He said, she said...BART strike looming

Who to believe? BART management or the unions? Both sides are pointing fingers that the other is spreading falsehood. And the media is eating this game of 'he said, she said' up and presenting only the worst case scenarios to the public.

Even those within the unions are now saying different things. One says mediators will help the negotiations, the other says mediators will only slow the process and get us farther from achieving a compromise.

And who defines what is "unnecessary"? I don't remember passengers ever having the opportunity to fill out a ballot ranking what we find is necessary with BART extension plans?!?

If BART workers do strike, I am definitely going to ask my employer to allow me to telecommute. It will be more productive for me to do work in the 1.5 hours that I'd otherwise be stuck in bay bridge traffic.

BART takes its passengers for granted. We pay a handsome fee for a daily roundtrip ride to and from work. The sad truth is, we have little commute alternatives here. BART can continue to raise fares and we'd probably still have to fork out the extra mount. What else can I take? Transbay bus? I guess I could look into that as well. Carpool? I'd still be stuck on the bridge after passing the toll.

BART workers and management both claim they care about the passengers and do not want this disagreement to lead to strike. Do you believe that? Maybe they care a little but selfish interests come first of course.

This isn't Hawaii, people!

As my tweet indicated, I don't know what compels people to go shirtless and shoeless on BART just because the weather is hot. I really don't enjoy seeing people's sweaty bodies up close and could also really do without being forced to catch glances of people's feet. OK, it wasn't that many people going around without shoes and shirts but I did encounter at least 4 patrons like that today and 2 of them look like they were homeless.

You see that in Hawaii in casual eateries and the local Walmart but that's just the vibe and culture. On a BART train in the SF Bay Area during commute hours...not OK.

Metro crash

I'd like to express my sincerest sympathy to the family and friends of the 9 passengers who lost their lives during Metro crash in DC. What a frightening and horrible experience for all involved. I hope that finding the cause of this crash will bring a little bit of peace and resolve to the families and all passengers affected.

I have a friend who takes the Metro daily. I haven't heard from him yet after sending an initial email right after news of the crash broke. I really hope he's OK.

About time!

Finally...hand sanitizer by the escalators!! About time! I want to see them by the train doors too! THANK YOU, BART!

Fare hike and maybe a BART strike on July 1st?

According to SF Chronicle, BART Management and Union leaders are in negotiations to determine a compromise. Rachel Gorodn reports, "Management hopes to slice $100 million from the deficit by cutting labor costs. The proposed savings would come by diminishing health care and pension benefits and changing work rules that would give management more say over employee assignments - measures BART officials say are necessitated by the economic conditions." A pact must be reached by July 1st.

A strike, actually, will work against BART and the workers' favor. Why? A strike and sudden termination in service will only force employers to increasingly embrace telecommuting. And after realizing that productivity doesn't decline with telecommuting, guess what? BART will only lose passengers..permanently. I'm not saying all employers will allow telecommuting all of a sudden, but even if 10% of them do, that is significant revenue loss for BART.

Also on July 1st, our fares will go up by 6.1%. Watch your ticket value! Not to mention, train service will decrease starting September.

The real losers in all this drama-- passengers who rely on BART to get to work and make a living.

Two new poll questions

These two topics have always been hot buttons on this blog. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Purpose of Concord trains?

I love Concord trains. As much as I can love a BART ride home after a long exhausting day at work, I am always happy to see a Concord train over a Pittsburg/BayPoint train. Why? Because only about 50% of the passengers lining up for the P/BP train get on. Many choose to not get on even though they can just transfer. As a result, I get a 2-seater to myself usually, and really relish the space and privacy.
Why does BART still have Concord trains? There must be some logic behind it that I'm hoping to learn from one of you. I'm glad-- I like them. While others groan that it's just a Concord train, I'm always pleased to hop right on there with plenty of room to spare.

This is the 500th post of BARTMusings. Thanks for hearing me complain, question, praise and discuss through 500 experiences.

(updated in comments section) A baby boy who deserved a better life

The Chronicle reports today that the 4-month-old baby boy who died after being left alone for hours in a car at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station was identified today as Everett Carey. This whole situation was completely tragic, heartbreaking and shockingly irresponsible. I don't care how busy you are, how stressed you are with work, or how much of a rush you are in....I cannot comprehend how someone can forget to drop of a kid at daycare and just leave him inside a parked car for hours.

