saying that, look at the PB/Richmond/DP stations, and say that again. I love BART. I can certainly see why you would dislike it. I suppose we shall agree to disagree.
OaklandMofo says
It is so disgusting. Oakland and SF, the most used stations.
And no, it is a pretty small chance that one individual would be a victim of a crime but the crime is there and can’t be denied.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
Sure, I can see that, I just feel as though you are overblowing the issue. Also, sure, the Oakland/SF stations are disgusting, but the DP line stations, PBP line stations, and the Peninsula Stations are actually quite clean. So, you are a bit limited in only using the Oakland stations
OaklandMofo says
Well, the majority of the riders use these stations. And pay for it.
It’s gross.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
Not necessarily. I mean, there is a large amount of people that don’t also. The disgusting stations are Oakland/San Leandro/Fremont/North SF Stations. However, PBP, DP, Peninsula and Richmond stations are quite clean compared to the former ones. So, no, the majority of riders exit on them, but don’t board on them. Also, BART is actually much cleaner than, say, the New York subway, 483 CFUs per square inch on pole surfaces, that’s barely worse than your computer keyboard. Of course, BART is much worse than the Boston T, but it could be a lot worse.
Eugene Debs says
I’ve rode BART for several decades. More than half a dozen stations are sewers—far worse than anything in NY. All the cars smell bad all the time. I see many crimes occur every day. I see dangerous, frightening crimes once a week. Security has essentially been “faking it” for years.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
Also, BART is upgrading their infrastructure and implementing new trains. They are getting better, quieter, more high tech and are keeping up better with the times. BART is improving.
OaklandMofo says
The few new trains– far too late– is not enough. It is just to help on and off boarding by adding another door so there is not as big of a backup through the Transbay Tube during commute hours.
How do you know they are quieter? Where is the specs on decibel levels for the new trains?
And what else are they upgrading? They may add a new line and station, but that only puts more strain, nothing more.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
They are enough. I do not know the exact decimal count, however I have seen them in person, and I can confirm they are quiet. Also, you are leaving out the greater amount of standing room. How is that not enough? I am loving BART, and this would be an amazing addition to the transit system. I don’t understand what more you could ask for. “More Strain”? Ok, I do agree, but we will have 775 train cars, not 600 to police the system. Plus, I take it that you don’t disagree with my germ comment, right?
Larry Davis says
Yes, the 11 year old mind at work. BART is Great!! Idiot.
Auderus says
The issue is not if it happens to you or not, the issue is if it happens to anyone. The problem, in general, is that people feel if they are getting their needs met that is all that matters. BART can and should do better, it has not gotten better over time, it has gotten worse and that is the real problem. BART was once the pride of the Bay Area, how sad………..
Dwayne Dixon says
It is the communist-leftist Democrats of the Bay Area’s fault. They file lawsuits to keep housing projects from ever housing so limited housing means high housing costs – supply and demand. It is exactly like labor, high supply of lowly skilled labor means their wages won’t go up, but California needs slaves to service the rich so keep the lowly skilled and uneducated coming.
The weather was no longer so great that I wanted to continue living there so here I am on the East Coast where the ocean water is warm and the beaches fantastic.
The nanny state ran me out, but the leftist love laws that limit their freedom. Freedom is on the outside of California just over the border.
Those migrants working in the 100 degree hot summer picking crops are same as blacks picking cotton more than a century ago. They work without any rights so farm owners, the rich slave owners basically, don’t have to concern themselves with worker safety or even minimum wage since those slaves can’t report their horrible work conditions to anyone for fear they’ll be black listed among all of the slave owners in all of California.
California the land of serfdom where the peasants slave for the techies and those lucky enough to have a union job.
Lu Lu says
This thread is like therapy. BART is traumatizing. I feel very unsafe on BART, still pissed that those security cameras were FAKE! WTF! Sent my poor little mom off on BART one time and she got robbed. Oh hell no! I know robberies happen all over the world, but this was just the icing on the cake.
As a cyclist, my commute is hell. I have to wait until rush hour is over, which thankfully my job understands. On days I have to be in early however, I need to BART then Lyft to work which is starting to add up $$. BART is already expensive as it is. I used to take the bus but then I got mugged by at the bus stop. UGH. I am sick of this crime ridden expensive shit.
NYC subway as old as it is, is superior to BART and cheaper, more convenient. They even have wifi now…. (which I’m not sure is great, but at least they are trying!)
Fuck even the Paris Metro which started operating in the 1900’s works better than BART.
I understand transit gets crowded during rush hours, I’ve dealt with packed trains in London, Tokyo, Seoul and yes NYC and Paris. However the difference with BART for whatever reason is that people in SF do not seem to understand crowded train courtesy. Let passengers off the train BEFORE you try to get in. If you are in front of the door and the train is crowded, please step out and let people out instead of blocking the exit.
