The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.
As we all know, if you ride BART to and from work during commute hours, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced standing shoulder-to-shoulder with someone on the train, while not even being able to move for at least 45-minutes (maybe more depending on delays).
QUESTION: When people start riding BART again, what do you think they should do to help ease congestion on the trains (more trains? limit number of passengers, etc.?), or do you think they’ll just go back to packing people in like sardines to make all the money they can?
Talk about it….
Based on everything we’ve seen from them over the years, they will milk it for every penny they can squeeze out of us plebs. I would not expect anything less.
BART couldn’t care less about its passengers. Hell would freeze over before this would change. They did nothing about homeless beggars asking for money and not observing the 6 feet spacing. Why or how would they change???
Some people will continue to WFH, so there might be less riding BART.
If most people go back to work & riding BART, more cars should be added. People need to get to work timely.
Yes, they’ll just go back to packing people in like sardines to make all the money they can.
Tough situation. There’s no current way to keep people safe from the Coronavirus on BART or any other mass transit system. Only when there is a vaccine or herd immunity will it be safe to congregate in tightly packed train cars. I don’t see how BART could spread people out and still make enough money to operate the system. If there is never herd immunity or a vaccine and most people are required to go back to work outside of their homes the traffic will indeed be a sight to behold.
Prosecuting turnstyle jumpers would drop ridership 20%…
Since BART already had a bad reputation for hygiene and safety, I think people know what to expect. The BART “experience” is not pleasant. It is difficult to say at this point that BART is headed the way of the Bullet Train, but they are going to make some big changes and drastically reduce costs long-term.
What I am hearing from people who have offices in the City and deal with commercial real estate leads me to believe that a lot of businesses will de-centralize, there will be more remote-work whenever possible, and people living in high-density housing will be looking to move into a house.
Hmm, never saw point of wall to wall flesh in a metal tube as a way to get to work. Will they go back to packing people in, YES.
Has progressive liberal Utopian fantasy of high density sardine living in “transit villages” been dealt a setback by CV-19 ? ? Will they change their goal as a result of the virus, absolutely not. View is likely similar to CA’s view of state’s pension liability, it’s the problem of future generations.
BEST solution is reduce office space in high density situations, increase working from home and start building office space in communities out towards central valley.
An speaking of money, has bart ever turned a profit ? ? ?
CA and bay area should do what Japan did in 1987, privatize.
Their operations are, sit down, . . . profitable.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2011/10/why-tokyos-privately-owned-rail-systems-work-so-well/389/
BART needn’t do anything. Let the riders decide if they want to get on a crowded train or not. If their choice brings unwanted consequences they have nobody to blame but themselves.
If you are honest, you have to admit that Bart requires a complete makeover from top to bottom.
If Covid-19 is real, Gavin would never let it open again since he cares about your health or safety so much..many things to digest..take your time
Corporation don’t care about people. They will always lie like they do
BART will continue to pack people in trains and say they have one hand sanitizer station in the station to combat the risks.
Airlines will figure out a way to cram in an additional row of seats into the same space currently available.
American healthcare will continue to put profits over the health of our people.
We will all forget about 2020 by 2022
Lets be honest. You ride any pubic transportation at your own risk. If you’re not willing to roll the dice, you need to find other means of transportation. It’s not the way it should be, it’s just the way it is.
Let’s use the logic of the Open Everything Now groups.
If you don’t like it – don’t ride it.
Freedom requires Sacrifice.
Money over People.
Let’s roll!
Yes exactly. Everything but the false and misleading last statement. There is zero evidence shutting down the economy saved lives.
Absolutely. They need an entirely new management board, including new independent directors. As you can see from the comments today of board member Janice Li, they are not especially focused on improving BART. Further, it’s clear they have nobody to answer to. If BART were publicly traded it would have had a management change years ago.
I think Bart will return to their sardine can mentality as soon as possible.
Bart is kind of like the leopard that can’t change its spots.
Realistically Barts more like a skunk. Everything Bart is and does stinks really bad and the smell won’t ever wash out.
wait, so you mean like a really stinky striped leopard? duuude
I ride BART maybe once a year. I feel sorry for those workers that ride it. I won’t be getting on it any time soon.
