BART in 2057...as they asked

OK, Chronicle has this poll (today) and article about BART's future...far future. Poll had people picking specific extensions they'd like to add. There are talks of adding another Transbay Tube. Sure, that's fine, but I'll probably be long retired by then, let's hope.

What I want is more frequent trains. I dont want to wait for 15 or 20 minutes for the next train to arrive. In Europe, I'm able to just hop onto a train within 3-5 minutes, at any time. Maybe those trains were serving a smaller geography but still, that's mass transit. That's how BART should be too. It's ridiculous that at 5:30pm, while everyone is rushing home from SF to the East Bay, people have to wait 18 minutes for the next Fremont train, for example. Sure, they can transfer, but transferring doesn't shorten the trip or the wait in the end.

My ideal BART experience is getting on and off a train without waiting more than 3-5 minutes...that means in the morning, when i get home from work, to and from ball games and airports. Can BART deliver that?

Question of the Weekend

I haven't written much this week due to health reasons. I'm going to cheat a little today and write about something that isn't directly related to BART. The only correlation this has to BART is that many fans take BART to ATT Park...and I expect this weekend to be quite crowded on the trains with many big events going on in the city like the Pride Parade and the high profile Giants-Yankees game.

I was listening to KNBR today and heard an interesting question posed to listeners.

Would you rather have a team that is somewhat competitive and interesting to watch every year, or a team that wins a WS once every ten years and sort of just suck in between?

Seeing how the Giants are right now, it's easy for people to say they prefer the latter because once you have that championship, you can wait out the miserable times. I leaned at first towards saying that, but decided that no way! All these painful games we're watching now, all the years we'll need to be under .500 until we fully rebuild, and all the miseries we're feeling when we lose games by 1 run......they'll all make it that much sweeter when the SF Giants do FINALLY win a WS. If that's 5 years, or 25 years, as fans, we'll just have to patiently watch them evolve, progress, digress, decompose, and flourish again.

Easier said than done, I know. I am just as impatient and bummed out as any other Giants fan out there.

Anyhow, hopefully we'll take two from the Yankees! That's asking for a lot, but please???

When did overweight become handicapped?

This is not a debate about weight. It's a discussion about ongoing issues related to the ambiguity of the designated seats on BART for the handicapped.

An overweight, but not overly obese woman today straight out asked me to get out of the handicapped seat for her. I'm always very conscious of who is around me- if I see a child, a pregnant women, someone with a crutch or cane, or anyone who appears to be a senior citizen, I am the first to give up my seat, wherever I am on the train, for them!

This woman was probably at least 75 pounds overweight. She was large, but she was balancing and walking just fine. I saw her walk in and contemplated giving up the seat for her, but she was young and seemed to be OK standing. I didn't want to insult her weight by asking her to sit down either!

So should I add overweight people to my list of people to give up a seat to? What if they yell at me for implying that they are overweight? I've gotten snapped at before for mistakenly giving up the seat to someone who looked older than they really are! No win situation it seems.

In this case, she asked me if she can sit down. I just said, "sure", and let her sit. She wasn't rude or anything but it was implied in her tone that she should have that seat over me. I'm fine with it, no big deal. Just thought this was worth noting on BART Musings.

Pre-party on BART?

A friend of mine told me he saw college-aged students taking BART to the airport and drinking BEER this morning!!

Alcohol on BART is nothing new but generally it's someone homeless crashing on the train, not college passengers using BART as a pre-party location to celebrate the start of their summer vacation!

Please don't just blame the rest of us for not calling the TO to report these activities- some of us do or are starting to. But BART also needs to take more responsibility themselves, to enforce these rules and fine people who blatantly violate them. Be more proactive!

Come on! Drinking beer on BART?? That is really quite an insult to BART police and staff....it's telling them, I can do whatever I want because you won't catch me or make me stop.

Hot and Hotter

I'm not talking about a person here, but instead, I'm referring to BART trains in this recent heat. We're already baking while we're waiting on the platforms and we think we will have some relief as we get into the trains. But 50% of the time (I actually counted from my recent rides), the train feels HOTTER than the outside, while mixed with smells of food, body odor, perfumes, and cologne. The hotter it is, the more people find the need to mask their bodily scents with perfumes and colognes.

My rides recently have been miserably warm and stuffy. I understand that TOs cannot control individual train temperatures but why is the AC constantly too low when it is over 90 degrees outside?

I walked into different cars just in case it is my particular car that has a broken AC, but all the cars in the train are equally warm and uncomfortable!

A new level of filthiness

It's really quite a good (and much needed) thing that BART is appropriating funds to clean up the trains in addition to adding on-site medial staff to minimize train delays whenever there is a "medical emergency". Seriously, some passengers call anything a medical emergency and completely waste everyone else's time. Once, a woman tripped over and fell on the ground due to a sudden train halt. She seemed able-bodied and although she needed to catch her breath and regain her composure, there was NOTHING wrong with her. Some man frantically said, I'm going to call the train operator. She said, "No, I'm fine, thanks, really, I'll be OK." He went on to call the TO anyways and says "A woman has fell over and hurt herself. I repeat, a woman has fell over and hurt herself. Please send medical staff." There was a tremendous waste of 20 minutes! URGH! Some people just love drama. I just want to get to work or go home without these pointless interruptions. Please only call when there is really someone in need of medical attention.


Now, about the new level of filthiness. It's been warm, so I dress accordingly. Today I had a short-sleeved shirt on. I was leaning back on the seat with my arms completely touching it. I am not kidding but I started itching on my upper arms. It didn't help that I kept on touching it, but the patches of itchiness turned into hives. I then thought about all the germs and whatever else that are completely all over the seats, touching my bare skin. I even imagined the "CSI" staff using their flourescent sticks and imagined all the fluids, germs, food stains and dirt that would glow brightly in the dark! By the end of my ride, I had lovely patches of hives on my arms. I ran into the shower the minute I got home and applied a thick layer of Cortaid.

I'm sure it was partially psychological but am I that off? My arms DID start itching after 5 minutes of resting my skin on the seat.

Just glad that something will be done about the train conditions!

I am allergic to YOU!

I have allergies and this year, it's been rough. I take medication in the morning and that generally calms my nose and eyes down a bit before I get on the train.

I ran out of medication today, so from the moment I started driving, I could not stop sneezing and tearing. On the train today, of course I was sneezing. I got stares, but whatever, I always make a point to cover my nose with both hands, use a tissue, wipe my hands with Purell. I also try to minimize the volume of my sneezes by pinching my nose a little.

The point is..I know sneezing nonstop on BART can annoy people but I try my best to be considerate. However, one thing in addition to weeds and pollens that gets to me most is STRONG PERFUME or COLGNE.

The woman sitting next to me had very strong perfume on. It's not the fruity and light perfume that I can tolerate...she was wearing some strong and old-fashioned scented perfume and was apparently wearing a lot of it since the second she sat down, my nose shook!

I kept on sneezing. But I always faced the window and covered my nose. Everytime I sneezed, she would look at me. And no, she was not a nice sweet lady, she was one of those older woman who still think she's young and tries to cover age with tons of makeup, tight clothes, and to my detriment, perfume!

After the 8th sneeze, she turns to me and says, "Are you sick?" in an accusatory tone.

I thought about my response, and even contemplated apologizing for my nonstop sneezing. But because of her mean stares and her poor tone of voice, I decided to say loud enough for people around us to hear, "No, I'm allergic to your perfume." People around me laughed softly because I know they too are suffering from her horrific and overpowering scent.

Oakland Coliseum BART Experience

I'm a Giants and 49ers fan, so I rarely make my way to the Coliseum for games. A couple times a year maybe. I don't dislike the A's, in fact, whenever they are not playing the Giants, I do root for them. Wednesday night, we went with friends to the Red Sox-A's game.

The game itself was exciting and ended favorably, but the BART rides were horrendous. Yes, it is very convenient, even more convenient than taking BART/Muni to AT&T Park. But, tonight, there was a long delay between each station, making a 25 minutes ride into 45 minutes. The BART ride home was even worse. No lines, no order, no courtesy whatsoever with people overflowing all around the platform. It didn't help that the train didn't come for 15 minutes. By the time it came, it was so crowded that you can smell alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and lots of bad breath all around. During the game, BART even had a little game between innings rewarding a passenger who took BART to the game. But shouldn't there have been more trains if thy want everyone to take BART?? Maybe it was just extra crowded and disorderly because the Red Sox were in town.

Now, the game itself. I never could understand why there are so many darn Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs fan in the Bay Area. Whenever those teams are in SF or Oak, at least 1/3 if not 1/2 of the stadium are filled with them. And boy, do they annoy the heck out of me! If they're true fans, fine, whatever, they can root for their team and live in the Bay Area. But I find most of them to be fake fans or bandwagon fans with no real attachment or deep knowledge of the team and players. They just like to put on the Red Sox, Yankees or Cubs hats and jerseys and walk around our ballparks like they actually care about how the teams are doing beyond this series. Hate bandwagon fans.

I was sitting in back of a young couple who were dressed in Red Sox attire. Who knows if they are true fans, maybe the guy is, but all the girl wanted to do was take pictures during the game with her boyfriend. First with her camera phone, then with his, and then with her camera. I swear they took at least 30 pictures of themselves (same exact pose) throughout the game, during critical points of the game too! It was annoying- not just the constant flash but the fact that I am in the background! Just watch the game, darn it!!! Goodness!!!

I still highly prefer the Giants and AT&T Park, even though the Giants are sadly sitting in last place with no solid plan to climb out of there. We've sunken below the Rockies...never thought that would happen.

The BART Soap Opera

Maybe someone into astrology can tell me why today was a day filled with soap operas on BART. Is it because certain stars align to cause people to be extra sensitive and emotional that they don't mind having quite a large audience listening to their phone conversations?