And what is up with fare evaders going through emergency door IN FRONT of BART agent and them doing nothing?
Anyhow I am so glad this thread exists.
John Kay says
I read about these 100k salary janitors. But have only seen 2 working in last 2 years and they sure haven’t cleaned up the vomit in the stairs at Millbrae station that has been there for a month- it looks like 20 people puked. Come on BART it’s foul, fix it.
BF says
I’d really love someone to sound the alarm on BART’s noise levels. Earlier this week, I downloaded a decibel reader app on my phone to see how loud my commute was. The average db recorded on my ride from the Embarcadero to Orinda stations was 92db. The max was 100.7db.
Hearing loss begins at 80 db!
Here’s an article on how decibels over 80 cause permanent damage: http://dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/
OaklandMofo says
I for sure have hearing loss and am only 38 years old.
I blame riding BART to SF every day for a part of it.
It literally hurt my ears being in the Transbay Tube.
If there is ever a class action lawsuit, I want in.
BF says
Here’s what I just posed on my Facebook account of my experience after 1 week as a new Bart rider:
OMG. Why does BART suck so much?! I’ve never seen such a dysfunctional transportation system in all my life. Started a new job in the city and have spent the last two weeks trying, unsuccessfully, to get to work. If I’m victorious, and can figure it out, the reward is me paying ultra-premium fares to stand in someone’s armpit for an hour each way, clutching my purse, or (if I’m lucky) sit in urine and fecal coliform, all the while losing my hearing because their 1980’s equipment squeals at deafening noise levels.
But wait, I can’t even figure out how to pay for my damn parking spot at the BART parking lot. After reading their website for a week, I still haven’t figured out how to create a seamless experience that allows me to pay for parking and my ticket. They expect riders to remember their parking spot #, repeating it over and over in theirs heads while they walk the quarter mile to the station and then go to a separate kiosk to pay for parking? Umm, ok. Thankfully, the website is very clear in saying that one of the ways to pay for parking is by buying a blue paper Bart ticket, the same one you buy for the train fare. Great, so I buy a blue paper ticket at the kiosk, having no clue how much to load onto it to ensure round trips to my destination and parking. Don’t want to do that math, so I load a flat $20 on there. I enter the fare gates with my new blue ticket and then go to another kiosk to pay for parking. I insert the blue ticket that I just loaded a bunch of $$ onto. Denied. I have to pay $3 CASH?! Awesome, because I have exactly $2 in my wallet. I look around for the attendant, but she’s not in her booth. I guess I’m not paying for parking today and can look forward to a big, fat ticket upon my return.
After reading the website for a week, I see that I can buy a Clipper card that will solve all my problems and increase efficiency if I hook it up to my bank account. Sweet. But first I need to set up a Bart account? Ok, username and password set up. Now, off to create a Clipper account with another username and password. OK, done. But if I want it today, I have to run down to the Walgreen’s to buy the Clipper card itself? Ok, done. Then, I need to register it online and pre-load it with funds. Ok. But it will take 10 days for funds to appear, so if I want to ride Bart anytime today, I need to load the card at a Bart kiosk. OK, done. Time to go home, so I whip out the Clipper card. Denied. “See attendant”. Need to find a BART employee, who’s missing from his kiosk, even though he’s being paid a higher salary than I’m currently collecting with a Master’s degree. I miss my train to track him down to magically activate my new card. I can finally board a train that is 1/6 of my daily commute journey.
But wait, I still haven’t figure out how to pay for parking without needing $3 in cash every day. The Bart website says that I can create a third account with something called EZ Rider, and hook it up to my Clipper card. I will need to pre-load funds on both Clipper and EZ Rider, but at least I can use the same card for parking and my train ride. Ok, great. Signed up. What? I need to wait for my parking hangtag to come snail mail before I can activate anything?
I’ve now been trapped 5 times inside the Bart corral, without the ability to exit. I’ve been denied entrance into the Bart corral for lack of sufficient funds. Somehow, I overpaid for parking twice on my first day, while also skipping out on today’s parking payment for lack of $3 in cash. I’ve boarded the wrong train for lack of any directional signs on the platform. And, I’ve needed to speak to 5 attendants, 3 of whom weren’t in their booths. I have a blue paper ticket with $16.75 on it that can’t be used to pay for parking, and I have $160 loaded on a Clipper card that also can’t be used to pay for parking yet.
And this is just to dial in 1/3 of my new commute. My commute starts with driving 20 minutes to the Bart station, where the parking lot will be full by 7:15am. I then board a Bart train that I have no hope of getting a seat on, unless I can position myself to stalk someone that looks like they might exit soon. No dice. Need to stand for an hour. I then arrive in SF, but I work clear on the other side of the city, so must wait for a shuttle – that I need another card for. Standing room only on that bus, and I’m pretty sure it has no shocks, so it’s like standing on one of those fat shaker machines while clutching my purse, clutching my lunch bag and trying not to slam coffee into my face as I desperately try to take a sip.
