Hey BART Newbies! Learn these rules of etiquette on BART

Daily BART commuters understand and abide by some unsaid rules on BART. It is very easy for us to spot who the newbies are. Now, don't be offended, take this lightly, you'll learn!

The past couple of days have really tested our patience, not just because of the crowds and lack of parking but also because of the disruption in etiquette and routine. There are many rules on BART but here are the top five than you must follow immediately to avoid dirty looks, curses or much worse:

1) Please keep to the RIGHT on the escalator if you choose to stand instead of walk up or down. If you feel like getting some exercise, or are in a rush, then take the left side on the escalator!

2) Whether on the right or left side of the escalator, NEVER come to a sudden halt just because you are near the end of the ride. When you suddenly put on the brakes, people in back of you will run into you, causing a domino effect. Keep walking when the escalator ends and continue walking on the floor.

3) AlWAYS have your BART ticket handy BEFORE you arrive in front of the ticket gates. Do not hold the lines but digging for your ticket in your purse, computer bag, wallet, pocket..etc.

4) Do not block the train doors when people need to enter the train. Step slightly outside of the train if you have to and let people in! The train will not leave without you. Not that close.

5) There's no need to make your way to the train door 2 minutes before your station, especially not in a crowded train. Your pushing and shoving prior to arrival make everyone around you extremely uncomfortable. There are others that will exit with you-- you will be able to get out!

I just read that the Bay Bridge will reopen by commute hours tomorrow am so newbies probably won't need to use these for awhile. Keep these handy just in case the bridge closes again (hopefully a scheduled closure, not a sudden breakdown!)

BART over-crowded due to Bay Bridge shut down-- my nightmare commute today

Where do I even begin? First, the parking situation! Everyone probably purchased a one day reserved parking pass and there were no spaces left by the time I got there! Good thing I set aside some extra time to circle the vicinity and found 3/4 of a space that I managed to squeeze into. My doors have little dents already so what's one more?? Then, the dangerously crowded platform. It was chaotic. Lines were forming from all directions.

By the time the train arrived, it was already max capacity. In the specific car I was lined up in front of, all 12-15 of us managed to squeeze on. Keep in mind that Orinda is usually not that crowded! I was practically hugging the woman in front of me-- thank goodness she was clean and pleasant, and even told me that if I needed to, I can grab on to her arms or her gym bag.

Every station was packed. The train got to be ridiculously over capacity but passengers kept on rolling in. To make things worse, it was stop and go the whole way. At the 30 minute mark (typically I'd arrive at CC station in 30 minutes), we were only at 19th Street.

Infrequent BART riders got up at 19th Street Station thinking that was Embarcadero, which caused more chaos with all the unnecessary pushing and shoving.

At West Oakland, those waiting on the platform could not get on and screamed inside the train for people to clear the path for them somehow. They managed to squeeze on and sat on the ground before there was more room by the legs than up top.

Once I finally got to CC Station, I lined up for my company shuttle. One arrived and it got to max capacity before half of us got on. I had to wait for the next.

It took me about 1.5 hours to get to work today.

CAN WE HAVE A BETTER WORK FROM HOME POLICY DURING THIS TYPE OF SITUATION?????

Bay Bridge closed indefinitely..again

BART riders beware-- go the BART stations early, claim your parking space early, pack light, be ready to stand and be pushed...because it is going to a crazy commute with the Bay Bridge closed after repaired cables crashed and struck three cars! Just now (9:30pm PT) KRON4 news reports that the closure is anticipated to be 24 hours. BART and ferries are prepared to accommodate extra riders but we know it's still going to be a mad house.

This is going to be nuts! I wish I can work from home tomorrow.

Why I will get the swine flu vaccine

I've never gotten a flu vaccine in my life-- I've always been able to fight off colds and flus within a reasonable amount of time. I'm not someone who is overly wrapped up in the swine flue pandemic scare but I will likely get the swine flu vaccine because I am a daily BART commuter; I have little control of the close contact that I have with strangers; I know nothing of their whereabouts; and most importantly, if I contract the virus, I do NOT want to give it to my 1 year old knowing the deathly impact it has on kids.

A friend of mine who works in the One Market building said someone in his office has the swine flu. How many people who work at One Market take BART?? I'd imagine a very high percentage!! We'll all be exposed to the virus at some point and I'd much rather be protected, if not for myself, for my little one.

I'm not about to wear masks any time soon but am certainly more aware of passengers with bad coughs and drippy noses around me. It is alarming although most people still do not take it seriously.

Do you care much about the swine flu?

Another great use of funding by BART management.