People in the Washington DC area complain about the Metro, and I’m sure there are problems, but it’s much better than BART.
The system needs to be improved.
Quarter of the cost, too
Occasionally used BART when our carpool was not available. Disgusting experience and that’s from someone who had to ride MUNI for the first 45 years of life. Gross. But – have a great story. Female acquaintance would BRAG about going to the opera in SF on BART travelling from Concord. Her and friend would ride AT NIGHT all dolled up (her words) in THEIR FUR COATS. The walk from BART Civic Center to the opera house must have been just dandy. So many great stories to tell – must write a book.
Since I have a lung disease I will be staying home for a long time after everything opens up
As I have noted before, BART is a cruise ship without the bar and buffet line!
BART will never change. No accountability to people who pay, Board does whatever makes them feel good.
For a couple of years in the late 1970s I took BART from the last Oakland station (Oakland West at the time) to the first SF station (Embarcadero). When they had a prolonged strike I discovered the AC Transit buses from all over the East Bay picked people up close to my house and took them over the bridge in the sun and fresh air all sitting down, directly to the old Trans Bay Terminal, which SO much nicer. BART was in it’s glory days then, Police Officers frequently walked through the trains, trains were clean, but it wasn’t for me. I’ve used BART maybe 20 times since, and each time it’s much less pleasant than the last. The only “improvement” is they don’t keep the public permanently locked out of the restrooms, which at first were intended only for BART and other transit employees. I’ve still never seen the inside of one, and I understand that’s probably for the best. BART sucks. I don’t believe any of the board has ever used it.
They have zero history of showing concern for passenger safety, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I think it’s going to be a long, hard ride for Bart to get it’s ridership back and they won’t have any fresh ideas or the infinity to do it. They’re all about those union salaries and pensions.
They could (relatively) easily retrofit their filters with higher quality n95 grade filters, there are Chinese cars being sold with this right now. Perhaps add UVC filtration systems. Could also just come down hard on toll evaders and drop ridership 10 to 20 percent that way.
The district should always strive to increase the number of trains and decrease headway between trains. However, I think it’s perfectly fine for public transit to be generally crowded. I don’t expect to ride the train alone, after all. If the trains are kept well and clean, I don’t really mind squeezing in with a bunch of other passengers.
Look to Japan for an answer. They have been ‘packing them in like sardines’ for many years. How are they going to handle it early post corona-virus?
BART could care less about its patrons. We all know that as the system has degenerated to the homeless hotel on wheels and the entitlement crowd who evade paying their fares.
It is filthy and government subsidies should be stopped.
I will no longer take BART.
Things will not change at all. Fare jumpers will still jump, the homeless will still live on the trains and defecate in them, there won’t be additional cars and offered at the rate they should come, the cars will still reek of human urine and marijuana and people will still be jammed in like sardines. Why would you expect anything different? What change would occur that would create change? Keeping the same people in charge will not change a thing. Just like the crazy politics of this State…the people get what they ask for and deserve what they get.
Smart companies will not require people to return to their offices in cities like Oakland and SF. Doesn’t make any sense except for essential staff (i.e., Admins, executive staff, technicians, etc.)
Obviously, banks, restaurants, coffee shops…these places have to re-open.
It was disgusting to ride bart before this shutdown and it will be even more sickening to see what service looks like when people start returning to offices, relying on BARF as their only source of transportation.
Imagine how nasty the local transients will look like after the SIP is lifted!
BART remains to provide us all with an example of what has gone wrong in California for decades.
Let’s pray for the better. sera sera…
As others wrote, I anticipate that many white collar workers (myself included) will continue to work from home. This would ease the amount of people on the trains, as well as on the roads. On trains, it will give essential workers who rely on public transportation more space. And it will lessen gridlock on the freeway during rush hour. Even real estate may become more attainable for many because if one can work remotely, the pressure to be close to the office lessens.
I think we all know what will happen. Fares will go up.
BART says the President doesn’t care about the and BART doesn’t care about our health or safety. I guess it’s a tie