Elon Musk had better get on my damn jetpack.
OaklandMofo says
Ohhhh the pain. Thanks for sharing your story here.
I was lucky enough to walk or bus to BART in the morning but it seems like driving and parking there is a huge nightmare.
BF says
Thank you for letting us vent here! :-)
John Kay says
I know right? I cannot tell you how many times this site has given me the chance to vent- BART should pay him for helping to relieve stress caused by their substandard operations.
Patty R says
My friend, you need something stronger to ride this disgusting system than a coffee. Where shall I begin? Overpriced, filthy and mis-managed first come to mind. We are being held hostage by this dysfunctional system because driving (although hygienic and private) can become quite costly. May I suggest casual car pooling? Station agents….hahahah! If you find one, good luck! Now, let’s talk about crime. Recent gang-related muggings and crime have prompted BART to announce warnings about using cell phones while riding the trains. Yeah, that should help. Just like announcing that seats near the train doors are for seniors, disabled and pregnant women. Good luck with that too. I wish you all the best.
John Kay says
The best time you can have with parking is when you get to add the experience of explaining to the professional in the kiosk why you are having issues with parking. It happens every day many times but they always act like it is a new situation.
The next best part is if the only open turnstyle is not really working and you get to explain to the kiosk person who acts like that has never happened before and clearly it is my fault while 4 dudes avoid paying, as you argue over $4.50 on a clipped card with $100 on it.
HennaStem says
I needed to come here to vent about the BART. I have lived in London, NYC, and visited Paris Tokyo etc…
THIS IS BY FAR THE WORSE TRANSIT!!!
People tell me India transit can be pretty bad…
But I’m pretty sure it’s less expensive by comparison.
THE BART IS A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
John R says
I was a BART rider for 20 years and then I stopped. I drive to work and LOVE IT. Bart is not only way too expensive, it is downright unhygienic and disgusting. The homeless people are a big nuisance. Why can’t the station agents stop the homeless from entering? The trains are way too overcrowded and there are no seats till the last stop. 50 years ago when Bart first started, they ran trains every 15 mins and even now have the same schedule. Crazy. It is highly mismanaged. Did you see the janitor make close to $300k per year including over time. Who is watching? And the escalators are perennially broken.
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
How can you love driving to work in the Bay Area? While BART has its challenges, it is much faster than driving. (Assuming you go into the city, and not into Oakland) The TBB and driving both take hours to get into the city, and are way more unpredictable than BART. Of course, if you work in Berkeley, or Oakland, I understand. I disagree. But I understand.
Scott D says
This is the “progressive” vision for the Bay Area. A homeless person on every BART train and a tent on every street corner! Seriously, though, BART Police need to do their jobs–just keep forcing the homeless to move along and eventually they won’t want the hassle and will leave BART for good.
Dee says
Thank you all. I agree. There is nothing nice about the rolling sewer called BART. They need to wipe the slate clean and start over.
John woodside says
So today I see five 20 something’s walk through side gate while I pay.
I am now sitting down but I am about to throw up because of the homeless guy passed out who has not taken a bath in months.
I have been to war and have smelled the result of violence and bodies left in 130 degree heat and this is as bad. My eyes are watering so bad as urine, feces and unwashed body washes over me.
Whoever runs BART should be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t, which makes it worse.
Lauri says
I have been sick for the last 5 months from riding BART. I only got better when I started driving to work. So disappointed that I have to drive now.
Done says
Thanks for posting! I too have had it up to here with Bart. Along with the shitty rider experience. I was wondering what was up with all the bike thefts even with station agents around. I just figured they were low paid and just didn’t give a shit. But they get paid how much?!
What exactly do they do? I’m sure it’s not an easy job (but what job is easy?) but I’m generally curious what this high salary is for. Don’t give me that sf is expensive to live in bullshit.
Mary says
You forgot to mention that BART can’t run in the rain. Ever notice that when it rains BART basically stops? Also if you work a graveyard shift and need to park your car in a lot, you are out of luck because you can’t leave your car overnight in a station. NYC, Boston’s T, Chicago, and even L.A.’s subways are WAY better than BART. It is so horrid that BART is not 24 hours and can strike. No other subway can do this.
Craig says
I find it unbelievable that Bart performance is so bad in the rain. These are TRAINS, good god! But this might be yet another convenient excuse that management peddles to excuse much deeper systemic problems. I want to love BART and it seems it COULD BE a wonderful transit system, but, boy, is it failing big time! For the last 3 weeks it has been late nearly every day, one excuse after another. What is this constant nonsense about medical emergencies?? Is this the only transit system in the world that has medical emergencies??? Disappointing, terribly disappointingly. Ultimately it is the Board of Directors for BART that has failed us miserably; it is their duty to deliver us a reasonable system and they have NOT! So you tell us it takes a long time to replace cars? Why wasn’t this process started at least 6 years ago? You’re going to tell me there aren’t companies out there who would love to have a contract to build new modern trains and deliver them in less than a year? Come on, folks, don’t patronize us with your excuses.
