DEATH ON THE TRACKS -- Are Barriers the Suicide Solution??

It's all part of natural selection. If they can't do it a BART, they'll do it somewhere else. The barriers might just save the train delays. How long before some jackass etches the windows on all those barriers? What if the train is on fire and they don't open? I like my BART wide open. Besides it's easier to fare evade! Hehe

The cities you have named generally have only added barriers on new stations and extensions. It is rather unfair to claim this as a reason why the Bay Area lags behind, when there are far more valid reasons as to why we lag behind (lack of integrated fare collection system a-la Oyster card, long periods between trains, lack of express services, outdated rolling stock...) It would be a poor use of funds to try and retrofit all of the existing stations. That said, I think that some sort of safety barrier would be a helpful and useful safety improvement at new stations, so long as the cost was not exorbitant, and trains or stations would not need to be taken out of service due to malfunctions.

Cruel and insensitive are those people who make the selfish decision to jump in front of a train, thus subjecting everybody involved to unnecessary trauma and despair at have to deal with such a situation.

We got em' @ SFO Airport for the AirTrain, then again it has like what 5 stations?

The transit properties mentioned in the original post is a bit misleading. In Paris, the newest line with an enclosed platform system is the Madeline - brand new fully automated system. The Paris Metro, RER all have open platforms. As for New York - the 480+ stations are all open with the exception of the AirTrain connection from JFK to the subway lines. London's Underground has not only old narrow platforms, but some are curved - posing additional engineering problems.

Retrofitting BART stations with glass platform enclosures is not cost-effective. I'm not a psychiatrist, but most suicides are impulsive or if there's planning, it's done in private with little unusual notice by family members if involved. BART needs to invest its money elsewhere.

BART probably averages 5-12 suicides via train per year. Someone at BART (Police?) can probably confirm this. Usually a couple of days before, during or after a full moon cycle.

In Japan, especially at the Tokyo subway, in place of large the large ads across from the platform, they installed mirrors so that the jumper can "reflect" on what he/she is about to do. (Time Magazine citation required).

rather than stopping people from committing suicide, we need to stop allowing people intent on committing suicide from causing a scene, creating traffic jams, crippling public transportation.

there are really two ways to commit suicide: quietly (like hang yourself in your own home) or loudly (standing on a ledge of the GG bridge for 5 hours, jumping in front of a bart train, etc).

we need to figure out a way to make the loud ones less loud, and therefore less appealing. this starts with the media - don't publish reports of suicides. don't air radio broadcasts indicating that there is a jumper in a standoff with police. if someone is trying to jump from a bridge, they should erect a "reverse" suicide barrier. block the jumper from view of passing traffic (make it look like a tarp over a construction site or something) but let the dillweed jump if they want to. if someone jumps in front of a train, scrape them from the pavement and play on. i hope i sound insensitive, because i totally am.

Really the only thing that would annoy me is the delays of the train. If they want to "end it all", let them...maybe we could post "best times to suicide" .

My vote for the best times to commit suicide on bart is around 11:30 pm on a friday or saturday night at embarcadero. Rather than inconveniencing people, you would actually help them. Bar hoppers get an extra hour or so to finish partying, TOs and bart police get overtime, and you still die. Everybody wins!

If people wanna kill themselves, let 'em. Why is it society's job to try to stop this? Everyone's taxes go up, fares go up, and these people will still find a way to off themselves.