Since I live and work in the city, I rarely depend on the needs of Bay Area Rapid Transit. Every now and then, however, when I don’t have a ride to SFO or want to venture out to Oakland for a Warriors game, BART is all I have. And, honestly, it has gotten me from point A to point B without any difficulty.

Even though I am content with its current state, BART officials aren’t. They want better. It was announced today that BART is replacing its 669 current cars with 700 brand new, state of the art cars. The current 669 cars have been used since 1972, when BART first opened. The 700 brand new cars are scheduled to be piloted in 2014, and to be fully complete by 2024. 

What are the designers and officials aiming to address?

1. Increase capacity (BART now carries 350,000 riders/day. By 2035, that number is expected to increase to 500,000/day.)

2. Reduce station stop time to meet the anticipated demands by adding a third door to the car.

3. Types of seats? Hard or Cushioned? How wide? What color? How much leg room? How many? Seating vs standing room?

4. Improvement of communication with passengers, with automated voice messages and and electronic signs. 

5. And of course, being the Green city that we are, officials are looking to make these new cars more eco-friendly with ways to reuse propulsion energy and install more energy efficient heating, lighting, and cooling systems. 

Hmmm..so maybe with all these anticipated changes, living and getting around in the East Bay may not be so bad??

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.