Craig
John K says
So with no warning they add a random 24th street stop to replace a Millbrae BART? Wtf BART, not all of us ride enough to know that you randomly switch schedules.
I hate your trashy system and constant excuses.
Blueze says
To be honest, the people running or planning BART are idiots. Why is LA subway so cheap and way better? As far as I see, those planning BART routes, schedule, and others lack of vision and intelligence. They should be fired. A better subway system means better commuting experience, which could alleviate free-way burden and eventually keep and attract more people into Bay Area. It would eventually boost the economy, and then it would be tax for the public transportation. As for the BART budget, it’s just stupid to mainly rely on commuters. There are so many ways of raising funds. Tax from government, Advertisements income in the BART stations, and so on so on. It’s not the equipment or funding, it’s always the people, the lack of management, and the lack of visionary.
El says
I am grateful to see that so many people feel as I do. Bart is foul. And far too expensive to be so foul. But I still use that shit. So…..
Dae says
I don’t even care about all the other problems. Can we just have the damn AC working so I don’t have to be drenched in sweat every single day? Feels like a train to hell.
Anonymous says
Yep it is gross to ride in a hot train. I called customer service with the number of the car I was in.
John Kay says
Can someone PLEASE explain to me how this system works. Once a month or so at Embarcadero there will be-3-4 10 cars trains in a row to Daly city- mostly empty. The Millbrae train will get bumped so it is 10 minutes late. It will for some reason be a 5 car train that is jam packed. Who is the idiot doing the math for BART? Keep the damn thing on time, keep the schedule in order, and please look at a map and realize that Millbrae is the farthest station so have more space not less you morons.
Jack says
What could BART do if hundreds or better yet thousands of riders refused to pay. They don’t have enough cops
to write tickets. I used to get annoyed when I saw fare Evaders but now I understand.
I’m close to my limit. Time to fight back
Mary says
I see fare evaders on a regular basis at the 12th street and downtown SF stations. They do it right in front of the operators who don’t even blink an eye. But these same operators will have a cardiac arrest if someone should use the outdoor to trains elevator incorrectly while trying to pay their fare. By the way, who was the BART genius who thought putting elevators outside the paying gates was such a brilliant idea? Why not just put a sign saying “Don’t have to pay” on the elevators.
Susan Williams says
I would like to know how the Public can go on a Two-week Bart Strike. I would love for Bart to know what it feels like to loose some more money, and the public support. Can anyone help with this.
This real….
Lonsdaleite Mapping says
Too many people commute on BART. It would be impossible, cause huge traffic problems, and there are no other real alternatives to BART for most people.
OaklandMofo says
But they still manage to strike.
Last time they did this, I just took the week off work.
No way am I going to add 4 or 5 hours to my daily commute because of BART and if my employer in SF wants to fire me over that, I will get unemployment.
However, they did not fire me, they accepted that I was too wise and worthy of such an extended commute due to strike.
Martin Smith says
Train from Somalia must be better than this.
400,000 passengers and nothing works?
How is it that the metro systems in Tokyo, Mexico City, Moscow, and other cities that transport millions of people each day have far superior systems?
Javier says
I do the commute the other way around. Daly City to Embarcadero.
The homeless problem is really bad on our side because they get on the train and they literally just sleep there. I call the Morning Commute train coming from Milbrae the “homeless train” because there is a sleeping bum in EVERY car. I am not kidding. Sometimes 3 in one taking two seat and stinking the place up. Sometimes they camp that space with the 2 pairs of seats facing each other. Oh, and did I mention they STINK. Couple this with delays and you are stuck with them for hours.
I agree with several of the other points. We have some Operator comments, but I love how they show little highlights and not what they do on an everyday, and god forbid they say how much they get paid. It’s basically a step up from a store retail job: deal with the occasional piss off customer , punch some buttons in a computer, and kick the Bum out. Get paid $75k!
The only reason commuters are pissed is because of the system. Happy customers have little to complain. We’d be more than happy to see everyone get paid fairly if it wasn’t because it hurts us, the riders, and we see no change. So you haven’t seen a raise in 3 years, gee, it sure sucks how you can’t hit the 80-85k mark! Here let me pay that off my damn pocket.
John Kay says
Yep I ride the same we had a dirtbag passed out crapped his pants a few weeks ago. Then he gets off on embarcadero and skips the fare- I work 14 hour days I pay my way but am sick of the excuses.