I really cannot even imagine how someone can forget a child in the car, in ANY situation. To me, it is appalling. And yes, I will judge in this situation. This is so sad and I hope that little Everett is somewhere up there, peacefully enjoying the life he should have had.

BART to OAK?

I'm a big fan of taking BART to SFO. There really is no better way to get to SFO from the East Bay. But, I've sensed that many people are more reluctant to take BART to OAK. I feel the same way for various reasons. For one, the Coliseum stop is not the safest station. And AirBART shuttle is not as continuous as it should be. Waiting for it both ways just make passengers less willing to use BART as an option to OAK. Then, there's the transfer requirement for those of us on the Pittsburg/Baypoint line. That makes me question whether I'd be saving any time at all by riding BART? I might as well just drive, and I do.

The biggest deterrents for me are MacArthur transfer and the occasional long gaps between AirBART shuttles.

What's your take on BARTing to OAK?

How much do "performers" make a day in the BART stations?

We always see performers in the downtown BART stations but the other day, seeing a quintet really made me wonder...do they make that much that all five of them prefer to be there over doing something else with their time? I guess if they were all unemployed, making $20 between all 5 of them is better than $0. I just can't imagine making much more than $20 each day.

I do love the music-- it picks me up in the morning when my brain isn't exactly ready to begin the day.

Do you guys give money to performers? When I used to exit at Embarcadero, I would give $1 every Friday to this old Asian man who played a traditional instrument. I can't say I liked, or knew how to enjoy, the sound of it but he seemed so dedicated to this instrument that I was compelled to at least give him $1 a week.

Anti-social BART

I'm sure most of you would agree that people tend to keep themselves on BART and those who reach out to strangers to strike up a conversation are perceived as weird or annoying 95% of the time. People who are not reading a magazine, listening to music, or engrossed in their device, generally just keep their head down or their eyes closed.

To demonstrate this anti-social nature on BART, 2 friends were standing within 4 feet from each other today, looking opposite ways. It wasn't until Embarcadero, where one was getting ready to leave and finally looked up, the two realized that they were standing next to each other the whole time. They hugged briefly and chatted for 10 seconds before one had to exit.

Interesting the extent to which people keep to themselves on BART. It's so true. I usually am glued to my iPhone or a magazine (when there's no connection). I would not know who is sitting behind or across from me!

Driving too much the past couple of days

I've had to drive the past couple of days for meetings and personal reasons. I really wish there was an easier way to go from Orinda to San Jose because 60 miles each way, 120 miles per day, can really make you age fast.

Some have suggested to me BARTing to Dublin/Pleasanton station and then take the ACE train from there. But a 2 hour trip each way just isn't possible for me! I have too many responsibilities at work and at home. During my drive home yesterday, I almost fell asleep as I was going 15 mph around the Sunol Grade. On my San Jose meeting days, I can spend up to 4 hours each day just in my car. I have to go to San Jose once a week and I really wish there is an easier option than driving. Maybe the toll lanes they are creating will help?

Already sensing effects of summer exodus

As schools start to break for summer, I'm looking forward to emptier lots and trains. Cal is out now and soon all schools will be. The freeways will move faster, coffee shops emptier in the mornings, everything will just seem smoother and less congested.

It sure will make the commute a lot easier for the rest of us!

Do you have your ticket handy before you reach the gates?

I think most of us who are daily commuters, know to have our ticket handy before we reach the ticketing gate, in order to keep the line moving at an efficient pace. I know I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when someone breaks that progression by fumbling through their purse or brief case, takes out the ticket, don't know which way the ticket should be entered, and can't find where the ticket pops back out. Or, even worse, can't figure out why the ticket keeps getting rejected. This person keeps standing in front of the line, re-entering the ticket again and again...finally, turns around and is greeted by many angry faces.

It's unfair to expect non-commuters to know the unspoken etiquette during peak hours. I don't generally react negatively when someone in front of me takes more than 5 seconds to get through, although sometimes I can't help but tell them what they're doing wrong..nicely of course.