Awarding an "energy efficiency" contract to a company run by former Black Muslim Bakery associate. Is there really no other company in the Bay Rea that offers more experience and credibility in energy to upgrade BART's energy system? Especially when the "company" has already been tied to questionable projects under public scrutiny

Ridiculous.

This is why you shouldn't drink coffee on BART

It's been weeks since I've been able to write anything. (SORRY!) First, work got a bit crazy and then, I was out of town for business. After that, I went on a long overdue vacation and finally came back to work today.

With the rain, BART was miserable. The seats and floors were wet and sticky. The stations had puddles everywhere with rain pouring down the stairs. Then you have passengers who knowingly shook their umbrella dry inside a packed train or unknowingly placed their wet umbrella right on your bag. It was an awful ride home.

On top of it all, the train smelled like old sour coffee because some passenger spilled coffee everywhere. Imagine if this is one of the carpeted old trains-- the stain would be permanent. At least this spill can be mopped up.

Can't say I missed BART while I was gone but it is better than being stuck in traffic on a stormy day.

NEW POLL: BART..and you're there??

Have you guys seen this commercials? They're hard to miss-- they're everywhere! While I think it's great that BART is encouraging non-commute use, part of me can't help but chuckle when I see those ads. Seriously though, it is very convenient to take BART from the East Bay to some places in the city but to other destinations in SF, the total cost and time each way exceeds what a drive would entail, not to mention the hassle of having no space for yourself and your things.

So, the question is...when heading to the city on weekends, is BART your first choice in transportation?

My answer is "only on a few occasions." Most of the time we choose to drive because it is just easier with a baby and all the accompanying items. We've taken BART with the baby before, and it was fine, but the long gap in train schedules, the broken elevators, the crowded conditions and the connecting bus rides once we arrive, just make the process more difficult. Timing our drive across the bridge before the peak makes driving a heck of a lot easier than taking BART.

Suspicious carry-on on BART? No problem!!

Interesting observation this morning. A man was carrying a beat up pink paper box, one of those pink boxes you get from bakeries or donut shops. This pink box was a bit ripper up, and it had duct tape all over. It also appeared to be heavier than just donuts or a cake as the man carrying it looked like he was balancing a hefty weight as he walked out of the train and up the escalators.

I know the box could be carrying a host of things, and most likely very harmless items! But, it did look a bit suspicious with the excessive amount of duct tape wrapped around the box, in all direction, and the heavily taped corners. I didn't immediately jump to the worst conclusion but I did pause for a moment to examine the box.

I saw BART police officers straight ahead. The man with the pink box walked right past them, and the officers didn't even look twice.

Obviously nothing happened with the box, otherwise, we would have heard by now, but still, as an officer, I would have at least looked carefully for a second at this out-of-ordinary carry on.

I didn't think this was a huge concern but the box did raise some eyebrows. Just glad it's nothing bad-- maybe the man was just carrying books in the box??

Bridge opens on time unexpectedly

I guess my earlier post makes no sense now. Passengers still found trains to be overcrowded, although that could just be the result of the post-Labor Day weekend normalcy marking the official end of lower ridership due to summer.

Brace yourselves

You've heard by now that the Bay Bridge will not reopen until Wednesday at 5am due to a cracked steel link. What does this mean for BART commuters? No parking spaces, longer lines getting onto trains, jam-packed cars and more probable delays due to sudden increase in ridership. BART will be running longer trains so forget the "favorite" train habit and walk all the way down to the end of start of the train if you want to be able to breath!

Bay Bridge crosses 260,000 vehicles a day. With a sudden extended shutdown, I'm guessing tomorrow will be a bit chaotic. Friday was to problem at all since most people worked from home or took the day off. Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be a different story.

Sighting of the day

I saw a car with a green bumper sticker with white font that said, "My son just beat up your honor student."

I know people joke about those honor student bumper stickers but to actually display a bumper sticker that denotes violence...hmmm, not sure if it's just humor or if it's just plain inappropriate. I tend to think the latter.

85% says that BART does not care enough about customer service

My "non-representative" and "un-scientific" poll has closed. Just want to call that out since I've gotten comments and emails about how these poll results cannot be used as supporting data. It is simply a survey for the BARTMusings readers-- I'm not claiming that it is an AP poll by any means!!

Now, the topic at hand. 85% voted that BART does not care enough about customer service, and a surprising 14% (a bit higher than I expected, although not so surprising as many BART employees do visit this blog) voted that BART does care enough.

What I plan to do is post this survey a year from now and see if BART has made any improvements. You have a year, BART, to make us think differently.

"Out of my way!"