Normally, I avoid taking all calls on BART because I don't like talking knowing everyone is listening, even if they don't want to. But you know how sometimes, there are situations that trump everything else and you just no longer care who you're broadcasting your life story to? For me, the one time was when I heard my husband got in a car accident. I didn't care who was listening- I spoke as loudly as needed to make sure he can hear that I'm coming home.

Soap opera scene #1: A woman in the train was fighing with her boyfriend. It was a crowded train, so I think there were at least 15 people near her that could hear what she's saying.

She yells, "So you're telling me you lied to me last night?" "Were you with her last night?" "Was she there with your friends?" "Is she with you now?" "Oh no, don't tell me she is with you right now? Right now? As I'm talking to you?" "You are one sick bastard."

Obviously, I couldn't hear what he said, but I can only imagine this to be unpleasant for both involved. Yikes!

Soap opera scene #2: A man also in the train was fighing with his ex-wife about being able to see the kids. This was sort of sad. I don't know his situation but I hope his ex-wife becomes more understanding. I'm only going to write a small excerpt of his conversation because this is not anything to laugh about. It's just plain sad!

He pleads, "You can't keep the kids from me. I know they miss me. I can hear them asking for me back there. You are being unreasonable. No, this has nothing to do with paperwork."

How awful. Although we don't know her side of the story-- maybe she has reasons?

There was a 3rd soap opera scene that is not PG-13, so I'd rather not share it here. Basically a young man was bragging to his buddy how he scored last night.

We, the rest of the passengers, didn't purposely listen in but these conversations were so loud and engrossed that we had no choice but to listen. I know I have a choice about sharing them or not sharing them, but I wanted to make a point that people should just keep their personal conversations out of the BART trains although there are times where you just don't care anymore.

Fighting for a parking space

Got in a parking space "fight" this morning. It was completely ridiculous! Picture this:

Orinda BART parking lot. Every row of parking is one-way only, and each row alternates so cars can go up the row, then turn to the next row to go down the row, to look for parking spaces.

I saw an empty space today in the 2nd row. I was going up the row like, in the direction that we're supposed to be going, while another car, going the opposite direction (against the flow of the parking spaces) decided to take that space.

I got to the space about half a second later. I signalled before he did. I slammed on the gas to try to beat him there. He saw me, he knew he was going the wrong way, but he still insisted on jamming his car towards the direction of the space. Of course, since he was not going the right way, he couldn't turn into the space, and required to back up and re-position.

I was obviously pissed off. He can't be going the wrong way (shorter way) to take a space! Besides, I signalled way in advance! I didn't want to let him win, so, as he backed up to re-position his car, I took the space! I only did that because he had to completely back up, turn directions, block the entire row, and keep me from going anywhere else! Hey, if he needed me to back track to take what should have been my space, I am not about to do that for him!

Well, I took the space, and he was pissed. He called me crazy, and I said, "no, you're crazy. you're going the wrong way." It turned out that he didn't have a reserved parking sticker anyways, so I just told him to park in the general lot unless he wants a ticket. Our argument ended cordially.

New BART commuters staying even after Connector reopened

It's been re-opened for a week now and I have not found BART to be any less crowded. If the connector shut-down has made temporary BART commuters into permanent ones, I guess that's a good. The fewer cars on the road, the better!

I'm looking forward to the summer months as people start to leave for vacations, and start taking days off on Fridays! It'll definitely lighten the situation in the parking lots and allow more open seats in the trains!

Speaking of vacations, mine is a month away. Can't wait. I need one badly!

I've been having problems with blogger.com (which powers this site) all day! They've somehow identified me as a spam blogger and won't allow me to publish! Spam blogger? BART Musings posts are all based on daily, individual experiences...how could it be a spam? Maybe someone flagged it as spam because I write things that they don't like?

Well, I'm back, and happy to write again!

Karma

It's hard not to believe in karma. On the way home today, the train was completely packed. I got on at Civic Center so I was able to get a seat. Right across from me was a seat left empty and if you take a closer look, you'll realize why. The seat was filled with WET sunflower seed shells. The shells, some mangled with teeth marks, were all over the seat. You can tell they were sticky from the wetness. Some previous passenger with no class apparently decided to spit out shells onto that seat. Anyhow, as we past Powell and then Montgomery, people walked towards the seat, saw the scattered wet mess, and opted to stand.

At Embarcadero, one stocky man rudely pushed his way through the crowd, yelling, "out of my way, excuse me" in an impatient tone, as if other passengers owed him something. He saw the empty seat, and felt that it was his right to take it while shoving others aside. In his haste, he sat down! I would have warned anyone else but not him- he deserved it!!!

He got up at MacArthur and once again, rudely pushed his way through. I took a glance at his butt (didn't want to but wanted to get a good laugh). As expected, at least 20 dirty spit-out shells embellished his black pants.

Haha! That's what he gets for being such a rude jerk on BART.

Smooth riding in the early AM

Had to go to work extremely early today (left home around 7:15am) and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to find BART parking, how many empty seats there were despite lines at the platform, and how ontime the train was! Maybe I just got lucky but I found this morning's experience to be almost relaxing! Like BART claims their rides to be in the commercials!

Is this just luck? I doubt I'll get up early just to have an easier BART ride but it's good to know that whenever I do need to suffer from shorter sleep, BART will not give me a bigger headache!

Would you eat that?

I wasn't feeling too well during yesterday's ride home from work. I felt like throwing up, I felt light-headed, and the body odors and muskiness around me due to the heat wasn't helping at all! I was dying to chew on something sour and sweet to stop the urge to puke. Suddenly, I realized that I might actually have a green apple jolly rancher in my bag somewhere, left from a few weeks ago.

I was pretty desperate. I hate stale candy but I actually felt like I needed to have that sour taste in my mouth to get throught the BART ride.

I flipped things around in my large computer bag and finally dug out the unshapely jolly rancher candy. It was hard to unwrap- the wrapper had somehow melted onto the candy. But I didn't care, I was determined to get the wrapper off so I can eat this!

As I was nearing the final stages of taking off the last bit of plastic, the jolly rancher rolled off my fingers and onto the seat! I thought about eating it, but then images of the disgusting people who I've encountered on BART rushed through my head. Pictures of dirty clothes, dirty hands, dirty nails, coughs, sneezes..etc were overwelming my brain.

I just could not eat it. It would have been too disgusting. I ended up feeling sick the rest of the ride...but don't worry, I didn't throw up.

At risk youth as escorts in Oakland stations? Good?

When I first read about that I was like, oh, yeah right, like that is a great way to promote safety in Oakland. Having at-risk youth helping you to your cars, cleaning up, giving you directions? Sounded to me at first, like a sure way to get an already lost passenger to be the center of a mugging plot. But then I kept on reading and I thought about it some more.

I have to admit that if properly monitored and evaluated, this would be a great way to help at risk youth become a true part of the community. For them to want to trust the community and leave a positive mark, we have to trust them too.

It's worth a try and could become something life changing for these kids. When I first heard about Delancey Street restaurant in SF, I had a negative reaction too, but who says people don't deserve a second chance?

However, I may be a bit of a hypocrite. I don't want to have escorts in ALL the BART stations. I don't think escorts are necessary in all the stations. I think at-risk youth program aside, we definitely need escorts at SFO and OAK stations for travelers. We need at-platform-level info booth at key transfer stations (or easy phone access to TOs who are willing to help) too for travelers.

Broken turnstile and marijuana -- what a morning!

What a way to start the week! I was in a mad rush today trying to catch my shuttle at Civic Center station. I have my ticket ready before I approach the ticket turnstile, I have my hand ready to grab the ticket as it pops back out, and as usual, I am one step ahead before the turnstiles open up to let me through. Today, the turnstile that I've walked through at least 500 times in the past years was BROKEN. Only ONE of the two cushioned "obstacles" opened up, causing me to run my knees into the unopened one. And because I was already in walking motion, I fell!

Quickly, I tried to regain my balance, and acted like nothing happened in front of the people around me. Then, I walked up the stairs only to approach 3 men openly smoking pot. Two with joints and one with a pipe. Did marijuana become legal suddenly? They were so open and unafraid of being reprimanded by the police! They were definitely high, in a very happy zone. I smiled at them, and they asked me if I wanted some. I responded, no, thanks, gotta go to work!

Definitely not surprising to see people smoking pot around the Civic Center BART. But it was quite surprising how open they were with it! Apparently, they know that BART Police and SFPD don't seem to circle around that area much.

Peddlers on BART

I felt like I was in Tijuana yesterday afternoon! A man and his child were selling from seat to seat. The kid had a tray of random things from gum to bracelets, and the man had CDs, DVDs, fake Giant/As pins, caps and head bands in his tray for sale.

They were non-threatening so I didn't bother to get up to call the TO. It was actually kind of funny that they were doing that on the train.

I see people selling things outside of the stations but rarely inside the train. I've seen people begging or performing on trains, but not actually carrying around a selection of random trinkets in a tray and asking people to take a look.

Alcohol breath, but in the morning??

It's not uncommon to smell alcohol in people's breath on BART, especially in the late afternoons as people are coming home from happy hour or whatver.

This morning, however, at 8:15am, I sat next to a passenger, a professional, clean-cut looking middle aged man with a suit, tie and high-end briefcase, smelling like he just spent over $200 in a bar. I didn't even need to try to smell the alcochol. The drunken scent was all over. I felt like I was in a return flight from Las Vegas.

Yuck!

SF Bay Area ranks #11 on Rude Driver list

I would agree with that list. NYC, Boston, and LA are all MUC MUCH worse than the Bay Area in terms of rude drivers. Miami ranks first but I've only been a tourist there, transported around in buses and tour shuttles, or walking straight to the beach from my hotel....so I've never actually been in the thick of traffic there to judge.