The reason BART sucks is they mismanage the funds, they waste the revenue that comes in. I can guarantee their books are a nightmare and if this state wasnt about these politicians taking care of each other we’d all be better off- now BART wants more money, wants to charge paying customers more for taking up space while ignoring the bums.
I try to help by not driving in to the city.
But no more going to use my commuter benefits to drive in a park. Hell with BART.
Catherine says
I’m a tourist and was going to take BART today, until I saw how CRAZY expensive it was. I ended up taking a Lyft, which was only slightly more expensive for a quiet, private car with a pleasant driver. The MUNI bus system was really easy and convenient, so I was really stunned to see how crazy BART was!
Seantherider says
Since I last posted, BART has begun charging for parking-way to encourage people to not use their cars guys! Someone at BART had the brilliant idea to alternate trains during rush hour on the Pittsburg line with every other train being a Pleasant Hill. The result is that the Pittsburg trains are standing room only from SF to Pittsburg. BRILLIANT! The other option is to take a Pleasant Hill train, still standing mind you, get off at Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill and wait for another 10-15 minutes for a Pittsburg train. Oh and fares will be going up soon in order to, you know, keep that great service going! So if I take the train, it will take me longer and cost more than if I had driven to work. Brilliant BART! Just Brilliant!
patty says
I agree. They are gosh-darned GENIUSES! The parking rates have already gone up and are outrageous in some cities. Say, aren’t we due for a strike soon?
Tasha says
Agreed I just experienced the joys of their train shuffling on one of the most busiest commutes. It’s laughable and I just don’t know any other alternatives. It puts me in a bad mood daily! Going and coming from work!
Seantherider says
I had the displeasure of riding in one of BART’s new “Test” cars. These are the ones where one side of the car has a line of single seats instead of the usual double seats. Another brilliant idea BART! Make even more people stand up for their entire overpriced ride. They did offer a website to fill out a review form for the test cars which I did. I’m sure the public comments on their site are for PR purposes only because THEY ARE BART, THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PASSENGERS! JUST $
patty says
I am a senior and can barely find a seat as it is. What happens when the new cars are in use? And where will the homeless sleep?!
Anonymous says
Yep Patty. People have no manners and ignore the signs about the senior seats! Stay safe!
Super Saiyan God Blue says
Everything you wrote here is 100% accurate
Alan says
As an out-of-towner that was rode BART last month, I agree that it’s noisy and expensive. I could swear it was $34 for me to go from OAK Coliseum to SFO-Embarcadero-SFO. I assume better rates can be had for longer term passes. Also, I had to go outside the turnstiles to add value to my ticket. The ticket machines seemed outdated for a tech area. That being said, I was glad it was there for me to use. The alternatives would have been a lot more $$$.
Piddypatt says
I completely agree with your comments. I pay a whopping $250+ each month for this monstrosity! The trains are always disgusting and overcrowded and the rules are never enforced. When the trains are delayed for ANY reason, I still have to pay full fare. And when there is a strike (OFTEN), some folks are forced to stay at home with NO pay. I agree that it is (for me, most times) a better option than driving. BART, how about ENFORCING your “rules”: No eating, smoking or loud music on the trains, including smoking weed and crack? How about booting out those using BART as a motel? What about those that hog the priority seats while those who need them stand? BART, you suck!!! I am looking for work elsewhere so that I no longer depend on your broken system.
Susan says
Yes I honestly agree with you!
OaklandMofo says
I’m not even kidding when I say a huge part of me quitting my job was because I had to ride BART from Oakland to Frisco and back every day.
It’s what made me go on a rampage and write this article.
Karen says
I am a visitor to the area and thought the public transport system would be state of the art in East Bay and SF. The first time on the BART, I walked on to see a dingy interior and old gross upholstered seats. And expensive. Why not one fare for the whole system? The AC Transit as well. Could not believe there is no transfer system – had to pay a second fare when taking a connecting bus. And there is little benefit in having a Clipper card beyond convenience!
I lived in Toronto which has an excellent and integrated clean affordable transit system – one fee to ride the whole subway system, free transfer to and between buses and streetcars, significant discount for buying a monthly pass and free transfers to commuter trains going out to other cities. Parking is free at those further stations to encourage taking the trains.
BART and AC – you cater to people in one of the premier cities in the world! What’s up?
Someone says
I’ve been to Toronto a few times and you are light years ahead as far as public transportation goes.
Dane says
Yeah and not to mention, if your fare is short if you have to have cash only to add to your ticket in order to leave. And not only that, the Bart operators are extremely sassy about it, as if that’s the most normal thing in the world. I just straight up walk out now. If you’re not going to take the time to update your 40+ year old add-fare machines to accept cards (because who carries cash all the time anymore?), then forget it.
Anonymous says
Yep it is crap! I lived in NY and it cannot compare!
