BART struggling to keep up with demand (San Francisco, Montclair: tax, transportation)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

What does this question have to do with the point of Ruth's post?

Like I said, you and jade need to go back and read her post (all the way through), think about it for a few minutes, and then respond based on what she actually wrote instead of whatever argument you two have made up in your mind.
mod cut

Everything as neither you nor her have a leg to stand on as you're talking about something you know little about. Everything you say on this subject is now irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.

[schmedes2]

As I'm reading this post, I was on a 9 car richmond train that only had 4 cars with open doors; couldn't walk between cars either. We get to macarthur about a minute ahead of another richmond train. Operator tells everyone to transfer to other train since another door wasn't closing.

Other richmond train starts to take off but stops and sits in station for another minute. Then it leaves without opening up. Then the original train leaves.

Best part was the operator saying "if it's too crowded, wait for the next richmond train." Cars were jam packed...oh, except the empty, locked ones.

Never had so many problems with public trans as with bart

[DocGoldstein]

Originally Posted by jade408

No you just didn't understand my initial point. Maybe you are the one having comprehension problems.

I said the same thing in other posts on this thread and in many others in this forum.

Your initial post and your "second" response are nothing alike. You brought up the "Pittsburgh" line when she was discussing an overall systematic capacity.

mod cut

[DocGoldstein]

Originally Posted by schmedes2

As I'm reading this post, I was on a 9 car richmond train that only had 4 cars with open doors; couldn't walk between cars either. We get to macarthur about a minute ahead of another richmond train. Operator tells everyone to transfer to other train since another door wasn't closing.

Other richmond train starts to take off but stops and sits in station for another minute. Then it leaves without opening up. Then the original train leaves.

Best part was the operator saying "if it's too crowded, wait for the next richmond train." Cars were jam packed...oh, except the empty, locked ones.

Never had so many problems with public trans as with bart

Exactly. This is what ruth is talking about. BART doesn't have the operational funds to operate all cars/trains to 100% capacity. Yes, a few trains are standing room only, but that doesn't explain why some trains are locked/empty at all except if you consider that BART has continuously had budget short falls for the past 15 years.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

Exactly. This is what ruth is talking about. BART doesn't have the operational funds to operate all cars/trains to 100% capacity. Yes, a few trains are standing room only, but that doesn't explain why some trains are locked/empty at all except if you consider that BART has continuously had budget short falls for the past 15 years.

It sounds like the person was talking about a mechanical issue with the train cars. Why would BART attach empty locked cars to a train in operation?

Also do you have any evidence of these operational budget shortfalls over the last 15 years?

[04kL4nD]

I was gone for six weeks and took BART to work for the first time this morning. 8:15 SF bound train in Oakland was absolutely insane. Where did all these people come from??

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I was gone for six weeks and took BART to work for the first time this morning. 8:15 SF bound train in Oakland was absolutely insane. Where did all these people come from??

If you want an empty train you need to wait until at least 920


I am on my phone, please forgive the typos.

[kguru]

A few months ago I was on a train that was headed to Daly City that was having the car I was riding in about to be locked until it was repaired. The problem on that particular car was too many lights going out inside. It was sent back to the East Bay as a locked car. Probably at the end of rush hour is when they took the time to remove the car from the train, as swapping out cars in the middle of rush hour might cause delays. Hopefully they can afford to better maintain the cars so that problems are caught earlier, and locked cars are a rare event. Getting more cars for BART in the new order will also be helpful so cars that are in need of repairs don't have to be in service, and during rush hours 10 car trains could be run on all lines (probably the less used Fremont lines will warrant 10 car service once the extension to San Jose is open).

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by schmedes2

As I'm reading this post, I was on a 9 car richmond train

See, "capacity" would be if the trains were running with 6-9 cars. But they're not. Often, BART runs 4-car trains. Just because those are jam-packed doesn't mean the system has reached capacity, far from it.

It sounds like there are major maintenance problems w/existing cars, too. That's a budget issue, along with purchase of new cars. So I suppose we could agree that fiscally, BART is struggling to keep up with demand. This is true. If it were fully-funded, though, these problems would vanish.

Public transport just isn't a priority in America. I think this undermining of public transport is a symptom of overall economic problems.

[DocGoldstein]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

See, "capacity" would be if the trains were running with 6-9 cars. But they're not. Often, BART runs 4-car trains. Just because those are jam-packed doesn't mean the system has reached capacity, far from it.

It sounds like there are major maintenance problems w/existing cars, too. That's a budget issue, along with purchase of new cars. So I suppose we could agree that fiscally, BART is struggling to keep up with demand. This is true. If it were fully-funded, though, these problems would vanish.

Public transport just isn't a priority in America. I think this undermining of public transport is a symptom of overall economic problems.

BART has a $7.5 BILLION dollar capital expenditures budget deficit. We're stuck with those trains for at LEAST 10-20 more years. By that time they will be approaching 70-80 years old in design.