SAN FRANCISCO- Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) provides train service throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. On Wednesday May 27, they released a 15-step plan to welcome riders back and rebuild confidence in public transit as region reopens via Twitter. They also uploaded a detailed statement of the plan on their website.
The 15 steps are:
1.Cleaning
BART is cleaning the stations and on-board train with hospital-grade disinfectant. The crews use electrostatic foggers to spray disinfecting mist on the train cars. The touchpoints in the stations are wiped down multiple times every day.
2. Run Long Trains
BART will keep running long trains all day. The purpose of doing this is to allow the riders to spread out. The riders can maintain the 6 feet social distancing on the train cars with no more than 30 people per car. Social distancing of 3 feet could be achieved with less than 60 people per car.
3. Increase Train Frequency
BART will be adding more trains during rush hours in the 15-minute slots once the train car has more than 30 people on board.
4. Pilot New Seats
BART will pilot a new type of seat that could help create space between riders. BART has been working on creating as much space to separate the riders as possible.
5. Require Face Coverings
BART will continue to require the riders (ages 13 and older) to wear face coverings.
6. Police Enforcement
BART police will enforce the requirement of face coverings and they will be stationed at fixed posts nearby the fare gates at many train stations.
7. Visual Indicators
There will be large decals, posters, and banners displayed on-board trains and stations to remind the riders of social distancing and face coverings requirement.
8. Offer Hand Sanitizer
BART will keep offering hand sanitizer at every station. There will be large signs to help people to find it.
9. Contactless Payment
BART encourages the riders to use Clipper and load funds online. This aims to reduce the lines at the ticket vending machines and the customer touchpoints.
10. Personal Hand Straps
BART will offer personal hand straps to riders. The hand straps are available for purchase by phone order, in-person at the Customer Service window at Lake Merritt Station, and on the online store.
11. Post Daily Ridership Numbers
BART will be posting daily ridership numbers to show what percentage ridership is at compared with the Pre-COVID 19 ridership. BART will also share the data of train car loading.
12. Explore New Technologies
BART will continue to explore the new technologies for transit systems in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
13. Outreach Business Community
BART will encourage employers to help spread out the commute by allowing for staggered shifts. This will also help to avoid crowding during rush hours.
14. Healthy Workforce
BART is offering COVID-19 testing to their workers. The work areas are being disinfected frequently.
15. Rebuild Infrastructure
Due to the low ridership amid pandemic, BART will accelerate infrastructure rebuilding. They want to ensure the system will be better when the riders return.
For more details on the 15-step plan and daily BART updates, visit www.bart.gov
