what is with the 8 car train shit???

Unfortunately BART does not care all that much about what the T/O's & S/A's think, they don't answer to us, they answer to the public.

In answering your question to me, of course I think my passengers should get 10 cars. If I had my way I'd program the operating software on the trains and on the rails to operate a 12 car train and just lock out the side doors on the end units, or more likely have two cars in the back locked out.

We can't put more trains on the rails (because we can't turn them around fast enough at the ends) but maybe we can make 'em longer. Oh well, someday if I get into management.....

As far as getting the service you pay for? Well I have two suggestions: The first one is my above response, the second is to start looking into where your money goes. BART is a public entity and their records are public information oh, and try not to notice the horrible math they have. The Union had independent auditors (Non ATU folks)go over the numbers and found quite a few interesting results. You would have to ask the ATU 1555 in Oakland about it because I forgot most of the details.

If BART collected money from all the fare jumpers each day, they could buy some more cars. Many of the cars they run each day have mechanical issues. Coupled with the ones that are already down, it is TOO MANY. It is also annoying that the Pittsburg/Bay Point line doesn't go out to the airport any more and you have to transfer.

hah, i can't believe i didn't think of that.

Speaking of small cars. We had a five-car DIRTY train, standing room only, at 10:58 p.m. out of Embarcadero and do you think any of these morons would move their luggage or backpacks so they only occupy one seat? Then you get the drunk who gets on at Macarthur and asks if the train is going to Pittsburg 10 plus times and just stands in the door and won't get on and won't get off. Then, of course, he has to sing and whistle the entire train ride home. I had just gotten off a 10-hour shift and asked someone if I could sit where she had her backpack and she just sneered and made some rude noises but finally moved it. I thought gheese, did you buy two tickets? Doesn't BART have enough cars for the system? BART just keeps raising fares, etc., but the system and service just keeps degrading day-by-day. I've never understood the 8 car trains during the height of the commute hour going to and from SF to Pittsburg, nothing like feeling like a piece of abused cattle. BART rather just let people vandalize the train cars so they don't have any in service because BART Police won't get off their asses and do their jobs. Half the train cars in use are already broken in one way or another. Wonder if BART's mechanics are any better than their Police Department? Often, it takes about 10 tries to get out of the station when i'm going home. I just counting stations and hope for the best. I hate it when they single track at night too. They have no respect for the evening commuter. The think everyone who is on BART is drunk so they can get away with taking 1.5 to get people home and leaving the train doors open in freezing whether while they wait at Orinda for another train to pass. You would think they would do the maintenance after midnight, especially stuff like yellow squares. To close down one side of the station because of that and single track is so lame and what horrible management.

Operator9, Are you married? I just love you! Your responses to the ignorant BART riders are always spot on and truly educational. Seriously, you inform the general public better than BART's spokesperson whats-his-face, Litton Johnson? You tell it like it is without all that public relations crap getting in the way. Keep up the good work. BART needs more employees willing to speak up the way you do.

Right, that is why the tiles are made from non-stick rubber and have traction grips built into them. They are there so that you don't slip when you enter and exit the train IN ADDITION to being a safety barrier.

As a train operator I can't blame you for seeing it that way though. It must be really stressful to enter a platform when there are passengers encroaching on the yellow line. Seriously, what kind of nightmares do you have?

ADA-The yellow "safety strip" serves the disbled more than any other purpose it might have. The bumpy surface informs the blind to STOP or else they'd end up walking off the platform. Addtionally, there is a difference in texture between the yellow tiles and the black ones. This serves to inform the blind and other vision impaired passengers where to board the train. Otherwise, they'd be walking into the sides of the train. Thanks to an ADA lawsuit against BART the disbled can now use the trains more easily. Platform announcements to identify which train is approaching...for those who can't see the flashing overhead sign; elevators (which fare evaders use to sneak on the trains) were installed after BART lost the lawsuit...that's why so many of them are on the outside of the faregates....were not installed for strollers, bicycles and shopping carts. The elevators were installed for wheelchair users and other disbled who cannot use stairs or escalators. I'm surprised the train operators don't know this about the yellow tiles.

you're kidding! 1 million per car? that sounds outrageous. So an 8 car train is $8 million?

That's exactly why BART Police should ride the trains and kick the stinky homeless off and other people who are vandalizing and trashing the cars, as well as drunk people puking and peeing all over the place. It is useless to have BART Police in their cars because people on the train don't want to wait for them to get out of their car and up to the train when something is going on.

and that's why we should all fare evade on Monday, July 10th. Get bart management to stop the fare evaders and increase the cash flow so they CAN buy new train cars; improve the station facilities; replace 30+yr old tracks; hire more police officers; and earthquake the transbay tube and Berkeley hills tunnel.