I think Bay Area has more stupid or timid drivers than rude drivers. If anything, I think people are more clueless here than rude or impatient. I see people who don't pay attention to lights, who back out of parking spaces without turning their head to see what's behind them, break for no reason, or they merge into lanes way below speed of traffic, causing everyone to brake. I

I'm probably one of the more impatient drivers around and think people drive way too slowly in non-pedestrian zones, stop way too early for a yellow light, take way too long to merge into lanes, are too scared to make a quick turn or lane change, and too often insist on following or driving under the speed limit.

Ranking high on that list might mean you're in the middle of a lot of driving hazards but it also means that people are more efficient (impatient) and you can count on the person in front of you to not waste a second during a green light. Whereas here, I have to wait 3-4 seconds sometimes for a driver to respond!

Cleveland is #19. Not surprised. My sister lives there and has gotten ticketed twice for driving over 25mph on an open, carless road!

Too smooth to be true

Is it just me or has BART been unusually on-time lately? I almost stopped myself from writing that because now that I've declared BART to be usually on-time, I might have jinxed the on-time streak and will be waiting on the platform tomorrow, then squeezing into a late and crowded train, while missing my shuttle stop at Civic Center.

Hope that's not the case. It sure has been nice to walk up the pair of stairs to read on the scrolling bulletin that the train will arrive right on schedule. I don't have to frantically and impatiently look at my watch every 2 minutes trying to estimate just how brief of a time I have between my Civic Center arrival and my companys shuttle pick-up. If I have one minute in between, I know to roll up my pants a bit, tie my hair back to prepare for a lightning speed sprint up the escalators. If I have under 30 seconds, forget it, I'll just slowly ride the escalators, get a cup of coffee at Starbucks and wait until the next shuttle stop....waste of time!

So, let's hope this on-time streak continues for all of us. If it ends tomorrow, I guess you can blame it on this blog jinx....and count that I will never write about how on-time BART is again!

Citizen Carpool Police Discussion - Part II

I talked about this a couple weeks ago-- the proposed new hotline for drivers to report carpool lane violators. There were some great comments and discussions going on since then from BART Musings visitors.

So today, I had to drive to San Jose for work. I tested just how easy or hard it will be to memorize the license plate number of a car zooming past me in the carpool lane.

I was going about 35 mph, and the solo drivers in the carpool lane were driving about 65 mph. I had about 2 seconds to glance at and memorize the license plate number while trying to pay attention to what's going on in front of me in my own jammed lane. I was able to memorize the number but it was not easy to keep track of everything around me that's going on....I can definitely see how hard it will be to have to call in right there and then and report the violator's license plate number!

Sort of a dangerous task! Harder than I thought. I think this is not a good solution. The only viable options are 1) more CHP during carpool hours, or 2) install a camera device over the carpool lanes like what they have on the bridge toll plazas and a camera snaps when someone is violating the carpool rule. Although this means there needs to be some infrared technology to sense the human body presence in the passenger seats. Might be too advanced for the state.

BART TV and other portals

Have you guys seen BART TV? Not sure how BART is pushing these video and news clips out to the masses but for me, I just randomly came across it last month on the BART website. There are relevant BART news items that may not necessarily be on the local news. Not a bad idea, but too hard for passengers to access to rely on as an up-to-the-minute news update on BART.

MyBART is another interesting portal for BART to connect with the Bay Area community. Have you used it? I haven't. I've seen promotional snippets scrolling on the BART electronic bulletin on the platforms but haven't taken advantage of the discounts and activities. Again, the MyBART web page is not the first place I go to during weekends but it is a good start for BART. Maybe I'll start checking it out more as they fill it up with more discounts and events. Not a bad idea really!

You know what BART REALLY needs??? What BART really needs is up-to-the-second SMS alert on daily train delays. For example, I take the SF-bound train from Orinda. Sometimes my train is 5 minutes late, other times it is 8 minutes late. I would like to know BEFORE I leave my house, or even as I am driving to the station! WHY? Because if I know I have 8 extra minutes, I won't be running yellow-to-red lights, and I won't be breaking my heels running like mad from the parking lot up the escalators to the platform only to find out that my train will not be here for awhile.

When can BART launch this capability?? I don't want the BART schedule on my mobile phone- I have the schedule by memory. I want the updates to delays or an alert saying it is ontime!

A seat for two

This is really tacky. A lovey dovey couple today walked into a crowded train together. They stood through two stops, until one seat in front of them vacated. Now, in a similar situation, my husband would likely ask me to sit while he stands next to me, and if I'm tired, I'll sit, but if not, I'll continue standing with him because it's easier to carry on our conversation.

But this couple, the guy sat down immediately, with the young woman whining that she wants to sit too but refuses to sit away from him. So, instead, he tells her to sit right ON TOP of him! So there they were, doubling up on each other on top of one seat. As the train moved, this "body tower" shifted from left to right, right to left to front, completely getting in the way of the passenger seated next to them. They then pretended they were on a roller coaster ride together. They were young, 20s maybe, but not young enough to act like idiots.

It was completely ridiculous and immature. They continued to sit on top of each other over one seat until the train emptied out at Embarcadero.

Sunny weather = HOT trains

What a beautiful day! It's quite refreshing to be able to wear short sleeves without shivering while waiting for the train on the platform. The comfortably warm breeze actually made me smile on a Monday morning.

Well, that is until I stepped into the train. I immediately felt the hot air, mixed with scent of seat and body odors. People were fanning with newspaper or bookmarks. Someone in my train called the train operator to turn up the AC. I couldn't quite hear the response but if the TO did anything (I'm sure he or she tried), we didn't feel the difference in train temperature.

I felt OK. I was warm and disliked the smell around me, but I wasn't sweating. Others were sweating. One woman even had sweat stains on the front of her yellow T-shirt.

Maybe the AC was broken? It was like an oven in there! I was itching to get out of the train for some fresh air...but when I finally got out at Civic Center, the first whiff of air I breathed in smelled more like urine than fresh summer air.

580 ramp will be rebuilt within 2 months

Wow, by June 29th? That's a lot quicker than I thought. I was expecting 6 months at least. This is a great example of organizations, decision-makers and resources pulling together to get something done quickly and effectively. Here's what Caltrans spokesperson said about the time table.

We'll see what ends up happening, and if they actually meet this timeline, but for now, this time table seems extremely reasonable, even impressive. Makes me feel more confident about the state of CA being able to handle disasters in a timely fashion, when necessary.

I understand this is not close to being a true "disaster" but it's good to know that we are able to plan around a state of emergency. Whether it's a terrible earthquake (knocking on wood this second to keep it away), weather-related disaster or something worse, it is a positive that California appears to be headed towards getting an above-passing grade on this 580-80 connector meltdown setback. It would be nice to have BART back to normal capacity when people are back on the freeway.


**Quick unrelated update: Congratulations to the Warriors!! What a game, effort,and heart! Special congrats to Bruins Baron Davis and Matt Barnes! Hope the Warriors can carry this momentum and energy all the way!

Increased ridership on BART is felt!

Day by day, it has become evident that BART trains are getting more crowded. This morning, even standing room was hard to come by. I thought they were going to increase number of trains?? My train was still an 8 car train, in the thick of commute time.

Each stop we made towards SF, I also noticed that the lines at the platform were longer than usual. Rockridge and MacArthur both had lines swerving towards the stairs. That is defintely not normal.

Train conditions were much worse. More trash and paper left in the train. You see more food violators too. The trains are becoming a big mess!

Today, the train arrived 6 minutes late too- not horrible, but because I need to catch a connection shuttle, I was late!

Lastly, an unrelated note, all the luck, feng shui, and good karma (whatever works!) to the Golden State Warriors tonight! Hope they can close out the series tonight and send the Mavericks home depressed with nothing to do but pack up their lockers.

Improved BART parking situation today

Well, at least in Orinda. I definitely appreciated seeing parking enforcement issuing tickets early in the morning. The immediate impact was very evident! There were a lot more spaces left in the reserved lot today at 8:10am. I saw several white envelopes as decor on several windshields. Thank you, Orinda BART, for making a visible difference in one day! (not sure if anyone there will actually read this, but just in case!)

Have you seen an improvement in parking today? Is BART parking enforcement doing their job?

Take a look at SF Chronicle's article on BART parking situation.

Take a bite! You're on camera!

In response to my rant about people who eat on BART, an anonymous reader posted a comment and created the following:

The reader writes: Here's something you can do: Take pictures of the eaters and post them on this flickr group created just for them!

BART and BART lots overly crowded today due to 80-580 freeway collapse

Day 2 morning is far worse than Day 1. My goodness!!! It was nearly impossible to find parking today, and I have a reserved parking pass! I see a bunch of idiots, possibly forced to ride BART to work due to freeway collapse, parking in the reserved lot without a sticker or a one-day pass. I hope they get ticketed! BART parking enforcement better step it up this week and ticket every violator.

I actually saw a line in front of the BART ticket machines today!! I don't think I've ever seen a long line there before.

The train, by the time it got to my station, was already packed! It is generally never the case...I may not get a seat, but I'd be the 2nd or 3rd passenger standing, not the 20th.

Allow yourself some extra time to find a parking space. Lots such as Orinda and Lafayette are filling up fast from what I heard. Even if you pay $$$ for a reserved monthly parking pass? Ha! Unless BART parking enforcement does something about all the violators, you probably won't have a space either. I had to squeeze myself in a 3/4 space today-- probably left untaken only because it was unfittable for many cars.

BART parking enforcement: Please ticket those people!

BART Police (updated)

After posting my first entry this morning about the questionable characters passengers often encounter on free BART days, I've learned that others actually have experienced similar situations. One reader suggested having the BART police number ready on your cellphone- which I thought was a great idea. A lot of times, if you call the TO during the harrassment, you actually might get yourself into more trouble. But discretely dialing the BART police with your personal phone might be a safer alternative...or you can report someone else being harrassed.

