A commuter's bane - filthy, smelly BART station stairs People often subject to stench of garbage, human waste

A commuter passes a BART service worker cleaning up the steps of one of the entrances to Civic Center Station. A commuter passes a BART service worker cleaning up the steps of one of the entrances to Civic Center Station. Photo: Craig Hudson, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Craig Hudson, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close A commuter's bane - filthy, smelly BART station stairs 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Commuters heading into and out of BART stations in downtown San Francisco - particularly the Civic Center Station - are often forced to hold their noses on the stairs and navigate a minefield of garbage and much, much worse.

It's a stubborn, long-standing problem complicated by the staircases being accessible 24 hours a day. And commuters and readers are frustrated it hasn't gotten better, despite BART's efforts to address it.

A reporter who visited the Civic Center Station one afternoon this week saw what appeared to be feces on the steps and on nearby walls. On a return visit the next morning, the steps had not yet been cleared of the waste.

The scent of urine greeted riders in multiple stairwells, while urine pooled at the bottom of one flight of steps. On a morning visit, garbage - apples, scrap paper and soup cans - was heaped on steps leading to Market Street.

"It's the worst way to start your day," said Donna Courington, a 50-year-old Walnut Creek resident who rides BART to her job in San Francisco. "I always hold my breath."

"It's definitely a problem and it's been a problem for as long as I can remember," said David Semel, a 43-year-old attorney who lives near the University of San Francisco.

"They need regular maintenance and they are not getting it," said Mariah Baird, a 60-year-old lawyer who commutes from San Rafael to the Civic Center Station.

She said BART should clean the stairwells before the station opens each day and a rush of people heads up the stairs, and then closely monitor the situation throughout the day.

"I just expect more of BART. I think they should fulfill their responsibility to the public," Baird said.

The issue has been a recurring Chronicle Watch theme. In 2012, a report detailed the problem of human waste in the stairwells. BART even had to call out a biohazard team at one point to clean human waste from inside a broken escalator at Civic Center.

A BART spokesman, Jim Allison, said the agency is well aware of the problem at Civic Center Station and is taking steps to address it.

The recession of the late 2000s, he said, forced BART to trim its cleaning crews. For the past several years, he said, each downtown station has had one worker per shift focused on cleaning. Currently, workers only clean during the hours the station is open.

Allison said BART recently brought in a second worker on overtime to help with the workload at Civic Center Station.

On Monday, he said, a three-person "station brightening" crew will concentrate on cleaning the entrances and exits of all downtown San Francisco stations from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He said the plan had been in the works prior to The Chronicle's inquiries.

"It's great news," Baird said upon hearing of the cleaning crew headed downtown. "That's what they should be doing. I certainly hope it helps, and I hope they keep it up. I'll be watching."

In the long run, the issue remains complex. Richard Lipsit, 42, who lives near Civic Center Station, said the stairs are an important shelter for some homeless people to sleep. He also said better bathroom accessibility downtown could help the problem.

Closing off stairwells while BART is closed in the middle of the night also might limit the filth.

BART is now building a canopy over the escalator and stair entrance at the 19th Street Station in Oakland, a pilot project designed to protect the escalator from rain as well as keep the station secure and clean.

If it goes well, Allison said, BART could place the enclosures over other entrances.

What's not working Issue: The stairs leading into the Civic Center BART Station in San Francisco are often dirty and smelly, fouled by garbage and sometimes human waste. What's been done: BART officials said the agency recently shifted an additional service worker to the station on overtime to help keep it clean, and will have a three-person crew concentrate on cleaning the entrances and exits in downtown San Francisco starting Monday. Who's responsible: Grace Crunican, BART general manager, (510) 464-6065, gcrunic@bart.gov.

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