There's an interesting discussion of the BART to San Jose project and the impact that Measure B will have on that effort on the Mercury News site today.

Unfortunately, I moved out of Santa Clara County a few months ago, so I won't get to vote for it, but I really hope that the voters down there see the value and sense in this proposal and approve it. As a "special tax" it requires a 2/3rds vote, so it will be a high hurdle, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Don't have a really good one myself, but just curious:

What's the silliest mistake you've ever made related to BART?

(Mine: Was half asleep one morning and got on a SF-bound train in Fremont when I always take a Richmond one. Somehow didn't manage to notice/hear the TO's announcements at all and only noticed when we exited the tunnel, bound for West Oakland.)

Anyone have anything more amusing? :-D

File this one in the "random suggestions that will probably never get implemented" file. A few ideas that have been rattling around in my head--it would be nice to have:

• Displays near the station entrances and fare gates that show the next trains to arrive at the station (to answer the question "How much do I have to rush to get upstairs/downstairs?" or "Is that train I hear coming the one that I need to catch?")
• Speakers on the outside of the trains (or links to the station PA system) for the TOs to use to talk to the people on the platform

BART just announced the repairs they've done and the restoration of the Fremont-bound service! From http://bart.gov/news/articles/2008/news20080511.aspx:

07.07.2008

BART tests additional trains on Fremont lines

With repairs partially completed, BART is testing the operation of additional trains along a section of track impacted by damage from two May 10 fires. As long as the repaired electronic equipment continues to perform successfully, both the Fremont-Richmond and the Fremont-Daly City lines will operate Monday through Saturday. Completed repairs to one of the two control zones mean that passengers may no longer need to transfer at Bay Fair Station.

From SFGate just now:

BART trains were delayed this afternoon after a passenger was found under a train at the Montgomery Street station in San Francisco, transit officials said.

An adult woman was found beneath a train, but she did not appear to have suffered serious injuries and it is unclear whether she was struck by the train, said BART spokeswoman Luna Salaver.

My wife and I were chatting last night, and we got to wondering--why aren't there more services targeted at commuters at BART stations? A few ideas came to mind immediately as we were chatting:

So I'm about to head out for my last BART-based commute. I thought that it would be tomorrow, but it won't be thanks to the "Spare the Air Day" (couldn't that just be shortened to "Spair Day"? :-D )--I'm driving then.

Nearly 4 years of doing a San Jose-Berkeley commute is enough (drive to Fremont, then BART from there).

We're actually moving to within a few steps of the North Berkeley BART, so I'll still be using it from time to time for personal/recreational trips. (My commute will consist of a 15 minute walk! Yay!)

At around 6:05 this evening, we were stuck at 19th Street (Richmond to Fremont train).

The official explanation over the intercom was that there was a disabled train at Embarcadero holding everything up.

However, overhearing the TO's radio (I always sit with my back to the cab when I can [port side, window seat :-D ] ), I heard that the train in front of us--at 12th street--was being held for BART police. That train was finally released at 18:11 (for some reason the time stuck in my head).

So what actually happened?

Enquiring minds.....

Looks like the Bay Area transit agencies are getting together to make transit free this Thursday, which means we all get to deal with crowded trains, assorted undesirables, etc.

See http://www.mercurynews.com/mrroadshow/ci_9599910 for details.

Such fun!

(And, of course, Murphy's Law being what it is, I have an appointment in SF that day, meaning that not only do I have to ride BART, I also get to experience the loveliness that is the Muni 38-Geary line. Sigh.)

Maybe I'll just drive up.

Gee--maybe someone's listening:

There are now stacks of this flyer at the stations affected by the South Hayward Yard fire. Sounds a lot like the points raised here about this mess. It's a start. I hope they continue to increase their level of communication about this.

A question that I've been wondering about for a while, but keep forgetting to post:

A bit south of the South Hayward Yard, there's a ramp leading up to nowhere just on the east side of the tracks, with another track (a spur line or siding that doesn't get used much?) just to the east of it. It's obvious that this ramp has been abandoned for a long time (if it was ever used in the first place) as it has pretty large bushes growing on it. Does anyone know what it was (or was supposed to be) used for? Just curious....

I was on the 7:45 Fremont-SF train this morning, and something happened that I've never seen before--at BayFair station, the train overshot the platform, so the first car was completely beyond the end of the platform. Fortunately, the doors on that car didn't open (only the ones on the last 7 did). After a LONG pause, the TO had to tell those of us who were on the first car and wanted to get off to walk back to the second car and do so. Fortunately, everyone was quite nice about letting me squeeze through a crowed car.

(I have been reading this site for the last several months, but haven't had a reason to post until now. I should say that--all appearances to the contrary--I'm generally a really big fan of the BART system.)

Since the fire at South Hayward yard 2 weeks ago, there seems to be a distinct lack of urgency about getting it fixed.

It really comes across as BART just not giving a damn about whether it gets fixed and, if so, when it happens.