Random suggestions
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
- Designated (and enforced) "quiet cars"
- Stand right/walk left announcements and signs on the escalators (see London Underground for example)
- ZipCar/City Car Share stations at the terminuses for each line (esp. Fremont and Millbrae)
- BART to San Jose ( :-D )
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I totally second #1, and #6.
I totally second #1, and #6. #3 would be really nice as well. But god I remember so many times running up the escalator to catch my train only to realize it was for the opposite direction. Blah.
Please please PLEASE someone
Please please PLEASE someone make this happen:
Stand right/walk left announcements and signs on the escalators (see London Underground for example)
BART isn't the mall, kids!
A next train sign near the entrance would be great too. Such easy things to do.
• Displays near the station
• 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?")
in the meantime, there's always the low-tech solution of asking (a friendly, if present) S/A. i've done this at walnut creek, which has no TIMS display. (walnut creek also has the telltale "train-traveling-the-aerial-structure-over-I-680-roar".) found in the extension stations, TIMS displays, as unreliable as they can sometimes be, are pretty useful when you hear a train arriving and are not sure which direction it's headed or to find out how much time there is until the next train, so you can avoid the air and noise pollution from waiting on the platform (bay point, castro valley, dublin).
i've seen this concept mentioned (in planning documents, i think. SRTP?), but i think what's holding it back, at this point, is $$$.
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• 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
sure.
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• Designated (and enforced) "quiet cars"
would be nice, but enforcement would be... unlikely. new personnel (conductors?) or BART police (issue citations for noise violations?) and let's not forget the noise made in the subway (24th st to glen park, anyone?) and on the aerial structures-- would silencing cell phone yakkers (a good cause!) result in an overall marked improvement in ride quality?
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• Stand right/walk left announcements and signs on the escalators (see London Underground for example)
would be wonderful, if people would pay attention. it would be nice, however, to have a visual aid to refer to when trying to get someone to move to the right.
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• ZipCar/City Car Share stations at the terminuses for each line (esp. Fremont and Millbrae)
why stop there? why not have a car share pod at each station (that has parking) to aid in that "last mile". this would be very useful at suburban stations, where transit is lacking, especially at nights and on weekends.
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• BART to San Jose
caltrain metro east.
• Stand right/walk left
• Stand right/walk left announcements and signs on the escalators (see London Underground for example)
would be wonderful, if people would pay attention. it would be nice, however, to have a visual aid to refer to when trying to get someone to move to the right.
On the underground, they actually have speakers that you can only hear when you're on the escalators that announce this quite repetitively--it usually gets the point across....
i find that a knee in the
i find that a knee in the patootie usually gets the point across as well. honestly, i have no clue what is with the left-side standers. they are probably the same douchebags that drive 55 in the "fast" lane.
Damn karmas a bitch. So I am
Damn karmas a bitch. So I am heading down the escalator from sansome just a few minutes ago and attempt to pass an old fat guy who is standing slightly right of center, but definitely not leaving adequate room for walkers. As I accelerate to execute the pass, he decides to fluff his hair. This fluff results in him elbowing me in the chest. Asswipe. Anyway, I'm glad he was old and fat, because slow tubby elbows hurt much less than fast bony ones. Dick.
Hair fluffing on a down
Hair fluffing on a down escalator? That's disgusting. I propose: "No hair fluffing on BART!"
How about just taking care of
How about just taking care of ALL personal grooming at home?
i find that a knee in the
i find that a knee in the patootie usually gets the point across as well.
How about being booked for assault or battery?
Would any of you actually go as far as to assault another person because they refused to move to allow you to charge past them?
Walking on escalators is dangerous to begin with (see previous post), but it would make my day to charge someone with aggravated battery (a felony) for doing something as stupid as pushing another person, causing them to lose their balance (and possibly fall and suffer great bodily harm).
C'mon people. If you're in that big of a rush, take the fuckin' stairs.
Simma down shrapnel. I'm not
Simma down shrapnel. I'm not gonna knee anyone in the patootie for standing on the escalator. I should have put one of them newfangled smily faces next to my post like all the kiddies are using these days so you know I wasn't serious. ;-)
So if I have to push my way
So if I have to push my way off a crowded train is that aggravated battery?
People who block the escalators are a nuisance. It's more dangerous to be stuck on an escaltor which totally disrupts the flow of passengers in and out of the station. The very rare chance that the escalator will stop is just as bad for the walkers as the standers.
In my 30+ years of walking on escaltors this has never been an issue. However the kids who stand, not paying attention (which you have to do when you walk) are the ones whose shoelaces/fingers/clothes get caught in the escalator and we all know what happens next.
The real question here is why people who put their babies/strollers on the escalators aren't reported to CPS. Use the elevators you morons!
i agree with the pushing your
i agree with the pushing your way off the train thing. i have had no choice but to go shoulder first into people trying to get on the train that weren't allowing me and others time to exit. try riding backwards a station or two during commute hours in the financial district. guaranteed you will have difficulty getting off the train, even if you are standing right at the doors when they open.
the WORST are the morons that get to the bottom of the escalator and then just STOP. dear douchebag: an escalator is a MOVING WALKWAY. if you don't move clear of the area at the bottom, there is going to be a major pile-up of bodies behind you. either that, or my knee is going to be in your patootie.
"Caltrain Metro
"Caltrain Metro East"?
Puhlease, LMA-oh. That has about as much chance as the Tyson's Corner Subway in Virginia. There are a lot of things wrong with the SVRTCP (including a very awkward acronym), but if anything gets built in San Jose, it is likely to be the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor Project (www.svrtc-vta.org).
Caltrain riders love their tables and bathrooms, but BART carries 10 times the riders. Caltrain is not even in the same league as BART.