InsideTransit

Just about a month ago, I wrote about the San Francisco transit agency BART and how they are looking for riders to give them feedback about new seating options in the manufacture of their new trains. I noted, “I don’t know about you but I often wonder just what might be stewing under the fabric seats the subway cars use. They often look “stained” and sometimes there are some interesting smells also coming from the seat region.”

Today the New York Times has a long article (don’t read it if you just ate) about the condition of the seats on BART. You see BART trains use fabric seats (why I don’t know) and they apparently hold germs better than a running back carrying the football.

Some notes from the NYT post:

• “Fecal and skin-borne bacteria resistant to antibiotics were found in a seat on a train headed from Daly City to Dublin/Pleasanton. Further testing on the skin-borne bacteria showed characteristics of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the drug-resistant bacterium that causes potentially lethal infections…”
• “High concentrations of at least nine bacteria strains and several types of mold were found on the seat. Even after Ms. Franklin cleaned the cushion with an alcohol wipe, potentially harmful bacteria were found growing in the fabric.”

Just think about it – if that nasty bacteria transfers to your backside of your pants, you could be carrying that nasty crap on your ass all day.

With all of the heavy budget cuts hitting transit agencies across the U.S., it seems there are also less transit cleaners which may make for even dirtier trains in the future.

Everytime I visit San Francisco, I take the BART subway system from either the San Francisco or Oakland Airports. The system seems pretty reliable, is never that crowded and there are typically escalators and/elevators which help with luggage. I wish the system offered air conditioning but I guess most of the year it’s not needed in SF. I don’t know about you but I often wonder just what might be stewing under the fabric seats the subway cars use. They often look “stained” and sometimes there are some interesting smells also coming from the seat region.

Well it appears we will now be able to provide feedback to the BART officials as to what type of seating should be used in the next generation of subway cars that BART will purchase.

BART web producer Melissa Jordan has a post detailing how BART will allow customers (aka passengers/riders) to test out a variety of different seating choices and options to see which makes their ass as comfy as possible for their daily travels. Personally I prefer the NYC hard plastic style to the current BART fabric style. I also prefer bench seating versus the custom molded seating currently found on BART.

Jordan notes, “…there’s seat height, pitch and hip-to-knee space — considerations not always front of mind for riders.” Interestingly, BART has a very low seat height compared to other U.S. subway systems and now that I think about it – it’s always a chore to get up out of a BART seat vs. Washington or NYC.

BART seats are wider than other systems – and frankly for $8+ to get from SFO to downtown SF, they should offer me a beverage and a napkin.

If I rand BART, the first thing I would do is get some friendly, willing-to-help agents in the booths at the train stations. Otherwise I find the system to be well run.

So SF residents, get ready – the first prototype of the new train will be ready for action in 2014.

There’s Miss USA, Mrs. USA, Miss World and about 80,000 other beauty pageants each year across the world. But none are as cool as this one. German newspaper The Local is reporting that there will be a beauty pageant held in the Berlin U-Bahn.

The event will feature the same competitions as a normal pageant: swimwear, evening gown, talent and Q&A. From what we hear, there will also be a competition to see which contestant can stop the U7 bahn closest to an egg placed at the end of the station.

It looks like each contestant will be paired with a German fashion designer and the idea is to show off the designer’s clothing and also the bahn. Nothing better than an attractive woman coming together with an attractive subway car.

The winner wins a lifetime free pass on any German rail system (just kidding).

This is exciting except if you are one of the riders of the BART subway in San Francisco. As of Sunday night, the Amalgamated Transit Union has decided to strike. A strike would basically completely suspend service across the entire system.

The BART website has lots of suggestions on how to handle a strike if it happens. They include (sarcasm is mine):

• adjusting your hours – yeap that’s certainly possible for most
• telecommute – sure if you work a cash register or make coffee at a starbucks you can do that from home
• carpool – i wonder if those with vans will start gypsy service similar to that in some parts of nyc
• alternate routes – yep, you could walk all the way – wonder if they will let you walk through the bay tunnel
• ride a charter bus – this might be the best option but will still be massively overpacked with people
• bicycle – yep, another great option for 12-20 miles lol
• take other transportation

The San Francisco Chronicle has put together a forum where BART riders can express their thoughts and get help on how to commute in the event of a strike. Here’s their full post where they also note that over 340,000 daily riders use BART.

Best of luck to our bay area friends – just remember to breathe and don’t do anything that will put you on Alcatraz!