Sara G says
I agree with every single on of your points. There are a bunch of SHXX heads who take BART but most people (Monday – Friday) are boring commuters like me. The one thing about BART I love is that I get to read for an hour and a half each work day. The cost of said reading, however, is getting out of control.
Oh and $70,000 a year with out even having completed General Education at DVC? Pretty disgusting, if you ask me.
pascal says
Overall BART does an okay job.
I just wish they had some bullet trains, or made the trains faster. Currently, I have to spend 46 min on the train! from Dublin to Montgomery and so do most other people. It’s a really popular ride from Dublin to Montgomery – more than enough to warrant a bullet train.
Also, the noise really should be reduced. It’s so loud I can’t hear my music at all. And I think my hearing is in danger.
Barbara says
I have been a BART train operator for almost twenty years! Automatic is not the only way these trains run! Manual mode is used quite often! I speak very clearly, but nowadays many patrons are absorbed with their smart phones and don’t pay attention to anything! Push buttons is all I do?…not at all! I have been assaulted, put out fires, handled many emergencies, stopped possible derailments from occurring, interacted with people you don’t want to look at, and had the disgruntled public blame me for everything wrong in their life! I make the same amount of money I made three years ago, because BART management takes my “extra” money to cover health and my pension now! I don’t work overtime! So to all you complainers, try to look at the true picture before you speak! The smiling Board of Directors should be who you contact first!
Bill Vanek says
You have an easy job. Quit your complaining. BART employees are some of the most apathetic people on the planet. Lazy station agents let people climb over the gates and ride for free all the time. Trains at the Fremont station are late to leave almost daily.
Nick says
I work for BART and regularly have my pants off while on the job. I like to expose myself to women.
Dane says
No duh we’re on our phones or doing something distracting. Do you want us to sit silently on the odd chance we hear your voice at maximum volume over a screechy static microphone? Get real. This is part of the problem. BART is not about you, it’s a PUBLIC SERVICE, and one of the most embarrassing transportation systems ever. Go take a look at the London Underground, or even the NY Subway if you want to see how a real public transit system is supposed to work.
John Kay says
First of all, an anonymous employee replying to a thread like this is not very professional. If this were a real company or service, employees would know better but this is BART, home of the 10% good employees, 5% exceptional, and 85% have no idea why speaking out as an employee is one indicator of many that you guys are clueless.
Kerrymo says
My oh my, the unmitigated nerve of your employer that you actually have to pay for your health insurance and contribute to your own retirement? My “extra” money has been doing that since I began working.
I stopped taking BART. It is filthy, unreliable and the employees are beyond surly. The vast majority of the patrons on the system are just trying to get to work. I work with the public and some of them can be beyond challenging but I am not allowed to be rude and dismissive. A few times I have had to ask a station agent a question, after I finally got their attention (they were quite obviously aware but feigned being totally unaware of my presence) I received a complicated and annoyed response. I finally just asked another commuter and my question was answered.
Harold says
I’m pretty sure the lady who passed out and fell into the track way last week appreciates the overpaid Train Operator who was paying attention and managed to stop the “automated” train from ending her life.
I’m also pretty sure that the kid, who was shot outside of Hayward BART, appreciated that overpaid Station Agent (who just sits in the booth) when he put himself in harm’s way to save that kid’s life.
I’m also pretty sure the lady who lost her kid on the train, courtesy of some of the most insensitive people of all time as they rushed the train and wouldn’t let her off, trapping her kid on board while the train doors closed, appreciated the station agent that was in the booth doing nothing, just so happened to get the train operator to stop so we can get the kid to his mom.
Sean Rider says
Funny, that I didn’t hear anything about any of these incidents. No newspaper articles, nothing on Bartable that Bart itself puts out. Knowing Bart, if, even by accident their employees did something, they’d advertise the hell out of it, just to get some good publicity. You got any citation for these? Newspaper articles, links something? anything?
Even so, lot of that comes under the category of “doing the job they are paid to do.” Most of what I see, they do a pretty crappy job.
BART Commuter says
The base pay is not whats listed they like to include benefits etc in the pay grade. The people that make 75 plus a year are working tons of overtime. This overtime is happening because they don’t hire enough people. If the Train Operators and Station agents didn’t work the Overtime then their would be more delays and problems.
As far as the nasty trains and homeless. We live in the Liberal Bay Area. BART has tried for years to get rid of them. The problem is many of the areas BART runs have protections for the homeless. All they need to get on the train is 1.85 ticket. There’s nothing that any BART employee can do.
As far as the broken train cars, nasty stations etc. This is something that you can only blame on the Board of directors. They take these budgets and spend them on things like the little tram to the Oakland airport. It worked fine the way it was. Do you know how many new trains and cleaning employees they could of hired with half a billion bucks they spent on it. The board cut the cleaning staff almost in half from what it used to be. Now they have one person cleaning 3-4 stations. They used to have 1 or 2. There’s no way you can keep those huge stations clean with one person doing that many.
