In an effort to deal with overstuffed rush-hour trains, BART will, as of Monday, make several schedule changes and do away with those dumb three-car trains. In an official announcement, BART says they hope these improvements will "help provide some crowding relief while we wait for the Fleet of the Future to arrive." And that new fleet of train cars doesn't get put into service until Fall 2016.
The changes include lengthening all Dublin/Pleasanton-Daly City trains to nine cars during commute hours, and adding trains to the Pittsburg/Bay Point-SFO line.
These improvements appear to be in response to a study from five months ago that analyzed "crush points" in the morning and evening commutes.
When the 775 new BART cars all go into service, which won't fully happen until 2021, crowding will be additionally alleviated by new seating layouts with fewer seats.
The full roster of changes is outlined below.
Pittsburg/Bay Point LineAll rush hour Pittsburg/Bay Point- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) line trains, which operate end-to-end, will be lengthened to the maximum length of 10 cars. These transbay trains also serve riders transferring from the Richmond Line in Oakland.
BART will keep trains long for an additional 15 minutes during weekday mornings on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line to accommodate the increase in riders travelling later in the morning.
Additional rush hour trips will be added to the schedule, some will provide for a wider commute widow in the AM and PM....
Introduction of limited service in reverse commute
To accommodate the higher frequency of trains in the commute direction on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line, the six morning reverse commute trains that originate at Montgomery will be running “limited” service to Pleasant Hill, bypassing Rockridge, Orinda, and Lafayette stations. These trains will be indicated on the platform signs as “Pleasant Hill/Limited.” ...
Richmond-Millbrae Line
Richmond-Millbrae service will be extended by one hour on weekday evenings, meaning an extra hour of direct service. The last train will depart Millbrae for Richmond at 9:01PM and Embarcadero at 9:33PM.
Richmond-Fremont Line
All three car trains will be lengthened to four on the Richmond/Fremont line during all non-commute times- marking the end of the three car train at BART.
Dublin/Pleasanton Line
All Dublin/Pleasanton-Daly City trains will be lengthened to nine cars during the commute period.
BART will keep trains long for an additional 15 minutes on the weekday mornings on the Dublin/Pleasanton-Daly City line to accommodate the increase in riders travelling later in the morning.
Fremont-Daly City Line
We are lengthening two of our most crowded rush hour trains in the morning and evening.
BART will keep trains long for an additional 15 minutes on the weekday mornings on the Fremont-Daly City line to accommodate the increase in riders travelling later in the morning.
BART to OAK (Oakland International Airport)
The BART to OAK (Oakland International Airport) will now run every six minutes all day until 11pm, when it will then go to every 20 minutes, for improved show-up-and-go service.