Here is the number for BART police in case you encounter any questionable characters while on BART today. BART POLICE: 877.679.7000

(UPDATED) After a brief exchange with Scott Marshall of Contra Costa Times on 5/1 regarding what best to do in these situations, he recommends the following:

Directly call police communications center, 510-464-7000, but the best way to get help quick is to use the intercom phone on the train.

Just talked with Zone 2's Sgt. Barry Williams. He says you're going to get a much quicker response by using BART's intercom system. You have to decide if it's safe to move to another car. But if you can and pick up the intercom, you go directly to the train operator and you're in contact with the police in seconds.

Describe the people, the behavior, tell them what train you're on and which direction you're traveling. They'll stop the train and investigate. If they can't get to you, they routinely call a local agency (Orinda police, Oakland police, and so forth), who are more than willing to assist another agency (they train for that).

If you call 911, then your call goes directly to the Highway Patrol's Golden Gate Division dispatch center in Vallejo, and then they transfer you to a BART police communications center.

BART status this morning

Not sure if it's because I left very early today, but my BART train was not crowded at all. However, I suspect it is because the system was a few minutes delay (less than 5) and the trains are not spread out by time properly. The train I hopped on arrived 4 minutes earlier (probably a delayed train from earlier) than anticipated, forcing me to sprint up the escalators and stairs. I barely made it on.

Having free BART today was nice but it definitely had its drawbacks and safety concerns. In my train car today was a group of very questionable characters who were literally harrassing passengers around them. They seemed like they were just taking a fieldtrip to nowhere- had no idea how the system worked nor where they are going.

They even ended up harrassing a larger woman, calling her fat, asking her how she got to be this **ckin large. They then started cussing at nearby passengers, asking them what they are looking at. A lot of passengers walked out of the car to another. Then, they started screaming, where the **ck you are going. It was actually a little scary. They looked like they could very well be carrying weapons.

Traffic on the freeway (24) looked like the normal level of congestion as of 7:50 AM. Maybe people are staying home to avoid significant delays?

80-580 Connector Collapse

This is absolutely crazy and the one and only non-negative is that this didn't happen when the interchange was packed with cars. I haven't heard that there were many injuries aside from the driver of the gas truck. And from what I heard from KRON News, he was not the most responsible person. Apparently, the truck flipped over due to fast speed, entire tank load of gas explodes, he gets out of the truck right before, CALLS for a cab to bring him to Kaiser (correction: later reports state that he walked to Kaiser and was picked up by a cab along the way), instead of reporting the explosion ASAP, and after he gets to Kaiser, THEN he FINALLY calls 911 to report the incident! He has 2nd degree burns- yes, that is bad, but what is he thinking not calling 911 right away? There's no guarantee that would have minimized the melting of the connector but still, how could he think that walking to Kaiser would actually be better than calling 911 to A) treat his burns and B) minimize the damage. He was later transferred to St. Francis and will recover fully.

This is going to affect almost everyone tomorrow morning. I am aiming for a much earlier train to anticipate any delays, confusion, changed schedules...etc. My husband cannot even get to work anymore by car and will need to explore BART and bus as an option.

Get ready for a very very messy day on Monday. Free BART and public transit was just announced.

Train Operators, Speak Up!

Let me start by saying that what I'm about to say only applies to some of the train operators I encounter. There are others who speak loudly and clearly, which passengers appreciate.

Today, (actually, this happens many times), our train needed to hold still for a few minutes for some reason that I still don't know because I couldn't hear it! I actually didn't know how long we would be holding because all I knew was the door remained open for at least 2.5 minutes and the TO was mumbling something softly over the system that no one could understand!

We all looked at each other, asking, "what did he say?" "what's the problem?" I don't know if it's a problem with the speakers but a good number of TOs do have this issue. They go on and on about the transfer information (which, by the way, is VERY important to visitors, first timers..etc.), door warnings, or just announce the stations with a whisper when none of us can hear a thing! In this case, I think someone tried to call the TO to ask, but I'm not sure what happened because I never heard a clarification.

We know something is being said, but all we hear are mumbles, whispers, and a lot of noise.

It can't all be because of the noise, because I have encountered many TOs who actaully loudly and proudly announces every bit of important information!

So, is this problems caused by the speaker system/sound, or is it just that many TOs don't want to speak with volume and clarity??

The Citizen Carpool Police - Good start but will it be enough?

Did you guys see the good news today?? SB889, legislation that would set up a hotline and website for us to report illegal carpool lane users passed in the Senate Transportation Committee this week. Check out this article on SF Gate! We're moving one step forward to citizen carpool police- which I applaud.

I ride BART 4 times a week, but once a week, I drive to my company's San Jose location. It is a horrendously long drive. Always, on 680, I see single drivers zooming past me in the carpool lane. Over 10 years ago, I did the same thing and got caught. I've never done it again! There are much better ways to spend $300+ than to give it to the government.

It just drives me crazy seeing just HOW MANY solo drivers freely take up the carpool lane during carpool hours! WHERE IS THE CHP???? I've yet to see someone get caught! Why aren't the CHP patrolling during those hours??

It makes me so angry to see those law breakers get away with it while I am stuck in traffic. Particularly during the stretch from Bollinger on 680S to my turn off on 24W. It is 13 miles but could take up to an hour on a bad day! Yet, these law breakers take up the carpool lane, and then cut me off when their exit is up!

Am I going to use this hotline? YOU BET I AM! The limitation, however, being that it is a citizen-reported incident, is the offender will only get a measly WARNING! Still, better than nothing at all! It is a start, although I'm not sure it's enough.

So all you solo carpoolers, you better watch out for me on 680! I have a good memory and I am on to you!

Hit by computer bags three times today!

It was just one of those unpleasant morning rides today. A lot more crowded than usual for some reason, and everyone seemed to be getting in each other's way. When I finally sat down in a vacated seat after MacArthur station, I didn't realize that I was seated in overhead danger zone.

Because of the many people standing in front and next to me, and all the nearby people squeezing in and out of the aisles, my head got whacked by three different passengers' over-the-shoulder computer bags, during 3 different stops when people are making ways for each other to move out of the aisle.

BAMN! The first computer bag swings right into my head as one passenger tried to turn around to let someone get out of the crowded aisle.

WHACK! Another computer bag hits my head as the passenger excitedly turned around to scoot herself into an empty seat.

THUD! The 3rd bag bumps the back of my head this time as the passenger tilts his body to fit into a tight standing space.

My initial reaction was anger, but then these passengers were so apologetic and obviously didn't do it on purpose that I just smiled and said, "it's ok!"

This happens often on BART. It'll be nice when those new trains w/ extra storage space are finally ready. Maybe that'll alleviate these "headaches"!

Is it up to me to enforce the No Food rule? What would you do?

Saw a girl (who purposely chose to wear a sweater and dress full of holes and rips but she's not homeless) who busted out a big burrito from a brown bag, with a salsa dip, in the middle of a crowded train already lacking fresh oxygen.

Everyone smelled the burrito instantly. She took big bites after big bites and even poured salsa into the burrito after each bite. It was stinking up our entire area! Most of us looked at each other and made an annoyed face. Some even stared her down. But...no one, including myself, actually interrupted her forbidden afternoon feast to say, "Hey miss, you know that food is not allowed on BART??" or something like that.

I thought about telling her from a few feet away but didn't. I then thought about why I didn't...and it's mainly because judging (yes, being very superficial here) by her attire, I would expect her to tell me to **ck off and mind my own business, which in response would trigger me to want to argue back with her, and I just didn't have the energy at that time to engage in a verbal battle. So, I'd rather not deal with it and put up with the smell. I'm wrong, I know, I should probably have said something but why didn't anyone else say anything? We were all suffering from the burrito scensory overload.....we all wanted her to put it away, but why didn't any of us speak out?

I had fought back a few times inside BART or at the station, but as sharp tongued as I am when provoked, I typically prefer to not cause a scene and judging by the way this girl appeared, I think she would provoke me to leave the boundaries of professionalism and courtesy.

What would you do? Now, think a little bit before you immediately say that you'd actually tell her in a crowded train to not eat! I welcome your feedback!

In Boston this week....navigating through the congestion

I'm in Boston this week for business. I've been here before but never had the pleasure of navigating the congestion, traffic, and confusing one-way streets on my own...generally, I'm here in a group where hiring a driver was allowed. Not this time, however. Maybe it's the combination of very bad weather (don't even get me started about my trip here from SFO...I've had enough gas fumes from sitting still for 3 hours in the jetway that I think I probably have lung cancer), Boston marathon + tourists, and the massive size of the tradeshows here this week, it has been very trying getting anywhere by foot or by taxi.

As for public transport, I do not even want to attempt to learn it. I've heard good things about Boston's public transportation but just looking at the intricate map routes confuse the heck out of me. That, plus freezing weather, made me lose my will power to be adventurous. I HAD INITIALLY intended to try it out and compare it with BART and MUNI, but not this time...maybe in my next trip.

Not much to say here except, I'm looking forward to going home and taking BART to work-- at least I know what to expect.

BARTed to SFO again- several first timers asked me questions about transfer, where it goes in SFO, how it works..etc. Do I just look like I know BART or something? Maybe I appear very approachable. Anyhow, I was happy to answer their questions and show them the way.

BART to add 24 workers to cleaning crew

With an estimated $8.9 million budget surplus, BART is planning to expand their cleaning crews. That's good news! I just hope that it will make a visible difference. Will they clean during the day, after morning commute but before evening commute? Will they actually keep up with the frequent spills on the platform level to avoid passengers slipping? Will they actually pick up after fast food wrappers left all over the trains by mid-day riders for daily commuters to find during their ride home? Will they clean off urine, alcohol, throw-up, and other lovely things frequently surrounding the Civic Center BART station entrances (and some other stations I'm sure)?

