BART

Today, July 26, 2024, marks the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA protects the rights of those with disabilities and is recognized as a watershed milestone for civil rights in the U.S. More than 7% of BART riders have a disability (as self-reported in a 2022 survey), including Steven Howell and Vanessa Castro. Steven and Vanessa use BART to get just about everywhere. Says Steven: "[BART] showed me there is life out there." Hear more from the couple in the video. #ADA34

BART’s popular Fleet of the Future project has just completed one milestone, with the final car of the original contract now ready for service. The project is now entering its second phase. The last car of the original contract, car number 775, was officially certified for passenger service on Thursday, July 18th. Without missing a step, BART is now accepting cars from the second Core Capacity contract at the Hayward Test Track. “It’s remarkable how much the new cars have changed the look and feel of BART for the better,” said BART President Bevan Dufty. “These cars are delivering on the promise of being more reliable, more modern and easier to enter and exit.” In the six years since the first Fleet of the Future train first went into service, the new trains have gone from a surprising sight for riders to an everyday part of their trip. The legacy fleet was officially retired in April with a fond send off, but the fact is the new trains took over the system by replacing the old cars for all scheduled runs in September 2023. The increased pace in production and delivery of the new fleet has been essential to the transition. Car manufacturer Alstom is now delivering 20 cars a month to BART, almost twice as many as the 11 cars a month stipulated in the original delivery schedule. The quicker tempo of deliveries is one of the reasons the Fleet of the Future project is expected to come $394 million under budget. Another big cost saver was BART’s decision to have its own highly experienced staff do more of the engineering work in house. The project team, led by John Garnham, has included engineers who have successfully completed new rail car projects at other agencies. More: https://lnkd.in/ggCCxh_h

BART is making minor changes to the schedule beginning Monday, August 12, 2024, to improve key connections and to provide less crowding by better spacing of trains. Some departure times have shifted by a few minutes. The BART Trip Planner has been updated with the new schedule so riders can start planning their trips using the date August 12, 2024, and beyond. PDF timetables are available using the link below. BART shared the new schedule with all partner transit agencies in March 2024 to give time for them to ensure schedules are aligned and transfers are timed as best as possible. All Bay Area transit agencies are working together to advance schedule bid alignment (in August and January) as part of efforts to improve transfer timing across the region. Yellow line adjustments: While the intervals between trains will remain at 8 and 12 minutes, we are swapping the pattern of Pittsburg Bay Point bound and Antioch bound trains to ease crowding on the trains that serve the transfer platform. Even spacing on Orange and Green lines: Riders on the Berryessa line will experience better train spacing than ever before. The Green and Orange line will still run every 20 minutes, but trains serving the Berryessa line will now be evenly spaced 10 minutes apart. This reduces crowding and offers an option for riders every 10 minutes for those willing to transfer to complete their trip. Blue to Orange line transfer improvement at Bay Fair: BART will bring back the connection from the Blue line to the Orange line at Bay Fair. In the September 2023 schedule change, riders coming from Dublin and travelling towards Richmond were hit with a 17-minute wait at Bay Fair to make the Blue line to Orange line transfer. Instead, riders were given the option of a very tight transfer opportunity at West Oakland to a Red Line/Richmond train. The much easier connection at Bay Fair will return on August 12th. BART and Caltrain schedule coordination at Millbrae: Both BART and Caltrain will make changes to improve some of the transfers at Millbrae. The improvements will go into effect when Caltrain launches its electric service on September 21. With BART’s schedule change in August and Caltrain’s schedule change in September, ~85% of all weekday trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes at Millbrae Station. On the weekend, ~90% of trains will have a transfer between 5 and 19 minutes. 5-19 minutes allows for both systems to be off schedule a bit but still provide a reliable connection. If trains were scheduled with less than a 5-minute wait, delays would frequently break the transfer and result in a longer wait. Transfers at Millbrae don’t always line up perfectly because Caltrain has four trains per peak hour and two trains per off-peak hour while BART has three trains per hour at all times. Both systems are also limited in flexibility due to key system timing points elsewhere. https://lnkd.in/g2XYwYZw

The day many of our riders who use Civic Center Station have been waiting for has arrived. Work is now underway to install the first full array of Next Generation Fare Gates at Civic Center. The initial focus is on removing the old gates near the Seventh Street entrance to the station. It’s expected work to install the new array will take several weeks. Then we will move on to replace the next two sets of gates at Civic. The new gates feature stainless steel framed doors with polycarbonate panels, a state-of-the-art door locking mechanism, updated sensors to better detect wheelchairs and bikes, and LED lighting. These gates are the result of extensive testing of our first prototype array at West Oakland Station. The prototypes processed more than 1 million entries and exits through the first six months of this year. Tracked entries and exits at West Oakland jumped by nearly 120,000. Clipper card sales at West Oakland have also been up every month this year while systemwide card sales have been down every month since March. These numbers indicate the new gates appear to be compelling more riders to pay their fares. Next Generation Fare Gates are an important part of BART’s Safe and Clean Plan, which includes an emphasis on an expanded visible BART PD presence, more cleaning of trains and stations, and running only Fleet of the Future trains. We will replace more than 700 gates at all 50 of our stations. The goal remains to complete this work by the end of 2025. This project will bring a dramatically new look to stations as we put our riders first and ensure BART is the safest way to travel in the Bay Area.