The employee pay does not change whats spent on new cars or maintenance. That’s a totally different budget and can’t be used or interchanged. Since funding come from so many places the funding is for specific things. The BART board would love to have you believe that it’s the employees making things bad. Actually it’s the huge contracts to build trams to the airport and new stations that they give to friends and relatives. Heard of kick backs? but people just keep electing the same people.
I ride BART everyday and actually go to the BART board meetings as I wish more people did. I do not work for BART. The more I see how this board runs things the more I get involved. I know there’s some Bad BART employees out there but there’s also some great ones. I for one wouldn’t want a train of 800 people coming screaming at me when a train goes out of service for more maintenance neglected and there’s nothing they can do.
Try to be put the blame where its deserved at the Board of Directors. Even though the media makes it like the greedy BART employees are doing it all. come to a Board meeting and see whats really going on.
Robert says
I ride fart I mean BART everyday. I contend with the overcrowding of the trains, the piss and poop on the seats… the damn homeless begging for $$$ all the time ….. It’s what we have unfortunately but maybe people above should be listened to. Get all the damn homeless out of the stations, open up these closed and abandoned warehouses so they can go to. Clean up the damn trains and re open the bathrooms. Also, the Powell street escalator on the south east side of market and 4th, was open for 2 hours Monday then closed because of poop again. Get rid of the homeless out of there. Seriously, if at least that happens BART could be better. Also, putting on 8 trains to go from Powell and Montgomery to San Bruno??? Bart, get 10 cars per train through the commute and get over yourselves.
Ricky says
I concur with all the points made here (with the possible exception of the tax break which I know nothing about). My additional pet peeve: Why on earth does Bart insist on using an 8-car train out of San Francisco to the East Bay during the evening commute when there are clearly more passengers than can be handled … I sometimes have to “go upstream” to an earlier station just so I can get on board a Dublin train at 6:00 p.m., and forget about actually finding a place to sit. Throw on a few extra cars for Pete’s sake!
Djddl says
This morning Bart is handing out surveys on the train about feedback. This is likely a union ploy to extract more money for overpaid employees.
This happens to be one of the emptier trains early in the morning during spring break.
Instead of handing out surveys on Bart, they should be cleaning up the urine all over the West Oakland station.
Delays and broken escalators! Welcome to Bart.
RunKimJong says
It seems that everything has gone downhill after the last strike.
I don’t know who makes the decisions on holding up trains for medical emergencies daily or the police activity every other day, but if I had a medical emergency during rush hour, I would want you to take me off of the train at the next stop and keep it moving.
And the whole trying to be ‘civil’ and waiting in line to get on the train it’s stupid, since 1) as you mentioned people in front of you get in your way 2) the lines are so long during rush hour that it extends to the opposite platform and the idiots waiting in line don’t clear way for you to get past, meaning you have to walk on the yellow platforms to get by anyone.
I would add the VIPs of BART, the ones who clog up the doorways and block the entrances/exits as if nobody else needs to get by, I’m sorry if I elbowed you in your face, you shouldn’t be blocking people.
dfresh says
Right on for the most part… Totally agree that we need be like New York City subway, not Washington DC metro, 2 bucks a ride from one end to the other, all seats hard and sideways & clean with room for performers… Definitely need a bike car, all seats ripped out. Performer car too also with few seats & performers can come & play?? Love the silent disco thing, but out loud would even be nicer, I think… Thanks for putting the word out…
sam says
You left out number 11 which is about number 2 on my list. Why do these cars make so much noise?! Going under the tube, I have to hold my ears. The screeching is deafening. NYC subway is what maybe 70 years older, and they got it right. Fast, cheap, express trains, 24 hours, etc.
Kristine says
You’re right about almost everything in this piece. And I have the exact same thoughts when I’m stuck in the tunnel (during about half of my trips into the city). Only thing you should check your facts on is salary. Your figure likely represents total compensation including benefits – not annual salary or take home salary. So workers are not exactly rolling in dough. Plus, the cost of living here in the bay is so high that even $50K is sad for a longtime worker. As for hiring teens to drive trains, that’s not who I’d like in charge of things got real in the TransBay Tunnel.
Todd Smith says
Oakland Mofo – you nailed it – every point regarding the crappy service of BART was spot on. The heater cranked is what really throws me over the edge – trapped on a car because of a medical emergency for a half hour on a crowded SARS car in a 200 degree skank mobile. BART upper management all needs to be fired or forced to cook in a hot car for month!
Robert Burke says
My apologies to all genuine and striving artists, victims of your screed, who are actually not a blight in the BART corridors. By the way, the cowboy you disdain is Eric and he has a great voice; and Robert is the accordionist and his dog is Ginger. Your atta boy couched in the whole negative piece about artists is regrettable and unfair.
