50 Years of BART: Prototypes That Started It All
The iconic original BART (San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District) car could have looked very different.
Author: Bay Area Rapid Transit Communications Department
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50 Years of BART: The Most Iconic BART Ads
“Take your BART, please!” If memes existed in the late 1980s, comedian Henny Youngman would undoubtedly have become one with these four words–a take on his signature phrase, “Take my wife, please.”
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BART Deputy Chief of Police on BART’s 1972 Opening Day and a Lifetime Riding Trains
For almost-three-year-old Kevin Franklin, riding BART for the first time was something of a wonder. The trains were big, shiny, and fast. The stations, grandiose and cathedral-like. And the people watching, unparalleled.
BART: Power of Art in Times of Tragedy
“It’s incredibly important to keep this history alive because, even though it happened 80 years ago, with Executive Order 9066, it’s still a history not everyone knows. It hasn’t been covered extensively in the history books. This exhibition is a place for remembrance and acknowledgement, education and healing.” —Na Omi Judy Shintani, Curator, “Tanforan Incarceration 1942; Resilience Behind Barbed Wire”
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Podcast: An Inside Look at BART’s Complex Scheduling Dance
Changes coming in September will revolutionize BART’s schedule by adding a layer of consistency in the timing of trains across all seven days of the week that will be unlike anything BART riders have experienced in the last 50 years. The latest edition of BART’s podcast series “Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART” explores what the schedule change means for you and takes an inside look at everything you’ve ever wanted to know about how the schedule is made.
50 Years of BART: Behind-the-Scenes Movie Filming
There’s an early scene in 2006 hit film “The Pursuit of Happyness” in which Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, races to catch a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train with the bone density scanner he’s hawking. Gardner makes it on the train, but the doors slam shut on his hand that holds the prized scanner.
Bah Bah BART: Grazing Goats Are Back, Reducing Fire Danger
Editor’s Note: In another rather offbeat story, Bay Area Rapid Transit employs goats for brush cutting and “lawn maintenance” on some portions of its right-of-way prone to trackside fire. We thought this rather innovative use of natural resources would grab your attention, not get your goat. — William C. Vantuono
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How One BART Track Operator Forged Her Own Path
Editor’s Comment: Here, courtesy of Bay Area Rapid Transit, is an inspiring story of a young Vietnamese immigrant who, seeking a better life, came to the United States. Thu Nguyen is just one example of how the rail industry is embracing ethnic, cultural, racial and gender diversity. She, and others like her, are the future, not only of rail, but of America. This story was written for the general public—hence, the simplified, “non-railroad-jargon” language, but it’s well worth reading for us “industry folk.” – William C. Vantuono
BART: Why El Cerrito del Norte Station Isn’t For the Birds
Editor’s Note: In this rather offbeat story, Bay Area Rapid Transit has turned to a hawk for ridding pesky pigeons from perching and dropping “presents” on unsuspecting passengers on the train platform. — William C. Vantuono
50 Years of Service: Inside the Original BART Cars
Upholstered seats, gold plush carpet, tinted windows—the original San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) cars were the epitome of stylish design and comfort.