Bikes on BART today! Did you mind it?

If you didn't know, BART has been testing public reaction to a pilot that allows bikes on trains. A few thoughts I have there:

First, while I know why they are doing it Friday, it significantly skews results because Fridays are light for bikers and non-bikers. I haven't seen a single bike today so of course my reaction is....no negative impact, totally OK.

Second, it's rarely the actual bike (well, sometimes) that passengers can't stand. It's the biker and how he or she handles the bicycle in the train. Some know to line it to the side as quickly as possible or just not enter when it is packed to the door, others feel they have the right of way and will jam on your feet to get themselves positioned.

So, don't forget to share you feedback today but incorporate your reaction to train conditions on any other days when you share the train with bikes, and not just today, a light happy Friday!

Have a great weekend all!!

Question: Would you rather sit next to a homeless or stand?

This question has been on my mind for a couple days now. Call me weird, but I prefer to stand, even when exhausted and jam-packed in a tight train, than to sit next to a homeless man. This has happened a few times. You spot an empty seat, but see people standing around it, you think you've won the lottery by getting a seat, only to see just WHY it was empty! Let me clarify, the homeless man smelled heavily of alcohol and human waste. The seat was left empty for 3 stops, then a woman bravely took it. The homeless man stretched his arms open and hit her in the face. She cringed but remained seated. What would you do?? Take the empty seat next to the homeless man or stand? **This marks BART Musings' 600th post!! Thanks everyone for sticking with me and hearing my rants!

Escalators shutdown due to excessive human waste

After years of complaining about the smells around the Civic Center station, and more recently with a job change, the Powell Station, it is confirmed that there is, in fact, plenty of daily human waste being let out at the escalators and surrounding area. When a friend shared this SFGate article on Facebook today, I knew exactly which stations they are talking about!! I've heard it, smelled it and seen it for years! BART spokesperson Jim Allison says that BART officials must witness the action to cite. I, along with many other colleagues, have seen it happen plenty of times. I've seen fresh urine dripping down escalators and stairs from the top. Now if only BART police is present more often?!? I've seen feces piled up in a corner, I've seen pee, puke, you name it. It's not that hard to witness...just hangout near the exits during 8-9am when most of the homeless occupants wake up. There is a later crowd (the drunk ones) that wake up past 9:30am...follow them, and you will find the way!

BART Service and Maintenance Quality at ALL TIME LOW

Matier and Ross posted something disturbing but not surprising on SFGate yesterday. There are currently 28 BART escalators out of service and many have been out of service for more than 3 months. The escalator that I frequent in Powell Station has been out of service for at least 2 months. It's sitting there collecting layers of fallen leaves, trash, urine, you name it. This is ridiculous!! I've seen people with large suitcases having to lift their load upwards step by step and people with injuries or disabilities grimacing in pain as they walked up or down the stairs. BART is so poorly managed and views customer service as a low priority, if a priority at all. Just the other day, there was a turnstile with a jammed ticket (one of two open turnstiles during prime commute hours), and no booth agent in sight for at least 5 minutes to help fix the machine. Lines getting through the ticket turnstile became enormous. And is it too much to ask for the booth agents to actually politely answer a question from a tourist?? If you're working at the Powell Station, EXPECT tourists to ask questions about where to go. It is part of the job. Don't just point to the map! You are an agent, you provide service, so put in some effort to actually help someone from out of town. Enough griping for now but this is just another example of how poor service is on BART.

Another reason why we need plastic seats

What is this? Only a couple things come to mind and neither are pleasant to imagine. We badly need plastic seats on BART so we can avoid close contact with bodily fluids (or whatever it is) of any kind.

New BART seats

I finally had a chance to ride in these highly anticipated non-cloth seats that could be wiped down every so often and doesn't collect stains, dander, fluids, you name it.

My two cents? They may be hideous but they are undoubtedly more sanitary. When there is a serious passenger violation, I can whip out my bottle of Purell and do my own sanitization.

The designer, however, needs to be fired!! Look at these hideous colors!?

Hope these seats will make BART and the permanent scent a bit more bearable.

Shouldn't "No Bikes on BART" be extended to "No Shopping Carts on BART" as well??