My apologies to all artist in the tubes for this unfair diatribe against them:
Hi Robert and Jonah:
The inclusion of artists as a blight in the BART environment, has a subtle impact on projecting an undeserved public screed and diatribe regarding one of the things in the BART environment that actually enlivens and brightens the actual ‘blight’ of everything else that is wrong about BART. Too bad the author’s narrow mindedness and negativity included artists in general in such a disparaging way!
Saw a brief mention of you Robert, and Ginger in this BART rant blog. The mention was couched in a negative rant about all things wrong about BART, however the mention about you was positive, but clouded by everything wrong with BART. I think the cowboy the author mentions is Eric, don’t know of any other cowboys down there.
This piece needs to be countered with all good things about the positive vibe echoing through the tunnel ways.
There is a lack of sense of prioritizing the problems or of proffering solutions, so this screed is pretty much a venting. The long musically boring video about BART in the Blog is pretty much a anglicized depiction of a pristine underground system, though the ‘sandhogs’ depict the grimy underground reality.
Still, it would be nice to at least, clean up the piss and poo, if for nothing else, to provide healthy environment for the musicians who sometimes have to put up with all kinds of crap down there.
Please pass on to Sammy the Slam, if possible!
Your friend in the corridors,
Robert
Jimmy says
I HATE BART TOO!! WHY?
1) It’s a system that was supposed to get people out of their cars and yet, they charge for parking.
2) It’s the most expensive subway on Earth.
3) The trains are decades old and money that should have been spent on maintenance was give to the employees for their raises.
4) If BART employees were paid half of what they’re getting now, they’d still be overpaid.
5) The best day on BART for me will be the last day I have to ride on it.
To the BART Directors and employees – you suck!
Gross Guy says
Gross guy at 24th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0VhXwIw1EI&feature=youtu.be
OaklandMofo says
Maybe, just maybe if BART provided bathroom people wouldn’t be doing this.
It happens all of the time because they think they are saving us from terrorist by closing the bathrooms.
But we really know it’s just a way of for them to have one less job to do, cleaning bathrooms.
DC says
Here’s an idea – buy a damn car.
Oakland Mofo says
Could you imagine if the hundreds of thousands of BART riders that are smart enough to utilize our terrible public transportation system tried to drive a car across the Bay Bridge and park in downtown San Francisco every day? Idiot, go home.
Amy Monster says
Got one. But in this area, a commute using your car could be up to 3+ hours ONE WAY because the bridges don’t have enough lanes and no one can drive out here.
Sarah says
Totally agree.. I can put up with the agents, their salary, but for pity sake, BART, figure out how to get rid of the thugs, put on enough trains for us that are not seniors, but not spring chickens either and NEED a seat! Instead of BART Police shooting people, why don’t you write fines for people that eat on the train, take bikes up escalators and deal with the thugs and the homeless.
ok, sorry, but yes, BART drives me not only to work, but nuts!
Jason Moricca says
So how can the New York subway system afford to charge $25 a week for an unlimited ride card??
Lori Ann says
I would take BART from Livermore/Dublin to Civic Center and then jump on Muni's N and then get dropped off at UCSF Medical center. You have now made sure that I never step foot outside of Civic Center!
Deejay Audio-One says
Julian Ahmed: There been a lot of "medical emergencies" and "Due to police activity" lately on the BART system. Just last week, Everyone on the train I was on were asked to get off the train "due to police activity". WTF?!
Deejay Audio-One says
Right on the nail. I bring newspapers on trains so I can have a layer between me and said soiled seats.
OaklandMofo says
I think my next article will be about AC Transit, including the night owl.
510CaliRican says
I’m a bus operator for AC and would like feedback. Let’s face it, when your dealing with public transit anywhere in this country yet world your never going to satisfy everyone. Tons of reasons why public transit can be late, traffic if it’s bus lines, the more people you pick up the more time goes by, especially picking up seniors, wheelchairs, that takes time to make sure everyone is boarded safe, sometimes buses brake down, or someone on our bus has caused a problem. Two months ago two guys had guns on my bus and had to call that in, not only did that make me late, everyone had to get off my bus and wait for another while police investigated the situation. A lot of factors can make us late, especially on my 1 & 1R lines, they are the busiest.
Totally says
Cleanliness . . . Pretty sure that would help a lot. Vending Machines, something to do while waiting, and extra revenue! Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, London; and many more, all have amazing public train systems! You can’t please everybody, can you please anybody?
Tala says
Damn you had me rolling. Nice article. I, too, hate BART. I am also grateful for it because it keeps some congestion off the roads and allows people without a car to get to their jobs. That said, it could be greatly improved upon. Specifically, their weird ass rules about bikes, the filth (I once sat my purse down in a puddle of piss), the expense and the fact that it doesn't even run until the bars close. Don't even get me started about the night owl bus.