During the already cramped, slow, and frustrating East Bay-bound commute Friday evening, several BART riders took matters into their own hands after a Pittsburg/Bay Point-bound train was about to be taken out of service due to a single door that refused to shut. Knowing that — almost literally — they may never make it home that night if they were forced off this train, several riders dropped everything and began wrestling the door shut on their own, as SFGate reports, and it sounds like even the BART operator was egging them on — he or she also might have just wanted to get home.

The trouble turned out to be a rubber seal that had come loose, and Concord resident John Bruno, clearly not unfamiliar with these persnickety 1970's BART doors, became the train's hero and door fixer for three stops, keeping the train in service until they got to Embarcadero and a BART maintenance person could hop on and lock the door in place.

Obviously, the whole train cheered. And this is now the second most popular story on the 'Gate.

This follows of course on a week of problems on BART that have made many people's lives miserable, beginning with chaos during Wednesday evening's commute after some fifty cars, or five 10-car trains' worth, were suddenly taken out of service due to a mysterious voltage spike at the end of the Pittsburg line — a problem that, we learned Friday, may leave these cars out of service for months.

Get ready, everybody: BART needs all your amateur fix-it help getting those doors to close. Pack tool kits as necessary.

Previously: BART Delays, Crowding To Go On Indefinitely As Mystery Voltage Spike Remains Unsolved