Jessica Morgan enjoys riding the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) to work in San Francisco, and she wants to take her mind and her car off the road. Problem: she can't find parking at the BART station. On weekdays, more than half of BART's 46k-plus parking spaces are filled by 8 A.M.. Some 45 minutes later, some 73 percent of the spaces are taken, according to data analyzed by the Contra Costa Times. "Lately, there are times when I've just given up and got on the freeway," says Morgan. Yet building parking lots is a costly and planning permission intensive proposition. The Dublin-Pleasanton station is finally unveiling a 1.2k car garage that cost the city $42m. (That's $28k per parking space.) Meanwhile and elsewhere, aspiring mass transit users are– gasp!– parking illegally. So BART's Board of Supervisors voted to raise fines for permit violations from $25 to $40. "We're hoping the higher fines will eliminate some parking poachers." But, for revenue sake, not all.
Driving is OK, but traffic sucks. Gas prices suck. Rail is OK, but transfers and paying for parking sucks. Biking in the rain sucks. No secure parking for your bike sucks. Trolleys were OK, but have mostly been discontinued – which sucks.
That’s why I live in an expensive fleabag apartment five blocks from work. I’m never late for work, and I can have lunch with my wife.
This is what riders of NJ Transit, PATH, the LIRR, and the MTA deal with now, and it’s sure to get worse with congestion pricing.
Nothing like simple solutions to complex problems.
Typical San Francisco public policy thinking – “Well, if it’s losing money right now (as BART has for some time), let’s just compound the problem.”
Makes LA look downright appealing, except for our public transit system.
BART, despite what everyone in San Francisco believes with all their hearts, is the worst public transportation system on earth. Period. End of story. The worst.
I once lived in “Bagdad by the Bay” and, being fond of trains, tried to ride BART whenever possible. But it was typically slower and more costly than driving, and yes: there was often no effing place to park!
Not only is there no place to park, but if you are in the burbs, you can’t NOT drive. Taking the bus to the train in Pleasanton added too many minutes to an already wait filled trip. Unfortunately, the park and ride was located in the middle of F_ing nowhere. To ensure you used the lot, and not the nearby street, they prohibited parking on the street, which really stunk since the lot was full.
One thing I hate about BART is how it shuts down so damn early (midnight). God forbid you should go in to the city and then go have some drinks with friends on a Friday night. Ya end up having to walk around until 4 am when it reopens. Why can’t it stay open to 2 when the bars close?
Cool, so it is working so well they don’t have enough parking. Wahoo! Build more parking.
I agree with Jonny, BART is the worst mass transit system in the world. I’d much rather drive.
One thing I hate about BART is how it shuts down so damn early (midnight). God forbid you should go in to the city and then go have some drinks with friends on a Friday night. Ya end up having to walk around until 4 am when it reopens. Why can’t it stay open to 2 when the bars close?
It’s actually kinda’ comical to see PacBell/ATT Park empty in the 9th inning or extra innings because all of the people who took public transportation have to leave to get home.
I actually like BART, but I live ¼ mile from an all-trains station. If I had to cross the bay doing rush hour, I would rather paddle a kayak (and perhaps even swim) than drive the bay bridge in a car. Talk about fate worse than death. A scooter or bike, maybe, but even that would quickly drive me to move.
If Bart is losing money, it’s because they want to. They have more than enough travelers with few other appealing options to be able to raise prices to profitability. Losing money is likely a badge of honor amongst the communists in charge.
Despite all that, there is little doubt in my mind deregulating and breaking up the local Taxi mafia would lead to superior local transport outcomes for travel around sf. But that, like most applications of common sense is neither well understood nor particularly popular amongst communists.
And what is it with the Bay Area’s aversion to valet parking? In LA, it’s everywhere. I can barely remember parking my own car when I lived down there. Why don’t some enterprising immigrants (the local are way too busy being labor ‘leaders’ to do any labor) offer that at overcrowded Park and Ride lots? Is it just cultural, or is it yet more communist regulation?
Another thing, any car spot large enough to fit a monkey tractor, could easily fit 3 even large bikes. Instead of 1200 spots, you’d then have 200 car spots (for those too crippled to ride), and 3000 motorcycle spots. Much more efficient space utilization. At least for us non incapable ones. But considering we don’t vote for communists, either, I guess we’re a minority ‘round here. Still, as long as BART allows bikes on board, whining about lack of parking is kind of pointless.