I'm sure you all agree, you'd much rather allow a bike than a shopping cart filled with trash, old food, cans/bottles, and unwashed clothes on the train??? Right?? Well, this morning, the train operator screams over the speakers for a man with a bike to get off the train. "No bikes on this train. This is a commuter only train. Please exit right now or this train will go out of service!" Wow, I thought, with a threat and all. She's a tough one. I felt bad for the guy on the bike but continued on with my Twitter feed. Two stations later, a homeless person with a huge shopping cart, pushes his way through a crowded train. It was unbearably cramped, not to mention, the smell was also unbearable! We all waited for the train operator to shout through the intercom again, but she didn't. Someone spoke up and told the homeless man that there just isn't enough room in here, but of course, he remained inside, in fact, he sat down and even stretched his legs. At that point, all I could do was be grateful that he got on at West Oakland, and I am 5 minutes away from semi-fresh air (sorry, BART station air is not fresh.) Once we arrived at Embarcadero, everyone dashed out as fast as they could. What's the policy for shopping carts?? For homeless? Are we lenient on the homeless on purpose? I am fine with them seeking shelter in the stations, but on the trains as well? What do you guys think?

More Dogs on BART

Is it just me or are there more and more canine passengers on BART now? I don't mind personally, since I love dogs, and as long as they aren't violent to other passengers and the owners clean up any messes, I'm all for it.

Long ago, I'd only see service dogs once in a blue moon. These days, I see pets of all sizes, not service dogs, riding on BART. Some standing, some held, some crated, some sleeping and some (see picture) even taking their own seat!

Some passengers mind, but for me, it cheers me up from my dreary ride. This cute little Scottie took a seat with his owner during the whole ride.

Should BART loosen its no pets policy? I think not since there are sadly plenty of irresponsible pet owners out there that will cause problems. But maybe one pet-friendly day might be fun! No?

Another BART Irony

Thinking I'll start a series of short posts simply on BART ironies. Today, 2 of 3 turnstiles had a handwritten "NO CLIPPER" paper over the Clipper card sensors. Only, it wasn't just today, these signs have been there since last Tuesday, more than a week ago. Those of us who use Clipper cards had to form a long line to get through using the only working turnstile.

Why should commuters ditch BART tickets for Clipper cards when BART can't even get a sensor fixed in a timely manner? Just ironic given how hard BART has been pushing Clippers.

I wonder if the turnstiles will still be broken tomorrow-- somehow, I'm thinking YES.

Would you confront a high, belligerent passenger on BART?

I'm typically a pretty outspoken person but on BART, I am usually non-confrontational and try to be low profile. Very unlike my usual self but after nearly a decade of taking BART, I've also learned to just mind my own business and get the **ck out of there as soon as I can.

Yesterday evening, a drunk, drugged, belligerent homeless woman was SMOKING inside the train. I was pretty far away, fortunately, but saw the entire situation. A woman told her there's no smoking, she screamed profanity, then another passenger called the train operator, causing the homeless woman to spit on the person.

She got ejected, and on her way out, she was spitting (yes, spitting) on all the passengers in her way, screamed in people's faces and then pounded madly on the train window. The entire train was filled with smoke and stunk the entire ride.

Would I have told her to put out her cigarette? I honestly don't know. I've been verbally harassed by so many homeless near the Civic Center and Powell stations that I've learned to just walk as fast as I can, or just walk away. But yet, in any other situation, at a restaurant for example, if a patron smokes, I'd have no problems walking up to them and ask them to put the cigarette out.

What would you have done?

Monday Pet Peeves

This morning was one of the worst rides in awhile. It was a combination of many of my pet peeves in one ride but I'll share the top 5 so you're not overloaded with unpleasant visuals at the same time.

#5--
It was an overcrowded train but people kept piling on. Why can't BART have a max capacity censor that is loud and clear?? There was NO ROOM to stand, at least not straight, and people are crammed so tightly that they are practically spooning. An older woman was leaning on me for balance. If she wasn't an elderly, I would have said something.

#4--
When people are forced to smell each other, any trace of cologne makes the ride even more unpleasant. Cologne makes people sneeze, and when people are sneezing in such tight space, germs spread. Once this man with slicked back hair and powerful cologne walked in, at least 4 passengers within the vicinity started sneezing continuously, including yours truly. At least i covered my nose!! Others didn't! Let's just say I'm going to need to dry clean my pea coat!

#3--
Why won't people blocking the doors step aside to let people exit??? And even worse, when I politely step out to free up the entry, how is it that someone inside the train take my standing space??? I couldn't stand it today and reminded that person that space was mine. It was so crowded that without the space, I wouldn't fit on the train. And how can a polite action such as stepping aside to let people through end up be a punishment? I couldn't let that happen!

#2--
Large suitcase backpacks have become a trend these days. Tumi, Samsonite all make these fancy suitcases that go easily on your shoulders. The downside? They are too large to keep on during a crowded BART ride and they are dangerous. A Tumi backpack straight punched my face today when the clueless passenger turned a different direction. PLEASE, when the train is a max capacity, take your backpack down before you hurt someone.