We'll see if the cleaning crew will make a difference but this is indeed a step in the right direction.

However, I must question: Why is it that the $8.9 million surplus will only add 24 workers? What else will be done with the surplus? Don't tell me we are hiring superpower cleaning workers who cost that much each year? How else is BART using the surplus to help current conditions?

On a side note, expect another fare hike on 1/1/08. 5.4%! Board voted in 03 to increase fares every other year to offset inflation. Boy, BART just continues to get more pricey. How do passengers with lower incomes afford it??

Teaching your kids the right thing on BART

Saw a mom with her little girl who is probably no more than 4 years old. They are seated together in the handicapped seat. The mom whispered something to the little girl and the girl got up instantly and asked a senior citizen to take their seats. It was very sweet. The little girl then made sure she was out of the doorway whenever someone walked in or out, and even when seats became open, she always pointed to anyone who looked "older" and asked her mom if she could ask them to sit down.

It was very cute and refreshing. Especially since there are so many 20 and 30 somethings who DO NOT get up for anyone!

People who dump liquids into the paper recycle bin

Saw a "disaster" from afar today. A man was poking his head into the paper recycle bin at the BART station; flipping through for a copy of today's paper. I'm not sure why he was flipping through copies after copies, digging deeper and deeper, but as he finally pulled out a copy of the paper, I saw dripping coffee all across the paper, and he, unknowingly, clutched the copy of newspaper under his arm, and stained up his shirt. He was very pissed off when he noticed the stain and wetness. He threw the paper out of his sight from the escalator. Luckily, the coffee stained paper didn't hit anyone else.

As I approached the paper recycle bin, I took a quick peak. Yep, there was a large 7-11 coffee cup right on top, and apparently, the coffee has drenched and stained up a thick stack of paper on the very top. I guess that's why he kept on digging deeper for a clean copy but he didn't dig deep enough.

The sad thing is, I am not at all surprised that this happened. I see people throw trash in there all the time, anything from food, bottles, to wrappers. I see people spit in it all the time...and I have even seen puke in it before!

Personally, I'd never pick up a copy of paper from the bin. It's just too risky, especially seeing what this man had to deal with, I would rather stare into space with no reading material than to stain my clothes with someone else's old coffee.

Baseball is back! Know what makes a heated Muni ride?

After UCLA's loss to Florida last Saturday in Final Four, I had to quickly reajust my mindset, get over my depression, and focus on the Giants. I haven't attended a game this week yet but we're going to Friday night's game against the Dodgers and will be taking BART. Great option to have to avoid the horrendous Friday night Bay Bridge traffic while saving $$ on parking.

Those BART/Muni rides to ATT Park are always eventful because you are pretty much putting Dodgers and Giants fans into a small, uncomfortably crowded space (Muni) and we bicker, especially after the game when one side is obviously very pissed off about the loss, add alcohol on top of the emotions and you have a train-full of short-fused sports fans who pretty much hate each other!!

Although I haven't seen anyone get hurt yet. Nothing can be as bad as the Dodgers-Giants game back in 2003 (I think it was 03) at Dodgers Stadium where a Giants fan was shot by a Dodgers fan in the parking lot. I used to live in LA, and I've been there as a Giants fan. Compared to ATT Park, Dodgers Stadium is a very ghetto ballpark with very questionable chracters there who look like they are armed. I definitely didn't feel safe there with my Giants gear.

I hope that I will be a happy fan on my BART ride home. I am slightly more encouraged now seeing their improved performance Thursday night against Padres. Still pessmistic though.

Road rage galore

I had to drive to work today because I needed to carry something heavy home, and there is just no way I can handle that on BART, especially standing. (Note to BART: This is when overhead racks could come in handy, esp. when things can't fit underneath the seat. A few subway systems in Europe and Asia have this.)

Due to spring break and the religious holidays, Bay Bridge was fairly light today until past the toll plaza. During the lane merge, you generally have no problems since every driver knows that one goes behind the other...it is just how everyone normal does it. But some jerk *ss driver decided that he will NOT let me go when it is my turn and just kept on pushing his car forward and forward, not leaving me anyroom to merge.

I definitely am someone with roadrage (that's why BART is better for my blood pressure). And this was one of those incidents that I just could not understand...why the hell would he go out of his way to not let me go when everyone is merging in order????

I couldn't take it. I yelled and gestured with my arms, "WHAT THE **CK ARE YOU DOING? IT'S MY TURN!"

He, as expected, responded, "**CK YOU!" and kept on moving forward.

Then I squeezed my way through, risking him hitting me...but no, the war has not ended, not by far!

Once his car was positioned behind me (as it should be), he started honking at me and flicking me off!! I turned around and told him to "**CK YOUSELF!" and just decided not to even look at him.

He continued on with the honking, the finger giving, and whatever else.....

Not a pleasant commute. True, I got to work about 15 minutes faster than I would have with BART (My BART ride is only 30 min. due to my company shuttle, my commute is 45 min.), and I now have the liberty to drop off the heavy load into my trunk instead of struggling with it on BART, but this *sshole really raised my blood pressure today!

"Just block the doors for me!"

A seemingly first-time BART passengers today did something completely idiotic. It was obvious they were running late since I saw them just being dropped off with their suitcases as I was inserting my tickets in the ticket gate. 2 minutes later, the train arrived.

As I was walking into the train, I see the wife running up the escalators yelling down to the husband, "Hurry, we're going to miss the train! Hurry!"

He was obviously still struggling with the suitcases (they had 2 huge ones) and could not quite hand carry them up the escalators. He yelled back, "Tell them to wait! I'm almost there."

The wife walks into the train, confused, looked around, and then stands in the middle of the doors, yelling, "Hurry, the doors will close soon."

The husband was visible at this point, he was finally making his way up the escalators towards the top, but still needed to drag the suitcases onto the train. He yells, "Just block the doors for me!"

At this time, we heard the warning, "Doors are closing, please stand back from the doors." Followed by the "ding" sound. The wife must freaked out because she didn't block the doors (thank goodness!) and she didn't step out of the train to help her husband. Instead, she ended up in the train, riding with the rest of us to Rockridge!

She was panicking....she must not have had a cellphone on because she didn't attempt to call him. She ran out of the train at Rockridge, stressed out, looking from right to left. I hoped she had the sense to just ride the Pittsburgh Baypoint train back to Orinda and re-unite with her husband there, or just wait patiently for him to arrive at Rockridge and join his train.

The next train was only 5 minutes behind......they really didn't need to put themselves in such a situation.

Pursuit of Happyness

So, I finally watched this movie. I didn't realize what a huge part BART played in it. The bathroom scene was very touching and sad, perhaps might even soften my views a little bit on homeless population in SF. But, having volunteered in shelters and Homeless Connect Days, I know that 99% of the homeless population is not like Chris Gardner, who never stopped trying to get himself and his son into a better situation.

What I wanted to share here was my observation of the BART scenes. Did they actually shoot this in real trains and stations? Because I am pretty certain that in the movie the seats and the floors in the train are much much cleaner than they are in real life. Also, the floors in the station are less stained and more polished than in real life. I realize that the movie was set back when BART was still fairly new, but if they really spent the effort to clean it up for "new-ness" to fit the time of the story, why can't they spend the effort to clean it up for real, for all the passengers that take it daily TODAY?

Did anyone else see the movie? Was it just me or did you think the train seats were cleaner (darker, not faded with stains), and the floors were much cleaner?

As for the side note I made on Friday about UCLA-Florida, I guess my pain has subsided a tiny little bit now. It still hurts and I was pretty down after the game. I'm still extremely disappointed that Gators have devoured my Bruins two years in a row...it was hard to watch, and very hard to swallow. I hope Ohio State beats them in them championship.

(#2 Post of the Day) Final Four weighing me down

OK, I generally don't use bartmusings.com to talk about anything other than my BART experiences but I can't help it today. My mind is about 95% consumed with tomorrow's Florida-UCLA game, with the other 5% minimally answering emails/calls at work, eating and dealing with human interactions around me.

If you've actually followed my blog through the years, you might have caught on that I am a big sports fan...Giants, 49ers, UCLA, and because of the UCLA factor, I've become more emotionally invested in the Warriors too.

Last year's loss to Florida in the NCAA championship game was brutal- 16 points! In fact, it was over 20 points most of the game until Florida, realizing they've already won, allowed us to score a couple shots in the last 2 minutes. Seeing that idiot Joakim Noah screaming and pounding his chest like an ape throughout the game really pissed me off! I've been looking forward to revenge for nearly a year, and now that we have our chance in Final Four, I am nervous and anxious, fearing that we don't have quite enough to execute that dream revenge!

I believe in the Bruins' defense, heart, speed, chemistry, attention to details, tested experience in high pressure games, and Howland's strategy but, the Gators are damn near unbeatable with close to zero weakness when they are on. And they have been SO ON!

After pouring through at least 100 articles using Google News on the game analysis, I've found only 2 sports experts predicting a Bruins win. Sports books all have Gators winning too.

What does my heart think will happen? I want more than anything for my Bruins to beat the Gators and carry that momentum to beat Ohio St. (my prediction) and bring another banner home to Pauley Pavilion.

What does my brain think will happen? Despite what every "expert' says, I believe heart speaks louder than anything! Bruins will prevail. However, just in case I'm wrong, I am still trying my best to prepare for absolute heartbreak in case Bruins lose to Gators again. The game will be close, unlike last year's game. I predict around the ball park of 62-58, UCLA.

What will I do to help the Bruins win? I will be wearing the same dirty sweatshirt I've worn all tournament (still unwashed because I don't want to wash out the good luck we've had so far) and doing the same exact game routine that I've been doing throughout the tourney.

