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
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.