Today, we're kicking off a series of explainer articles that highlight new data and analyses from our Role in the Region Report, released earlier this month. First up: The relationship between BART and the Bay Area's horrible traffic congestion.... What would traffic look like without BART? Much much worse. How much worse you ask? Check out the article for the full scoop: https://lnkd.in/ggrxZ88H

Atsushi Goto might be the biggest BART fan in Japan. In April, Atsushi flew to the Bay Area for just a day to attend BART's legacy fleet retirement party. He hadn't been in the Bay since 2001 when he was a 21-year-old university student touring the U.S. "I feared this was my last chance to see these trains. I could not wait any longer,” Atsushi said, speaking on a videocall from Japan. He never intended for his return to the Bay to take so many years, but between work and adult responsibilities, a return trip never came together. Atsushi couldn't take much time off from his work as an automobile designer, so he left Tokyo on Friday night, landed in SF on Friday afternoon (California is 16 hrs behind Tokyo), attended the legacy retirement party on Saturday, and then headed home that night. On his last ride, Atsushi took tons of photos, celebrated with fellow rail fans, and reflected on the 23-year-long ride that took him from his first spin on an original BART train to his final one that day. Before the train returned to the yard from Fremont Station, Atsushi “touched the train to thank it for its many years of service.” Below is a page from an old scrapbook Atsushi made after his U.S. trip. Read all about Atsushi and his whirlwind of a trip at https://lnkd.in/geDbR94G.

Last week, Calif. Governor Newsom proclaimed July Disability Pride Month. The month marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that was signed into law on July 26, 1990. More than 7% of BART riders have a disability, and BART is continuously working to make the system as easy to use as possible for every single person who rides and relies on us. Our work is ongoing. This month, BART will be celebrating riders with disabilities and the contributions they have made to our transportation system and region. We begin with the story of Harold Willson, originally published in 2022. A former coal miner in West Virginia, Willson forever changed the course of BART and public transportation in the US thanks to his tireless advocacy and belief that all riders -- regardless of physical ability -- should have access to transit. His story: https://lnkd.in/d5cK24_v Thanks to his efforts, BART was the first public transit system in the nation with accessible trains and stations. "There is a special personal pride in being the first handicapped person in a wheelchair to use a subway train,” Willson said in 1973. “I’ll never forget that sense of freedom I experienced as I boarded the BART train.” This #DisabilityPrideMonth, we salute Harold Willson for his tireless advocacy. BART would not be the same without him.

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, July 27, BART invites the public to Orinda Station for the BARTmobile’s 20th Birthday Party 🎉 . For two decades, the BARTmobile has been a fixture at local events and parades. By hosting a birthday party, we want honor its place in regional history and have an excuse to gather in a station to celebrate public transportation with our Bay Area community. Always wanted to ride in the BARTmobile? Here’s your chance! We’ll be giving members of the public free rides throughout the event. In addition to rides, you can expect: • Live DJ • Railgoods • pop-up shop (holiday merch cannot be preordered at the event, only online) • Carnival games • Face painting + temporary tattoos • Free cupcakes and kettle corn (we recommend eating lunch beforehand as no food will be sold) • Free BARTy stickers • Stamps for your BART Stamp Passport • And more family-friendly activities! The BARTmobile has quite a fun origin story, so we encourage you to brush up on your BARTy history by reading our article all about BART’s unique mascot: https://lnkd.in/gPbKQKE7 This event is part of BART’s engagement strategy to activate stations and encourage the public to ride our trains by showing off the many recent improvements we’ve made to the system. https://lnkd.in/gnBAD4R8

BART continued in 2023 to pioneer sustainability initiatives aimed at enhancing rider experience while prioritizing environmental stewardship. With a legacy rooted in forward-thinking transportation solutions, BART reaffirmed its commitment to reducing carbon footprints and advancing sustainable transit practices. The accomplishments of 2023 are detailed in the annual Sustainability Report, released today: https://lnkd.in/d8EhiuKS "BART’s sustainability efforts were all about innovation in 2023," said BART Board President Bevan Dufty. "We are dedicated to integrating creative solutions that not only improve the rider experience, our immediate priority, but also emphasize long-term sustainability." For more information on BART's sustainability initiatives and ongoing projects, visit bart.gov/sustainability.

Rebuilding BART’s core infrastructure is resulting in hundreds of fewer train delays and a boost in safety for riders. Those are some of the highlights of the just-released Measure RR Annual Report published by the program’s independent Bond Oversight Committee (BOC). The BOC’s independent oversight of the rebuilding program emphasizes cost-effectiveness, quality, and timeliness of work completion. The number of trains delayed due to outdated rail fell by more than 400 instances thanks to work that in some cases replaced track that had been in place since the start of BART service in 1972. Through March 2024, $1.81 billion of Measure RR funds have been invested in rebuilding projects. There are now 157 projects in planning, design, construction, or have been completed. A total of 61 projects are complete, including 13 projects that have been completed since the BOC issued its last annual report in 2023. Measure RR money spent, and work completed to this point, have exceeded initial expectations. Measure RR is a $3.5 billion bond measure to replace BART’s aging infrastructure that was approved by voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties in 2016. Read the 2024 Measure RR Annual Report: https://bit.ly/3LhLbpD