Look for to the first comment I make on Monday on this blog, it will reflect my post-game emotions. Will I be happy or sad? I guess I'll find out in 31 hours from now.

GO BRUINS!

Increasing gas prices prompting people to take BART?

After a quick break in gas prices late last year, we are now seeing the prices approaching $4 again! It is projected that by summer time, we will certainly near the $3.90 - $4.00 range.

With lighter traffic on Fridays, I certainly can drive to SF from where I live. In fact, if I'm lucky, I can make it within 30 minutes, which is nearly half the time it takes for me to drive to BART, park, ride the train, wait for the company shuttle, get to work via shuttle from Civic Center station. But I don't do it!

Why don't I drive on Fridays? Because $4 toll, plus 1/5 or 1/6 tank of gas (depending on traffic both ways) of gas which comes out to $8 - $10, plus parking in SOMA which comes out to $10....all make it completely illogical for me to even try to drive to SF! If I try to park in the meters, I do save the $10 in parking costs, but I have to come out every two hours or risk a $25 ticket!

So, as much as I don't like being bound to BART's schedule and especially the company shuttle's schedule, I submit myself to it nonetheless because I do not want to spend $16-$20 just to enjoy the liberty of driving to work in the comfort of my own car.

Civic Center Station Uplift

I've been noticing that something looks different inside the CC BART station's platform level. After a couple of days, I realized that it is brighter! And in this case, brighter looks much better! It used to look so dark and depressing, making the already filthy floors look greenish. But with the new added lighting, it makes the gloomy and dirty platform level some energy...and even gives the effect that the floors and walls are cleaner! It is significantly brighter than it used to be.

It doesn't make the stains and smells less disgusting, but it does make the overall feeling a little more positive.

Now, if only they would spend some time/money powerwashing the stains and getting rid of the horrendous smell.

The power of "sorry" with a smile

I completely swung my bag into a seated passenger's head today! I think I might have done it a couple times before I realized what I did!!! Once I realized, I felt so bad! I turned around and caught the horrid and anguished facial expression of the woman who is the victim of my careless arm motions.

She looked pissed. But I was already in the middle of my sincere apologies, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you OK? Sorry about that!" I didn't quite smile but I probably had an innocent "oops! my bad" expression on my face. The woman suddenly turned from mean and angry, to nice and laughing!

She responded, "It's ok, no worries." and smiled back at me! What a 180!

Well, I was relieved. I did feel very bad. I remember being in the very same situation with people's computer bags or gym bags knocking on my head! I was pissed off too!! But they never said sorry.

Maybe some politeness and common courtesy on BART could make it more pleasant?

Watch out for the WET seat

You know there must be something wrong with a seat when the train is packed with standing passengers but everyone avoids sitting on that seat once it has been vacated by the previous passenger.

A woman in a ripped tank top and sweats (didn't get a chance to look at whether her rear was wet or not) left the seat at MacArthur. Once she got up, many people walked towards it, but only to make a funny face and quickly walk away from it.

Why? It had a big wet stain on it! It was a concentrated wet stain....a big circle that still appeared to have ample wetness. It didn't look like an old coffee stain, the edges didn't turn light brown, like other coffee stains.

I wasn't about to touch the stain to see if it's wet or dry, and neither were other passengers. We all just stared at the big wet spot, paused, and walked away. I would much rather stand than be the one to test whether the stain is dry or wet.

Finally, a man who was paying more attention to his cellphone than the seat sat down! We all looked at him, thinking, "you don't know what you just did!"

Too bad I had to leave the train before he did....I didn't have a chance to see whether the wet stain transported to his jeans.

Bring Sweet-16 back to Oakland!

Having Western Region Sweet-16 in Oakland last year was awesome! Sure, it congested 880, but locals like me can take BART there easily!!

Now, Sweet-16/Elite 8 is in San Jose! So far!!!! Traffic is just as bad there with 87, 101, 280 and 680, but there is no way for the rest of us to BART there! I guess you can take Caltrain but that is extremely limited too.

Personally, I can't believe it's been a year since my beloved Bruins pulled off the miraculous comeback against Gonzaga. I hope they can win tonight against Pitt. Go Bruins!

When doors don't open

I think there is a little claustophobia in all of us. If not that, then it must be extreme impatience.

It was raining this morning, and as I've come to expect, BART was late (9 minutes to be exact). The train was overly crowded. When we finally arrived in Embarcadero, passengers crowded around the doors. They heard a "ding", but the doors didn't open. A few seconds later, another "ding". Door still cannot open. The train operator finally announced that we were having door mechanical problems. We then heard a few more "dings". People waiting by the doors were getting very very uncomfortable. I don't get off until Civic Center so I was just watching them.

People were breathing heavily. Some were sighing out loud. Many shook their heads repeatedly while they waited and waited. A few even complained verbally, mumbling, "This is great. Just what I need" or "Damn it, we're trapped". Everyone around the door looked so uneasy and upset.

After one minute (pretty long for a door to open upon arrival), the doors opened and people dashed out like mad!

The door problem was fixed at the Powell station. We had to wait an extra 2 or 3 minutes. I was already late for my connecting shuttle so I just calmly waited.

Interesting observation though! We do live in a very impatient society. And I am one of the impatient people.

Ultimate Rudeness and my BART passenger personality breakdown

There are 4 types of BART passengers: A) the ones that are always considerate and polite, B) the ones that are innocently clueless but don't mean to be inconsiderate and are willing to correct their actions when told, C) the ones who are considerate and polite most of the time but can react negatively when provoked, and finally, D) the ones that are just plain rude and could give a damn what you tell them to do or not do! (I fall in type C)

Today, a man in his 30s was blocking the left side of the esacalator. The right side was also completely occupied with standing passengers. This man had headsets on. He carried a huge duffle bag with him that was intruding into the space of the passenger standing right next to him on the right side of the escalator. He had a long line of people in back of him...trying to walk up the escalator. I was two behind. The woman in front of me asked this guy to please walk up because there are people behind him. He didn't even turn around. Then, the woman tapped his shoulders to tell him, and he reluctantly took off his headsets, But his response to her request was, "I ain't walking. You can walk around me." I have a lot of respect for this woman- she actually pushed him further and told him, the left is for people who want to walk up because they need to get somewhere and the right is for people who want to ride the escalator. This man replied rudely, "I told you, I ain't walking."

So, we all just stood there behind him. Finally, once he reached the top, he didn't even make way for the rest of us walking forward. He stood there, changing his CD, blocking the escalator area completely!!

Blatantly rude and inconsiderate! There are just people like that out there!! I find that most daily commuters are Type C BART passenger profile like me. The infrequent BART to SFO riders are often Type B. Type A profiled BART passengers are very rare but always pleasant to encounter because they are the ones that actually give up their seat for people, even when they're not in one of the exit seats. Type Ds are the ultimate worst!

Wow, don't forget to check out the "ad movie" on BART!

Did you guys read this? BART will debut a "moving" ad placed in between Embarcadero and Montgomery, made up of a series of posters. It's supposed to look like a moving picture when the train speeds along. I have to be sure to check it out tomorrow between Embarcadero and Montgomery! On a side note, I'm ALL for more ads on BART! I don't care. I'm sitting there anyways...if they can generate more ad revenues, perhaps one day they will decrease ticket fare (hey, one can hope!) or at the least, not increase it!!

Just the laughing stock today

The morning train was 10 minutes late today! By the time it arrived in Orinda, it was extremely crowded. I barely had room to stand up straight, and certainly could not comfortably grab on to a safety bar above or in front of me due to the number of arms and hands in my way.

I've been hooked on a good novel this week and stubbornly insisted on holding my book with one hand while balancing myself on my two feet alone. I really did not want to touch someone else's hands on any of the bars (yes, it was THAT crowded!)

I made it through the Caldecott tunnel without losing my balance. As we started to decrease speed as we approached Rockridge, I was so engrossed in my book that I didn't realize that I was about to become a laughing stock.

The train came to a halt and stopped at Rockridge, causing everyone to tip over backwards. Normally, I'd just grab on to maintain my footing, but today, I was holding on to nothing...except my book, and my feet were not wide apart with a strong footing, instead, they were uncomfortably positioned sideways, with no balance whatsoever.

As a result, my entire body fell over....my right foot wasn't even on the ground anymore. I was literally at a 45 degree angle and lying on other standing passengers. I looked like I was a ballet dancer, balancing on one foot and arching backwards, except, I was anything BUT graceful! My hair fell all over my face. My purse dropped to the ground. I tried to grab on to something, anything, but nothing was within my reach. I tried to grab on to passengers, but they avoided me since if I held on to them, they might just fall over too. Around me, people were laughing and smiling. Finally, this woman next to me gave me a hand and pulled me up from the awkward mid-air position.

I thanked her and looked around pretending to be un-embarrassed. People were still staring and chuckling. How annoying! Afterwards, I decided to put my book away and grab on tight to the bar above me.

Glad to be a source of entertainment for other passengers....sheez!

I tripped and fell today. Why?

I tripped and fell (a half fall) this morning because as I was trying to avoid urine puddles outside of the Civic Center BART station, a homeless man shot out a substantial ball of spit out of his mouth towards my direction. The spit, more like a solid mass than liquid, landed about where my next foot step would land, causing me to maneauver a last second change in step, tripping over myself.

I arrived at work and glanced through the headlines on sfgate.com and saw Rachel Gordon's article today citing that there is growing dissatisfaction with BART train and station cleanliness. I agree with the survey results and the interviewees in the article. Issues cited were: "The new findings found growing concern about cleanliness, the noise level on trains, dirty station restrooms, the condition of the train windows, the appearance of the train exteriors, grubby stations and the availability of parking". It also cited a decline of 6.9 % in number of people saying that BART is clean. I want to know the percentage of riders who actually said BART was clean.