10 minute door jam delay today because of someone prying open the doors

I was already impatiently waiting to get home when someone decided to throw his arms in to stop the closing door and pulled it open so he can come in.

The T.O. tried to close and open the doors again and again but this door was not cooperating. So, we wait.

It took 10 minutes for the door to function properly again. Meanwhile, this guy is asleep with his legs up on an empty seat.

Seats are empty for a reason

On a crowded train this evening with standing passengers at every corner, I see 2 empty seats in the back. Whenever this happens, you know that it's empty for a good reason.

I took a standing position where I can actually see the seats and saw a bunch of newspaper pages stacked up, an empty bowl of cup-o-noodle with drips of soup leaking onto the paper, a couple empty Twinkie wrappers and a black plastic bag with gum stuck on it. Throughout the entire ride, people approached the seats, noticed what was on there, made a face and remained standing. No one wanted to remove the trash (including yours truly), cleared the seat to sit down. Well, that is until one old couple needed to sit down and actually made the effort to fold up the newspaper and placed all the trash into the black bag.

I guess it just takes one person to clean up the mess. I wouldn't do it, especially not with the wet cup-o-noodle bowl. I'd rather stand than pick-up garbage from an unknown source. Apparently, at least 30 other passengers felt the same way and remained standing. It's my loss, maybe, but I'll take it standing.

$3.4 Billion Redesign Project! - WOW!

This is fantastic! Nice to know that by 2018, there will be 700 brand new BART trains! These designs are great! Any of them beat what we have available now.

And furthermore, BART is evaluating pay fares by cellphones!

Great news on a Friday morning! Welcome to the new century, BART.

The innocence of a first time BART rider

This is a very cute story, actually. Seeing this little boy made my ride home very pleasant. A little boy, maybe 4 or so, accompanied by his mom, was riding BART for the first time.

He walked in, full of energy and completely ecstatic, and yelled, "Wow, the train is so big!"

He happily skipped down the aisle and hopped onto an empty seat. He told him mom, "Look, I get to sit by the window!"

Throughout the ride, he pressed his hands against the window, brushed them up and down around the frame. He pointed at trees, houses, cars, people...he had a huge smile the entire time!

He then stretched his neck to look down both sides of the train, as far as he could, and then smiled again.

He happily swung his legs back and forth as he became mesmerized by the "view" from his window seat.

It's so innocent and adorable. He saw everything from a fresh, positive perspective. The same seat that most of think think is dirty, the same window that I think needs a deep cleaning and would never touch, and the same view that I find depressing. We all need to be reminded of the happy innocence we all once had.

BART ride with no entertainment

I always come ready with magazines or books, or come equipped with my iPhone to help keep myself preoccupied and entertained during the BART ride. This morning, not only did I forget to stuff in a magazine into my bag, my iPhone completely died after I reached Rockridge. It just would not turn on, despite maximum battery life. It's still dead as I'm typing this email.

I've become completely dependent on my iPhone to help me pass time while on the train. I do my work emails, I tweet, I read news, I update my status, I look at videoclips, I listen to music....I heavily depend on my iPhone to help me overlook all the little things that used to bug me on BART. Without it today, I was like an addict without access to source of addiction. The ride could NOT be any slower, I was feeling anxious about what was going on at work, I felt out of the loop with what's going on in the world, and I had NO outlet to vent/share my frustrations and observations!!!

In my ride home later, I'm going to have to bring along a couple trade magazines to keep myself preoccupied. Without my iPhone, I feel incomplete, as silly as that sounds.

I better get a replacement phone soon or get it fixed!!!

First mask wearer found!

I actually saw someone wearing a mask on the way to work today. Like I said, it is very common in Asia, and with the swine flu outbreak not losing any momentum, I expect to see more mask wearers on BART in the Bay Area. Apparently there are different grades of masks, and not all protect the wearer from bacteria and viruses. My parents, being the big worriers that they are, sent me a case of N95 masks. Check the CDC website for a list of certified swine flu protection masks.

Am I going to wear a mask on BART? Probably not!! But I will place one in my bag just in case I encounter someone who has all the symptoms. Meanwhile, I will continue to use drench my hands and arms in Purell after each ride.