#1--
Coffee and breakfast items on a maximum capacity train is 10X worse than it typically is. Today, the stop and go motion made several coffee cups spill, and someone's disgusting smelling sausage mcmuffin drop to the floor. Thank goodness that was a few feet from me because if that touched me in anyway, I would probably have blown up!

Let's hope the ride home will be a little more pleasant!!! This was one of the worst morning rides in awhile!! What ticks you off??

Look what greeted me as I walked onto the train this morning?

First of all, one of my many 2012 new year resolution....to update this blog more often! BART is never boring....I see and hear things everyday but I need to do a better job of jotting down my observations here!

So, we all know BART seats are disgusting. But this photo I snapped today really says it all. Whoever did this must have had QUITE a breakfast! I wonder who they'll clean it off. We know they won't be disinfecting the seats so I guess we all need to be careful to avoid any seats with stains. Oh wait, that is ALL the seats! Perhaps I shouldn't complain when I need to stand on BART...probably more sanitary.

Apologies for this graphic photo but wanted to make a point here! It doesn't get too much worse than this.

Just when I thought I've seen it all

We, the BART commuters, experience a lot of unpleasant things on BART. Whether it's rudeness, crazies, sweaty passengers, nail clippings, or food leftovers, we hold our noses, in most cases, bite our tongue and endure the 30+ minute ride.

Just when I thought I've seen it all, I experienced something for the first time. HAIRSPRAY! A woman not only did her make-up on BART but decided to do her hair on BART too. She was spraying her aerosol can like she's killing ants with Raid. She sprayed up, down, right left...the entire half of the train smelled like cheap hairspray.

I was sitting behind her, lucky me!! I fanned my magazine as furiously as I could. Other passengers turned the opposite from her. One even choked and coughed. Then, she walked up at 12th Street Station and left.

Wow. Excessive hairspray-ing on BART! That's a first!

Monday greets me with a vengeance

We all love Mondays, especially when it's dark and drizzly, which is the case today. It fires up everyone's already grumpy mood just a bit more.

And of course, a string of events during my morning commute made my Monday BART ride even more detestable. Here they are in chronological order for your amusement!

1) A couple who decided to share one remaining seat and also show their (physical) affections to the whole train.
2) Seeing a homeless man urinate inside the BART station while he is pretending to talk on the pay phone as distraction. At least he tried to hide it!
3) Being trapped behind two side by side smokers on the up escalator and getting smoke all over my face. I was a few passengers behind them but no matter, the smoke was in my face for a good 15 seconds as we all rode up the escalator.
4) Being invaded by a group of tourists who were lost going to different destinations. One after another, they asked me which way to the cable car, which way to Pier 39, which way to Farmer's Market, which way to Mission District. I was very friendly for the first couple tourists but after awhile, I started pointing people to my best guess and figured they'll have someone else to ask when they're lost again.
5) Having my building entrance be blocked by delivery crates for CVS (which is next door.) I couldn't even squeeze through and had to patiently watch them remove the crates, which took about a few minutes.
6) Oh, before I forget, at the Orinda station, I walked up just as the train doors closed and had to wait 5 more minutes.


I hope the rest of the week will be better! And let's hope the sun comes out soon. Happy Monday everyone.

Pick-up lines on BART

I've seen magic happen on BART, I really have. If you've read my blog for quite some time, you might recall the story of the sweet couple who first fell in love on BART. Well, I don't know if they are still together, but I've witnessed who they've started talking to each other on the train.

While magic happens, plenty of underwhelming pick-up attempts happen as well. I've talked about the guy who pretended that he loves knitting and the guy who freaked a women out by forcing her to sit in his vacated seat.

One very consistent pick-up strategy that surely almost always leads to no good is the foreign language "hello." What am I talking about? This is one that Asian or Latino women on BART sometimes experience. A man thinks he's impressing you by saying "hello" to you in what he thinks is your native language. Now, there are a few things wrong with that thinking. First, just say hello, we understand English. Secondly, just because we look one way doesn't mean we understand what you're trying to say. I know this is totally innocent but for the sake of the blog, do allow me to elaborate.

This has happened to me a few times. Here's the most recent example. A man comes up to me and says hello to me in Korean. I'm Taiwanese American but I've heard the Korean greeting enough times to recognize it. I politely acknowledge him with a faint smile and look down at my phone again. He then interrupts, I said hello to you in Korean. I said, I know, I'm not Korean, I'm Taiwanese American. He insists further, no way, are you sure you're not Korean? I have a lot of Korean friends and you definitely look Korean. At this point, my patience is extremely thin and I found his ignorance (likely innocent) and lack of tact awfully annoying. I could say so many things at this point but simply replied, yes, I'm sure that I'm not Korean and walked away. In the past, one man actually said to me, "oh, I love Thai food" when I told him that I'm Taiwanese American and not what he thinks I am.

