Friday, November 16, 2007

Off for the holidays...can BART handle the crowds?

You won't be hearing any of my rants next week since I'll be out of the country starting Monday. We'll of course be taking BART to SFO, which brings up a topic I discussed briefly in a previous post.

Last holiday season, I started noticing that trains were crowded with passengers with multiple over-sized suitcases. Sure, a good sign for BART but not so great for passengers since more often than not suitcases are taking up seats or standing room, and these non-commuter BART riders don't quite know simple BART etiquette such as not blocking the left side of the escalators with their luggage, or just please have your ticket ready at the turnstile, and if you don't, please don't leave your suitcase in front of it, blocking everyone else, while you are off buying tickets at the ticket machine!!!

Well, the main point to bring up really is luggage space. What about some overhead racks or particular trains for airport-bound riders in future trains if they are pushing BART to SFO as hard as they are??? BART train seats, as they are right now, are not built to accommodate big carry-ons.

They may not care now but I know this will increasingly become a problem. It is already! I'll leave you with that thought.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!!!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You want overhead racks so that instead of just beaning you with their shopping bags and briefcases, they can attempt to kill you with a suitcase? Uh-uh.

bartmusings said...

whatever, thats not the point, some type of safe space for luggage keeping instead of just throwing them on the seats or laid flat out on the floor. transit in some european countries have overhead storage space and they seem to be able to handle it well. but of course, in our lawsuit-happy society, it will never work.

Anonymous said...

They are looking at removing a few of the seats from cars. Take a look if you see a "demonstration car" running in your train.

Anonymous said...

Hey, a baggage car! What a novel idea! :-)

As far as blocking the turnstiles goes, have you noticed the new "wide-load" turnstiles that are going in? No more hoisting my bike over my head as I go through the regular turnstiles! (I hate pushing it through the emergency gate, then going back to take care of my ticket.)

Anonymous said...

The new car I rode in a last week or so (I commented on it here), has extra space near the doors, as they removed the seats facing each other. Perhaps, this is their answer to the luggage space situation. I do agree with the 1st Anon and overhead storage. I know the frustration with over-sized luggage, but I don't think overhead compartments are the answer.

Anonymous said...

Bart Rage has some pictures of the new demo car on flickr - check it out. This is the first in the series, to view the rest, navigate forward http://www.flickr.com/photos/12717679@N07/1826350253/in/pool-bartrage/

Anonymous said...

hmm...that link didn't post too well...let's try again:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
12717679@N07/1826350253/in/pool-bartrage/

I had to split the link into 2 lines for it to fit. Copy & paste the 2 parts

bartmusings said...

demo cars? neat! thanks for the pictures!