I'm NOT at work right now, instead, I'm at home, waiting out a BART delay because I just couldn't stand there anymore without knowing when trains will start moving and when I might actually get to SF! I am tired of paying for taxi at the Civic Center station in order to get to my office in SOMA because BART has not gotten me to the station in time to catch my company shuttle. Who is going to pay me back for the taxi fare? BART? I don't think so.
Again, there were no signs outside the station telling us that there was a huge delay. I inserted my ticket to go up the platform and waited. The announcer blurted something completely inaudible...and apparently, he said that trains will start moving shortly but expect delays up to 20-30 minutes for Westbound passengers and 45 minutes for Eastbound. So, I left. Unfortunately, I didn't know that BART would take off $4.65 from my ticket???? Was that a mistake? I was too pissed to line up in front of the slow-acting agent to argue this amount. I figured I'll just not buy a latte today to make up for the difference!
It may not sound like a big deal for those of you who don't rely on BART to go to work, but whenever it is delayed, it is a huge inconvenience especially due to the fact that I have a connecting shuttle that doesn't come often enough. Literally, every minute counts for me because I have a very short window to catch the shuttle. And don't suggest that I should leave even earlier to anticipate delays....I already do, and I shouldn't have to inconvenience myself even more (think standing around the lovely Market/8th environment) just to allow BART room for delays.
Right now, if I were asked to rate BART's reliability, it would be 30%. I have had to spend $8 extra, at least 2 a week, on taxi fare to the office! I can't take it anymore....I already pay $8 to take BART to SF, I shouldn't have to pay another $8!
To read about the delay, see: *one correction though, ACTUAL delays westbound were definitely more than 15 minutes. BART under-estimates yet again.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/15013852.htm
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/11/MNGU8JT7PE3.DTL
3 comments:
I was headed into Civic Center from Berkeley that day too...10 min delay or so...
I've only been in the city a bit over a month and seems like a problem every week...
And the $4.65 is the "excursion" fare -- charged when entering and exiting the same station (meant for people to take a "tour" of the system)
Talk to an agent and explain. The agent will either give you a voucher for a free ride, or an envelope to mail in the ticket. This stuff happens all the time, and it's pretty routine. A few characters try to "scam" the system, and they are usually recognized. But an "unknown" is usually believable.
first, what is bart management's definition of "on-time" service? my recollection is that it used to be something absurd ... like a train was "on-time" if it reached its destination within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time. anyway, after 20 some years, bart management still seems to be clueless about keeping its customers adequately informed much less getting them to their destinations on time. after all of this time, bart really is not that much more reliable or user-friendly ... if they manage to run trains a minute closer together they undo that by running short 8- or 9-car trains during rush hours. thank you so much, bart.
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