Cleanliness certainly is a huge problem with BART. I don't care much about noise level on trains, appearance of train exteriors, and I actually pay a bundle for my reserved parking space (expensive but beats circling aimlessly for a space or missing trains because of lack of parking). But, almost daily, I find something on the train or at the station that completely grosses me out. Yesterday, there was a sticky and wet cough drop just lying on an empty seat. Earlier in the week, someone apparently made an imprint of their oily face on the window-- I could see the facial definitions (through the oil imprint) and an imprint of the lips, complete with a small speck of a leftover crumb. And let's not forget my experience this morning with urine puddles and flying spit. Civic Center station just smells from all angles, inside and out! It is time to POWERWASH the station entrances and even the platforms!

What will be done about this? Is cleanliness a priority for BART? Does BART plan to make a visible improvement? The verdict is still to be determined, but I will be watching and observing closely.

Free MUNI? Good or bad?

You guys have all heard the statement from Newsom. He has asked transit officials to study eliminating fares on city buses, streetcars and cable cars and stated that it is feasible.

Call me a cynic, but the first thing that popped in my head was not the $$ we will save but the homeless population that will be taking refuge in the buses, streetcars and cable cars. They already do! It's already a problem when a homeless person sleeps in a MUNI bus....they tend to smell and the scent carries heavily throughout the vehicle. It's not pleasant. I can't even imagine what it will be like if MUNI is free for all!

Growing # of BART tickets for sale on Craigslist

As I'm browsing Craigslist for NCAA tournament tickets (GO UCLA BRUINS!!!) the past couple of months, I've been noticing an increasing number of postings selling high value BART tickets at lower price.

I am a daily BART commuter. I get commuter checks from my employer and use them to purchase high value tickets. I guess I could see why other people who receive commuter checks but don't actually commute, buy the high value BART tickets and sell them for personal gain. Why not make some cash? But, that just seems very wrong to me.

The ease of commerce on Craigslist encourages and nurtures these types of profit-making behavior. But selling BART tickets is not the same as selling Southwest flight vouchers, an item that is meant to be a reward for the flyer.

But many of you will probably say....who am I to judge? People will say that this is a win-win situation. The seller of the BART tickets earns some cash, while the buyer of the BART tickets saves money on regular fares. I guess the only "loser" is BART? But if this 2nd hand BART ticket sales trend becomes a big enough problem that law-abiding, daily commuters like me have to deal with YET ANOTHER fare hike, I certainly would insist BART to do something against these ticket sellers on Craigslist.

Just take a look at these in the past week alone: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/tix?query=bart

A kinder, gentler BARTmusings?

A friend of mine told me yesterday that when comparing my posts with my earlier posts back in October 2005, I've gone soft! He said that I used to be meaner and more harsh with my criticisms and observations.

Have I gone soft? After some self-reflection, I don't think I have gone soft in terms of what annoys me, what pisses me off, and what I can't tolerate during my BART commute. My tolerance level definitely has not gone up, that's for sure. However, I do admit that whereas my earlier posts were more straight out bashing and full descriptions of my thought process, I now think twice, and from differing perspectives, before I write something.

Since the article on Contra Costa Times last summer, I do receive periodic comments or personal emails from train operators, station agents, BART management, handicapped passengers, anti-BART commuters, daily BART commuters, homeless advocates...etc expressing their opinions about what I write. Hearing from people has made me think for a bit from differing perspectives, although I still write what's on my mind. Also, I have to say it is true that there have been more posts about BART improvement areas and why we need them than flat out bashings.

So, the answer to the question, have I gone soft? Maybe a little but I am still as annoyed as ever about delays, lack of etiquette from people, train cleanliness, station conditions, and the hundreds of other things I've complained about on BART Musings.

People who get dressed on BART

I understand that missing a train can be detrimental to some....you might even get fired for being late to an important meeting! But some people do take it a little too far. I don't care if people put on some last minute make-up touches while on BART, or perhaps comb their hair briefly on BART, but it is too much when one gets on BART straight from the shower.

I saw a woman today who walked into the train with completely drenched hair, a t-shirt that is soaked from the water in her hair, jeans and flip flops. She carried with her a large bag filled with clothes and a hair towel. She didn't get a seat so she dropped her bag on the floor, took out the towel and started drying her hair. Then, she took her soaked shirt off (she had a tank top inside) and put on a sweater she pulled out of her duffle bag. After she puts on the sweather, she took off her flip flops and slips on soaks and loafers, also taken out from her bag. Finally, she took out her make-up bag and completed her look by the time we reached the Transbay Tube. Her hair was still damp, but she combed it neatly and tied it back.

Were her actions harmful? No. Was she annoying? Not really, but I did think her dressing on BART was a bit over the top. Maybe it's just me but I have too much self-dignity to get dressed on BART. If I MUST get into work by a certain time on time, I'd much rather get up earlier, get ready in the comfort of my own home, and then get on BART.

What? Glaring at me?

The nerve of a woman today to glare and shake her head at me just because my purse (soft) accidentally bumped her right hand which was holding on to a vertical safety bar on the train. She must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed sinceI can't imagine anyone else being THAT upset just because someone's purse lightly brushed against their hands.

Just to clarify, my purse is light, clean, soft and small. It literally brushed against her hand for a split second because I was trying to scoot out of people's way as they were entering the train. The second I noticed, I mouthed "sorry!" but in return, she gave me a nasty dirty look and rolled her eyes, while shaking her head!!!!!

WHAT THE HECK???? I guess I'm not that surprised judging by her ultra-tight pulled back hair bun. I wished I hadn't been so polite to offer a "sorry". Of course I wasn't going to take her glaring and head-shaking without a reaction. I looked right back at her and raised an eyebrow to question her reaction. Who knows if she knew what I was doing...but it made me feel better at least.

Then I realized she was just an unhappy and unpleasant type of person. She got just as upset each time she saw an empty seat get taken. She also shook her head when a newbie BART passenger asked someone else if Montgomery is the 2nd or 3rd stop in SF.

Cheer up, lady. Don't let something so small get to you so much!

Pounding the doors and windows of train car #6 will not do you any good

My train was amazingly on time today despite the heavy rains. I barely made it to the platform in time but luckily I had comfortable shoes on today so I was able to sprint at good speed.

However, some people weren't so lucky. As the train doors were closing, I saw a few more people dash up the platform. One man, in particular, did not take his missing the train well at all. He was pissed off. He screamed some profanities, then proceeded to pound the door of my train (the 6th car I believe) heavily as we slowly left the platform. He pounded the doors at least 4 or 5 times.

After slamming the doors, he then started pounding the windows as he ran along (just about 12 feet along) with the train. It's as if he wanted to show all of us how pissed off he was and how inconceivable it was that we left him!

If he wanted to actually make a difference with his pounding, he should have ran up to the train operator and begged her to stop. I don't know if TOs are allowed to stop for passengers but I've seen that happen a few times.

A bad case of space invasion

I actually got a seat on BART this morning! However, I sat to the left of a man who definitely shops at Rochester Big & Tall, who was crossing his legs. His right leg was on his left knee, and because he's so tall, his right shoe kept on tapping on my leg.

At first, I didn't care about the accidental tap. Sure, I didn't like his shoe touching my jeans but I was able to forgive him since I assumed it was just a one time thing, and he'll quickly realize it and UN-CROSS his legs so that won't happen again.

He saw his crossed right foot run into my knee but he didn't do anything. As a result, his foot kept on tapping on my leg, over and over and over again, nonstop! His right leg, crossed, was completely encroaching my personal space! It's as if he was taking up 1.5 seats! How could he not know or not care that his dirty shoe was touching my clothes??? He must have felt the taps because I sure did! I wasn't about to move over, he's the one invading MY space!

A mean and long glare from me didn't propel him to move within his own seat. I was in a bad mood already (someone near me was wearing unbreathably strong cologne) so I snapped, I said in an obviously irritated tone, "Can you move your foot out of the way?"

"Oh, sorry about that, didn't know it was bothering you." he responded and finally un-crossed his legs.

RIGHT! I just LOVE to have someone's dirty shoe bump into my leg continuously on BART.

I snapped back, "It was." I then held my magazine up high and shifted my position in the opposite direction just to reiterate my discontent.

A cougar under BART tracks?

Did you guys read this today? I hope everyone, the animal and humans, come out unharmed from this situation.

Mountain lion spotted near BART tracks in Fremont

Chronicle Staff Report

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

(02-20) 13:05 PST FREMONT -- A mountain lion has been sighted under the BART tracks near Moury Avenue in Fremont, the agency said, and Animal Care and Control officers have been called to try to corral the cat, said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

The sighting was reported at 12:46 p.m. on land near BART property, and the animal did not appear to be a danger to passengers, Johnson said.

No train delays have been reported in connection with the sighting.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/20/BAGBDO80H03.DTL

one precious seat

Last night's ride home was pretty miserable. It was one of those situations where those waiting on the platform squeezed themselves in one by one, until the last person is smashed against the door; where you have to breath with your mouth instead of your nose just to void smelling the sweat and other funky scents next to you.

Everyone was hoping some people would get off at West Oakland, but only one passenger got off on my side of the train. Everyone surrounding that empty seat sort of looked at each other, no one wanted to be the "rude" one and claim the seat. The oldest of the passenger shook his head-- he didn't want to sit down. The other passengers nearby, three females, also hesitated. One female was overweight. I personally thought from afar the seat should have gone to her, but no one wanted to suggest that. 8 seconds must have past since the seat emptied, a long time considering most people usually claim an empty seat within 1 second.

Finally, one of the three women asked an elderly but healthy-looking woman about 8 feet away from her if she wanted to sit down. The elderly woman said "Sure, thank you." As she walked over towards the seat, we heard a frantic man yelling from the opposite side of the train.