Saw an annoying man today who rolled people over with his 2 suitcases just to scramble to the vacated seat at the opposite end of the train. As soon as a woman vacated her seat, this man literally yelled, "Excuse me, make way, excuse me," while rolling his suitcase over several standing passengers, just to claim that seat. While he was standing earlier, he was sighing nonstop as if he was exasperated by his circumstances on BART. He is definitely a BART newbie and just had this look on his face that screams, "I do not belong here!"

I was looking at the same seat but once I saw that he started gunning for it in such a desperate fashion, I was like, "hey, it's all yours!"

What a fool. Go take a cab then if you can't take standing on BART.

Getting territorial at the Civic Center station

There seems to be an increase in station performers these days. Today, a female guitarist/singer with a dog got upset at 2 younger guitarists for getting too close to her "zone". In the short conversation that I overheard, she was saying that there are some rules around here and that they need to find another area in the opposite of the station because she is typically here on Wednesdays while Joe (?) is here on Thursdays.

Interesting. Her dog must have sensed her frustration and loudly barked at the "intruders". She said to them, "he is telling you to leave". The 2 young guitarists gave her a look and went looking for another corner to occupy.

Union to vote again! OT policy on the table!

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 will be voting on the newly proposed agreement from BART which includes reduced overtime, limited forced layoffs, and higher health benefits premium for workers. Although union president Jesse Hunt believes this proposal will be ratified by members, I can't imagine train operators and station agents easily giving up their cushy overtime pay!

We'll see what comes of this vote and what exactly was part of the negotiated agreement.

Hand sanitizers on trains

I know this will never happen and I certainly don't want it to happen at OUR expense since we all know by now that it would likely require 3 BART employees to install each hand sanitizer dispenser, and upon mid-way through installation, they'll need to take a break, or something like that.

But as I was riding BART to work, holding the overhead bars, I was just thinking, wouldn't it be nice if they provided sanitizers onboard, next to the doors? Grocery stores and convenience stores do it now and in most cases, I can't imagine that it would add a ton of expenses, but knowing BART's inefficiency and inability to keep a balanced budget, I don't see this happening, nor do I want to suffer the consequences of it happening.

I've written about the sanitizer they have on select platforms now. I wonder how much that costed us??

Anyhow, I carry my own bottle of Purell anyways but having sanitizers readily available could do us all some good.

Then again...the people who need it most, probably are those who won't use it anyways.

The life of a BART janitor

The same salary report reveals that BART janitors earn $96,000 average a year. I wonder how their workload is divided and if a station (or train) is ever thoroughly cleaned? I saw the same rotten food stain at the Market/8th entrance of the Civic Center station 2 days in a row.

That is just one example. I see many a spills, half full alcohol bottles..etc not cleaned up in a timely fashion. Maybe they feel that just putting a yellow signage over the spillage or trash is good enough?

On the lighter side-- Love Connection Update

Back in April, I wrote about a man and a woman exchanging phone numbers on BART. A very sweet story actually.

Today, I actually saw them again! And from what I can gather, they are a couple! They sat together and gave each other a peck when one exited first.

If this works out, I bet he'll propose on BART too.

Pro-union or pro-management? What about pro-riders???

A few commenters have shared that bartrage.com is pro-ATU and has been deleting anti-ATU comments? I haven't followed it closely enough recently to confirm whether that's true, but multiple people have chimed in about it. Some suggest that somehow ownership has changed and it is now run by BART union members?

Regardless what is the truth behind this, it is a shame that riders' comments have been censored and deleted. That's really too bad-- from what I remembered, BARTrage was a brutally honest open forum for riders to vent about anything! In fact, readers have asked me why I don't make BARTMusings.com the same format. I think of this blog as an e-editorial. I share my views and enjoy receiving feedback from everyone, whether they are positive or negative. In fact, some of the things I've written about are ideas and observations from riders.

I'm not pro-union or anti-union. Nor am I pro- or anti-management. My personal goal is to simply write about issues, serious, light or plain silly ones, that riders deal with on a daily basis.

BART labor agreement reached but riders still lose long term

Although the strike is averted, this drawn out and very public dispute between BART management and employees have only divulged the ugliest, greediest and most dysfunctional side of the transit system that all of us depend on.

We ride BART mainly because we have to, to earn our livelihood. We pay nearly $10 a day to cross the Bay with arrival as our only expectation. We've come to not expect any comfort, timeliness, helpfulness or cleanliness. The bottom line is...riders will continue to lose. Fares will increase yet again and again to compensate for unjustified deficits.

While BART operations will carry on as usual tomorrow, I, and many others, now feel an increased bitterness that these BART employees who put minimal effort into their jobs, who will continue to deliver the minimal, will earn double the average Bay Area salary at our expense.

Thank you, BART, for opening our eyes and showing what type of organization this is.