BART's escalators are so bad...How bad are they? They're so bad that it's news when they're fixed, not when they're broken!

OK, sorry for the borscht beltiness of that last paragraph, but it's kind of true. BART's broken escalators, a problem for the transit agency's many stations for years, grew so bad in April of 2012 that the transit agency promised to manage what it described as "unprecedented escalator outages with additional repair staff." The ultimate goal, BART said in the summer of 2012, was to get at least 95% of the transit agency's escalators in working order.

(Of course, all that went down a couple months before we discovered that the reason the Civic Center escalators were so frequently out was due to massive amounts of human defecation, but we digress.)

Two and a half years later, and the BART escalator situation has improved, a little? Compared to the 16 out-of-service escalators we faced in the spring of 2012, BART says today that only ten stations have escalator outages (note that some stations have multiple dead escalators), with varying estimated dates of repair.

Here's the rundown:

  • Platform level, Fruitvale, Millbrae, and Daly City: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Platform level, Union City: Date of death: 11/29. Estimated date of revival: 12/9. Malaise: problem with the braking system."
  • Street level, 12th Street: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, Embarcadero: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, Embarcadero: Date of death: 11/25. Estimated date of revival: 12/12. Malaise: "mechanical problem with the motor."
  • Street level, Montgomery Street: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, Powell Street: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, Civic Center/UN Plaza: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, Civic Center/UN Plaza: Date of death: 11/20. Estimated date of revival: 12/5. Malaise: "there is an electrical problem with this unit."
  • Street level, Civic Center/UN Plaza: Date of death: 11/25. Estimated date of revival: 12/24. Malaise: "ballustrade (sic, perhaps?) panals are being rebuilt."
  • Street level, 16th Street: Date of death: "recent." Date of revival: "not yet available." Malaise: "not yet available."
  • Street level, 16th Street: Date of death: 11/3. Estimated date of revival:12/5. Malaise: "there is a problem with the track mechanism.

At least, that's what we're dealing with today. In conclusion, as we noted nearly a year ago: We Are All This Rat Stuck On A BART Escalator. Or, at least we would be, if we could find an escalator that worked.