The man yelled, "Excuse me, make way, watch out, coming through, watch it" as he literally PUSHED people out of the way to walk over to this one empty seat. He was soaked with sweat, his hair was wet and dripping with sweat, his jeans were more brown than blue, and his shoes looked like they've been soaked in mud. As he shoved people around in the crowded train, people tripped, dropped their computer bags, or lost their balance. Each step he took, he wiped off the sweat dripping on his face with his hands. As he got closer, he yelled and pointed, "I'm taking THAT seat right there!" as the elderly woman was about to sit down.

As the rest of us saw that, people were just disgusted by that man, both his actions and his appearance. As he sat down, he breathed loudly, "Ahh.....hurrrrr....ahhhh.....hurrrr......" and pulled up his drenched and dirty shirt to wipe down his face, revealing his upper body.

I wasn't as bothered by him taking the seat (hey, no one else wanted it bad enough), but more so his unkept appearance. Luckily, he got off at MacArthur, and so did half of the train. I was able to breath a little bit easier after that.

Train operator acting as Cupid and causing me unintentional awkwardness

Happy Valentine's Day! Lately, I've been riding a train with an operator who is always in a good mood it seems. I've written about her before...the one that used to sing songs to wish you a good day. She's tolerable most of the time, amusing occasionally, and annoying in some cases...but her perkiness really doesn't do any harm and can be refreshing at times.

Today, in addition to wishing everyone a happy Valentine's day, she went above and beyond her call of duty and announced this message at every other stop, "If you are single, just look around, introduce yourself, there are plenty of other single riders on the train who are looking for a Valentine to spend the evening with!"

I just happened to look up for a second after her announcement and accidentally made eye contact with a man. Oh god, I thought to myself, I hope he doesn't think I want to introduce myself to him! I am happily married, first of all, and secondly, he (sorry, I'm stereotyping here but he appears to be a developer/computer programmer with a long ponytail) is not my type at all!

As I was panicking inside, the man said, "Hello, I am RXXX."

Oh **it!!!!! What did the train operator get me into?? Everyone around me was looking to see if I'd respond. I didn't want to be rude and not reply...besides, maybe he is also happily married and thought I wanted to be introduced to him! Maybe he took my accidental eye contact with him as a sign? So, who am I to be rude?

I responded, "Hello, good morning," smiled, and looked back down to read my magazine. I wished I had my iPod on so I could pretend I didn't hear the TO's announcement. I held my magazine a little higher than usual hoping that he will just see my wedding band.

I was embarrassed, and I'm sure he wasn't comfortable either, especially with everyone else around us looking or listening. I was hoping he would get off at Downtown Oakland but of course not....he got off at Montgomery.

I smiled and nodded as he got up.

I wonder if the train operator caused anyone else unintentional awkwardness?? What an experience to remember!

A commute experience like a Seinfeld episode

I am a huge Seinfeld fan. I can still laugh at reruns that I've seen at least 5 times throughout my life. Many of you might not know what the heck I'm talking about, but being stuck in a bad BART delay today really reminds me of the episode titled "The Subway" where Elaine was stuck in an overcrowded subway train that stopped service and went out of power on her way to a wedding. I relate well to that episode.

Her thought process during the momentary service stop/power outage mirrors what I say to myself inside whenever I am stuck in a BART situation where I have no clue when the train will start moving again. However, with BART, half of the time, a train operator will make an audible update announcement to let us know what is causing the delay, but half of the time, we can't hear the announcement, or there is no announcement altogether, causing most of us to feel anxious, annoyed, impatient, and for some, nervous or angry. When the angry passengers start cussing aloud in a motionless and CO2 filled train, the situation worsens threefold! No one likes to be stuck inside a crowded train, but those people should try to keep their feelings to themselves, like the rest of us.

The episode also involves Jerry sitting across from a naked man: his thought process reflecting mine whenever I see a freakish character on BART, although I've yet to run into someone naked. I have, however, seen a mentally-handicapped woman wearing a beat-up sweatshirt with only pantyhose. I couldn't tell whether she knew what she was doing on BART (it seemed like she was alert although why would anyone alert wear only pantyhose with a hole-filled sweatshirt), but her revealing outfit certainly drew a lot of stares.

If you ever watch that episode (it was on last night on KTVU), you'll know what I'm talking about and how well it describes my feelings during a severe BART delay.

People who pry the train doors open just to get on!

We've all seen this! People who are running up or down the escalator as the train door is closing but they refuse to wait for the next train so they decide to risk getting bruises on their arms and legs to stick their arms/legs to pry open the doors! Generally when that happens, the doors get stuck, the train operator has to re-open and re-close several times before the train gets going again.

I guess many passengers were running late this morning since at every other stop on the way to SF, someone forced the door open as it shuts. One person even had the audacity to reach between the closing doors with less than 2 inches to spare, pulled it open, stuffed his arms in, and finally twisting his body through. He walked in looking smug, as if he's beaten the system. Unfortunately, this caused a 20 second delay in our departure.

One by one, they pry open the shutting train doors. With each "intruder", the train doors take some additional time to "normalize". After seeing 5 different people pry the doors open, it got a little old!

People who are approaching as the door shuts should just let it shut!! You've missed the train so just get in line, read your newspaper/book, and wait for the next one!!!

What do you do in that situation?

I'm sure all of us have been in this situation before. The train is uncomfortably packed. Almost every square inch of standing room has been taken. You can hardly see the carpet on the train floors anymore because of the excess number of feet. You are breathing into the person in front of you, while feeling the breath of the person in back of you right on your neck or head. Every little movement by the train causes everyone to swing left to right....any sudden movement causes you to trip over, falling into the person in front of you. It is so crowded that you can actually physically feel the lack of oxygen and the excess of CO2.

When there are THAT many people on a train, the train operator usually yells repeatedly, "There is a Pittsburg/Baypoint train just 3 minutes behind this train with plenty of room....there is a Pittsburg/Baypoint train just 3 minutes behind me with plenty of room!"

Do you actually get off the train to get out of the overcrowded train for a little more space? Do you ever see people getting off to take the next train?

For me, that's a no to both questions. I always just feel that I can endure the uncomfortable conditions in order to be home just 3 minutes earlier. I also have never seen anyone actually get off in order to ride in a more spacious train (or it's too crowded that I don't get a full view of who's in and out). Not only do I not see people get off, I actually see people lining up still trying to squeeze into the train somehow, making it unbearably crowded.

Do people get off? Do you get off? Have you witnessed an instance where that very announcement by the TO actually discourages passengers in line from getting in, while encouraging those inside to get out? Maybe people with suitcases?

Just wondering. I was in that situation today and did not get off, nor did I see others get off.

BART to San Jose

I go into San Jose once a week for work reasons. While sometimes it's a good break from BART, most of the time, I am sitting in horrendous traffic, moving at less than 25 mph, and hoping that I am on a train instead, reading a magazine or typing emails. Would I take BART to San Jose? Probably so if the total travel time is less than 75 minutes each way. Regardless, it would be wonderful to have that option.

Here's the latest on the project, as of 2/2, reported by Rachel Gordon of SF Chronicle:

The California Transportation Commission allocated $364 million Thursday to continue engineering, design work and other planning for the South Bay BART project.

The $4.7 billion project would extend BART into San Jose, Milpitas and Santa Clara, but it has not been fully funded. Backers hope to secure a mix of state, federal and regional money for it.

Please keep the homeless out of BART trains

The title is blunt but I really did not know how to soften it. I really do not like it when I see/encounter homeless people on BART, whether they are using BART as shelter/bed or asking passengers for money.

Why don't I like it? I think we, as passengers, pay a good amount of money to get to our destinations by BART. We don't expect BART to be spotless, with great service, or luxurious (we really just expect BART to be on-time, safe and not filthy), but most of us really do not want to be bothered or threatened by unauthorized people like the homeless.

I'm not heartless. I recognize that homelessness is a huge problem in SF and I wholeheartedly support some of the initiatives like SF Homeless Connect. But I don't want the homeless seeking help/shelter on a BART trian, or even a BART station!

Why not the homeless? Because 99.99% of the time, they smell like alcohol, urine, defecation, trash or sweat...or all of the above. The majority of them that I've encountered on BART are mentally unstable. Today, one homeless man somehow snuck onboard and was aggressively asking people seated in my area for "some help". He didn't take no for an answer. If you ignored him, he kept on asking you until you look at him. If you said no, he doesn't leave either and starts to question if you have pennies, nickels, dimes..etc. Even as you say no or you don't have change, he continues to shake the cup in front of your face. Worst of all, he smelled terrible!!! The fact that he stood next to you and refuses to leave only meant that we had to endure his smell for a long long time. It was bad....I had to breath with my mouth and even then, I was afraid of what type of taste his scent would leave in my mouth. It was an extremely heavy odor.

I used to give money to homeless in the station, on the train or on the street. But I'll tell you what changed me! I had volunteered in two SF Homeless Connect days in the past. What is so disheartening is that the homeless attendees don't go to the job or self-help stations, instead, they just want to rush to the freebies line where they can get donated packages of items from snacks, socks, shoes...etc. I understand they need those items, but there are so many resources there for them to actually get out of the condition that they are in PERMANENTLY! Most, I observed, did not even stop by the job or self-help lines. While I still believe in the Homeless Connect Days, I learned that most homeless people don't want to help themselves long-term. In fact, one good example is the same homeless man sitting in front of 8th/Market Starbucks....it's been over 2 years and he still asks everyone coming out of Starbucks for change.

What is BART doing to help keep homeless people out of the trains? I can understand that keeping them out of the stations is nearly impossible to do, but what about the trains? How do they sneak through the ticket gates? Why can't train operators see them on video and ask a police officer to kindly remove them? Maybe they do that already but some still slip through.