BART is pleading its commuters to stop racing onto trains and jamming the doors because its slowing down service. Bob Redell reports.
BART is pleading its commuters to stop racing onto trains and jamming the doors because its slowing down service.
The plea comes after about 200 BART cars had to be taken out of service in August alone due to damaged doors.
Passengers rushing onto a train and getting stuck in a door can force the door off its track or dislocate the rubber seal. That problem can knock out the car or even the entire train and send it to the service yard for repairs.
Chris Filippi of BART understands that people are in a hurry, but he wants to make sure their impatience doesn't disrupt service for other commuters.
"What we’re hoping is that people keep in mind, if they’re stuck in our door or they force a door open, that that’s going to have a long term impact that literally is going to impact the time of thousands of people," he said. "It's going to take one of our cars out of service unnecessarily. It's going to create a more crowded environment. These are all bad things we're trying to avoid."
The doors on BART's soon-to-be-released cars won't pocket like the existing ones. That feature makes them more durable and soundproof.
The transportation agency hopes to have 20 of the next generation cars in service by the end of the year.
