Bart + Muni just got more expensive. No more bart plus for Muni riders (San Jose: home, transfer to)

[schmedes2]

BART - BART Plus

So dirty, crowded, poor oversight and pretty inconvenient just got more expensive?

[bmw335xi]

I like BART and think its one of the easiest and convenient systems to use in the United States.

[rkwalton]

Honestly? My only gripe about BART is that it doesn't go 24/7. It's not dirty. The cars can be if you come in after some jerk who thinks eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells out on the floor is in anyway cool. Otherwise, they keep the cars as clean as possible. They're also slowly replacing those cloth seats with the new synthetic ones (not 100% sure of the material.) They run pretty frequently except on the weekends and evenings where you get 20 minute waits between trains. I think the system will get better once the two expansions are finally done. I think the one to Warm Springs/San Jose will be done before the other as folks in Antioch/Brentwood have been waiting for years at this point.

I never used BART Plus anyway. I use a Clipper card and get hit when I get off of BART and transfer to MUNI or to AC Transit. I'm sure it's a loss for those who use it, but isn't that more the fault of the other agencies like MUNI and the other ones that have decided to no longer take the passes?

[ccm123]

I also like and ride BART a lot, all over the Bay Area. I also wish it ran later and the frequency of trains (especially during commuter hours and special events) would be increased. Overall, it's pretty convenient, but could use some improvements.

[mayorhaggar]

I'm surprised they still have BART Plus, since they're pushing Clipper so much, and you can get discounts with auto-load on Clipper. Not big discounts since BART is ridiculously expensive and refuses to reward people with monthly passes. When I moved to SF it was already hard to find anywhere that sold BART Plus tickets.

[schmedes2]

The floors are usually dirty and the cars usually smelly. They are replacing the upholstery to a plastic covering which is nice because they can now simply spray a power hose and wash everything off in one go. Let's not even get into how cramped/hot the cars are during rush hour times. It's like they turn the heat on so it's all the more miserable; they have our money already so why not turn the knife a little bit more? The no late night trains doesn't affect me personally but bothers me on principle. People go to bars in the city, right? So either they have to revert back to college and crash on a friend's couch, go home early or stay in east bay.

"I'd love to go out tonight guys, can we pick a bar close to the transbay terminal?"

Muni. Oh, muni. 1 car after 1 car subway lines jammed pack full of people. I've pleaded with them to simply add some grab handles onto the outside and let me take the risk of riding on the outside rather than wait 30 minutes for that magic car to show up with a 5 inch by 5 inch space for me to squeeze into. Or, how about the magic F line, 30 line and how ever many other lines that are so full they don't even bother stopping unless you scream out at the driver that the city is threatening to drop wages.

Being the only choice isn't convenient. It just makes them the only choices. To be fair, bart isn't that bad but it's downright insane that between the two of them, I have to plan to be at work 30 minutes early in addition to the 10-15 minutes early I like to show up so I can take into account any screw ups on their part.

Thankfully, I don't have to plan to be at home so when they screw up in that direction, I just eat a late dinner!

[Malloric]

I guess beggars can be choosers. Fares only cover about 20% of Muni's operating cost, just something to keep in mind. You're already pretty much riding it for free, but hey I guess we all want a nice cushioned leather sofa to recline in on our almost free ride too. There are bus routes that effectively parallel most parts of BART that run all night.

[rkwalton]

Good grief. I've been to Tokyo, London, Paris, Washington D.C., Chicago and a few others (basically, naming off cities with commuter rails and subways) AND I've lived in both Seoul and NYC. BART is pretty damn good compared to a lot of those places. NYC has trains that run to two of its airports, but BART goes into SFO and connects you to Oakland Airport too. If you're flying out of SFO's international terminal you don't need to transfer to another train. When it comes to cost, BART isn't cheap. I'll agree on that, but have you actually been anywhere else?

London's Tube breaks down all the time. Paris' Metro isn't 24 hours and neither is Seoul's. All systems have their faults. I think the only huge fault BART might have is cost, but since it's almost always on time, I don't mind paying almost $4 to get from Berkeley to the city. You do realize we're heading to the city via a very long underwater tunnel that has to be maintained, right? We're in earthquake country for goodness sake. From what I can tell, they keep the tracks maintained as well as the cars. Sometimes I go up to Richmond to bike to the water and there is sometimes a BART employee there at the end of the route ready to clean up the train.

I too think it sucks that BART doesn't, at least, run one train per hour from 1am-4am. However, for me, Zipcar provides a great although more expensive alternative.

When it comes to BART, at least, it seems to me like someone needs a little perspective. MUNI does need more buses and cars on the road, but I've learned ways to outsmart the system, work with it or work around it. At least it's a 24/7 system.

[bmw335xi]

I actually think BART sucks compared to major international cities such as Seoul and Hong Kong. HOWEVER, compared to major domestic cities, it ranks in the top 3.

[schmedes2]

What does Seoul or Paris have anything to do with this? They have ****ty public trans so it's ok are's ain't bad? Or the airport? I don't fly all the time but most major cities have a connect to the airport. Or big, comfy leather couches? Did I say I want a car all to myself? Big jump from "cramped, smelly and hot" to "I want a car to myself" don't you think?

No, I just want to go to work and back without wondering if it's going to take me 45 minutes or 90 minutes on a given day. Sorry if I come off spoiled if want a little more reliability between the two biggest trans companies in the area.

Please tell me some more how I'm ungrateful about inefficiency or should be grateful for poor planning? "Omg, they only collect 20% from fairs! Well then, zoom on my by for the next 20 minutes, I'm just happy there's something for me to ride here!" "Packed, 4 car richmond train? Well, no one wants to go that direction and they have an underwater tunnel to upkeep!"

Beggars can't be choosers? Can I ask one of the other 20 trans companies to step it up? Thank god I have my clipper so instead of worrying about paying a bunch of different people, I can just use that.

You know, instead of one system that has massive buying power