I've heard this scenario a few times on BART with different women and it's pretty funny. Some respond flat out that you don't need to say hola, I can speak English, others completely ignore the attempt.

Just one more random thing to keep me entertained on BART when my Twitterfeed isn't working.

And you wonder why I hold my breath in the BART stations

Glad to know that BART is finally removing asbestos in the stations but didn't know until that point that the stations were caked with toxic paint.  Lovely.  Now I am really glad that I make a point to take a huge breath of air before entering the stations everyday.  Even if that did nothing to minimize any toxins I sucked in, I know it at least saved me from smelling the odors and bodily fluids that permeate the stations. 

No need to bond over Angry Birds

I usually spend my BART ride going through my twitter feed but whenever we're in no Internet zones, I get bored and sometimes whip out Angry Birds. I'm not obsessed with it but I do expect myself to pass at least one level at each sitting, but lately, in the more advanced rounds, I haven't been able to do so.

Anyhow, I was playing Angry Birds and struggling with a level. I knew the man next to me was looking, I could feel his breathing and unfortunately got a few whiffs of his breath. Coffee + cigarette make a bad breath combo. I ignored his staring. I tried to angle my phone so he can't see.

Then, one more failed attempt at the same level, he says, "What you need to do is hit higher first and get those blocks to roll down and hit in both directions, here let me show you." He reaches for my phone.

I did NOT want him to talk to me about Angry Birds in the middle of a crowded train and even worse, I did NOT need him to touch my phone and demonstrate it for me.

I politely said, as I moved my phone into my purse, "Oh it's OK, I'm just wasting time, I should be reading up on work stuff." I pulled out an old copy of PR Week and pretended to be engrossed thereafter.

Was I out of line??? Did I need to socialize over Angry Birds there? I am not that social on BART, I could be in the right situations, but I really did not need to make a big deal out of a game in public, and have him put his fingers all over my screen.

Powell Station construction

Does anyone know what type of work they are doing in Powell Station? Half of the walkway paths have been taped and bordered off, leaving the homeless and performers battling for limite territory. Whatever work they are doing is cutting off air supply in the station and you can smell the urine much more strongly every morning.

Are they building stores? Updating fixtures? Whatever it is, I hope the completion comes sooner rather than later. Unlike New Yorkers, people in SF don't know how to walk quickly and efficiently in one direction or the other. Here, we have a lot of people who walk leisurely in the stations, looking around left and right as if they are strolling in a park. Or, we have friends who walk in a row blocking foot traffic from both directions.

Yes, call me impatient, that's fine, I am impatient while in commute mode :)

The X-rated 5:30am crowd at Powell Station

I had to come into the office much earlier than usual this morning to present for a prospect in Chicago. Th early morning crowd outside and around Powell Station are not quite what I expected. I didn't know what to expect since most of the business crowd got off at Embarcadero and Montgomery, and Powell Station doesn't start buzzing until 8am, but wow....it was quite an experience.

First, it was interesting to see how many homeless are able to use Powell Station as their overnight sleeping hub-- I'm glad, they do no harm and at least the station is arm.

Once I got on the escalator to street level, I noticed a homeless man, not 100% sane, following me up. He started screaming, "Take off your jacket for me, baby, come on. It's not that cold out there, baby, take it off, take off your jacket, it's ok."

What the hell?? I dashed up the escalators as quickly as I could as he continued screaming his request.

I ran into the Coffee Bean to retrieve some much needed morning caffeine to pump up my energy before my presentation. Only to run into yet another obscene screamer telling me to "**ck off, you hear me, **ck you, **ck the world, yes you, look at me when I'm talking to you, **ck you."

I then walked half a block towards the office and saw at least half a dozen pee puddles (trust me, you can smell it.) Now i know why the businesses on Market Street must hose down the sidewalk every morning!!! I thank them for it!!

Interesting experience to say the least. I much rather prefer homeless who just ask me for money so they can buy a pack of cigarettes!!

When your ticket is denied...

If your BART ticket is denied at the turnstile, please don't think that you have the right to cut to the next turnstile over, in front of everyone else, and get your ticket denied yet again because there isn't enough amount left to get you through! You can try ALL the turnstiles and it still will not let you pass.

Please, do us all a favor, go back to the ticket machine and add the appropriate amount, and not frantically cut in front of everyone else lining up because you think it's the machine's fault, and not yours!

Just a tip. Thank you!