BART can simply F! off!
So, while the majority of you on this forum are whining and bitching about menial things like other passengers not promptly recognizing your obvious superiority over them, BART is on the fast track to fucking things up for everyone by proposing a fare hike AND a reduction in services.
According to SFIst (http://sfist.com/2009/01/19/bart_wants_to_reduce_service_increa.php), BART is currently contemplating a 10% fare increase to go into effect as early as this May. If this isn't enough, they are also talking about starting service 1 hour later, and ending service 1 hour earlier. It's sucks enough that BART turns into a pumpkin at midnight, but 11pm is completely unacceptable!
If that's not enough shitty news for you, they are also "studying closing 'select' stations" on the weekends! I'll bet you top dollar that they are looking into closing my local stop -- Fruitvale.
For a transit agency that heralds itself for being one of the best, they certainly on the path to becoming one of the worst. BART needs to wake the fuck up and realize that fare hikes and a reduction in services is NOT the way to balance their inflated operating budget. The true answer is a reduction in the over-inflated incomes so that people earn a modest, simple living instead of being caught up in the money-grubbing rat-race that the human race has become accustomed to.
So, there's MY BART rage for you!
BART management: kiss my ass and wake the fuck up!
Yeah it sucks. But you seem
Yeah it sucks. But you seem to think this is a random BART decision. This is simply a function of the state budget, and the mess that Bush and the Fed have created with the credit crisis. Check this article out..
In case the article doesn't work, the first 3 paragraphs:
"If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were to fire every employee in state government tomorrow, it would easily patch California's enormous deficit, right? Not even close.
But surely shutting down all state prisons would do the trick? That, too, would only get him about a quarter of the way there.
Now what if he were to close every prison and cut off funding for health care and other services for the poor? Now we're in the ballpark."
So yeah, get mad, but get mad at the right people. California is basically bankrupt, and a few BART trains here and there will be the least of what gets cut in the coming months. I'll be happy if it runs enough to still be usable!
while those ## may be true,
while those ## may be true, there are many different ways to slice and dice in any budget. BART spent serious money only five years ago to relandscape the Ashby east side parking lot KNOWING the Ed Roberts Campus plan was in the permitting process (the parking lot with all of its irrigation piping is torn up for the construction work) so why should I believe the fare hike + service cut plan isn't a bad idea? Maybe the $91 million MTC is stealing from the Dumbarton project should be used for current riders rather than the overpriced Warm Springs boondoggle.
Exactly! The right hand
Exactly!
The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Either that, or it doesn't care.
The government is so screwed up that if they have secured the funds to do a project, they will do it no matter what and with explicit vigor if they know that at the end of it all of their efforts will be wasted.
It's time that the government pays attention to the world around them and will allow themselves to admit they are wrong.
Ah, but all this is a tangent that I certainly cannot fix. All I can do is rant my beliefs and hope they do not fall on deaf ears.
Hey government: trim the FAT, not the lean.
They said they would look
They said they would look into cutting service at select stations, but they realized that they would actually lose revenue by closing them down. So Fruitvale is safe ;)
I've said this before and I'll say it again; switch to 20-minute frequency during off-peak hours and maintain 15-minute frequency during commute hours. I understand that some people have greatly benefitted from the increase of service after 7 pm, but the bread and butter is during those commute hours, and that is where they should preserve that.
this would force me to quit
this would force me to quit my job. and god knows working in newspapers in this climate ...
Although you've come to the
Although you've come to the right place to complain, please do a search or go back a couple of pages before you accuse the people here of whining and bitching over menial things:
http://bartrage.com/node/1810
Well I can wait 20 minutes
Well I can wait 20 minutes for a train but my shift ends at midnight. I really like havig the 12:09 a.m. PBP train because the last train is ALWAYS late and it takes forever to get home on that train. This sucks. I'm so sick of BART's bullshit. I don't know how BART employees tolerate working for such a bunch of MORONS IN MANAGEMENT as BART's FAT CATS.
The train car noise is unbelievable. I think someone will sue BART for going deaf next. It is miserable going through the Trans-Bay Tube. How can BART build more stations when BART can't afford to maintain their current system and all the broken down cars. I feel like the passengers have PAID and PAID and PAID for BART through property taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, fare increases, state and federal funds, etc. Passengers shouldn't be forced to pay more or suffer less service than what we've got going now.
BART has some nerve in this economy reducing service and raising fares. Why did they even give us extra service in the first place if they were just going to take it back later. BART sucks.
Most likely, the last train
Most likely, the last train will still be the last train. Your 12:09 is probably safe. But don't tell us, tell the Board of Directors. A lot of people get off work at midnight, and use the last train.
As far as BART expanding, then contracting service, they just guessed wrong. Like a lot of people, they did not realize how bad the economy has been.
if they would stop the fare
if they would stop the fare evaders thats less that has to be cut.
An agent at Powell showed me
An agent at Powell showed me a letter that told them and the police not to arrest fare evaders..
said something about catch and release, or repremand and release..
I am going to try to get a copy, it is quite interesting.
So now is the time to evade, just be nice if stopped..
Maybe JOJO can get a copy..
BART runs FAR more frequently
BART runs FAR more frequently than almost any commuter railroad in the U.S. For example, in Chicago, trains to the suburbs run every 45 minutes to an hour. On NJ Transit, trains to New York City from Northern NJ (the equivalent of Concord to SF) run HOURLY in the evenings and cost $10 or more EACH WAY. BART is cheaper than most other commuter railroads.
As for salaries, until the budget cuts eliminated them, we had a lot of positions sitting vacant because BART didn't pay enough to attract qualified applicants. BART's salaries for educated technical and professional personnel (engineers, drafters, programmers, electricians, escalator repair people, etc) are lower than the private sector. No one is working at BART to get rich. During bad times, we get raises of zero and during good times, while others are getting 4-5% plus bonuses, we get 2%.
So, basically, the public wants more trains and more service on less revenue coming in and run by fewer people who make less money.