BART safety rules could impact service in future

New safety rules implemented after the death of two BART workers on the tracks during October's strike could force the transit agency to consider cutting back its service hours. New safety rules implemented after the death of two BART workers on the tracks during October's strike could force the transit agency to consider cutting back its service hours. Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close BART safety rules could impact service in future 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Safety concerns for BART riders and workers could prompt the transit system to trim its operating hours and eliminate timed transfers.

Neither of those changes have been proposed yet - and may never be - but they emerged Thursday as BART directors discussed the preliminary budget for the financial year that starts in July.

Paul Oversier, assistant general manager for operations, said safety rules implemented after the death of two BART workers on the tracks during October's strike could force the transit agency to consider cutting back its service hours - probably looking first at the 4 a.m. weekday opening time.

BART officials have repeatedly said that the system's design, with a single track in each direction, and the three hours or so it has to maintain the aging system each night prevent it from regularly running all night or even into the early morning hours, as late-shift workers and clubgoers have requested.

Short work window

Now, it appears, those new safety regulations requiring BART to limit service when workers are on the tracks could push more work into that brief and crowded maintenance window.

"It's a challenge to stay ahead of maintenance with the limited hours we have now," Oversier said. "The effect of the (safety) orders may drive us to do some of the work that's now done during the day into the night."

BART's planning and budget manager, Carter Mau, said that no cutback in service hours is being proposed in the coming year's budget. But Oversier said that it may need to be contemplated if a year's worth of experience working under the new safety rules shows too many daytime delays or not enough time to get overnight work completed.

Although no cutback in hours has been suggested, Oversier indicated that the weekday opening hours would be the most likely target.

"For a system this size to open at 4 a.m. - and we have to look at how many people are using the system at that time - we may have to question whether that is a proper use of our resources," he said.

Directors' opposition

Some directors seemed stunned by the decision, even though it's been mentioned in discussions on the effects of the new safety rules. Director Robert Raburn, of Oakland, said the idea was "scary" and should be considered only as a last resort. Director Gail Murray was more blunt.

"What's in your head about that?" she asked.

Directors also debated eliminating timed transfers, at least in the morning, between Richmond-Fremont and Pittsburg/Bay Point-SFO/Millbrae trains at MacArthur Station because of overcrowded trains.

"When those people get off the (Richmond-Fremont) and onto the yellow line (Pittsburg-Millbrae) at MacArthur, they are creating dangerous conditions," said Director Joel Keller of Brentwood, suggesting the end of timed transfers. "There are too many people, too many bicycles, too many suitcases. That's unsafe."

Director Rebecca Saltzman, of Oakland, represents stretches of the Richmond-Fremont line. Eliminating the transfers, she said, would mean a service cut for riders on the line, who don't get the benefit of additional trains added during the commute like the lines from central Contra Costa County.

"I don't think we can ever consider that," she said. "That (transfer) is their additional service."

Crowding problem

Keller said the crowding that occurs is so serious that the BART board should publicly discuss eliminating the transfers and decide whether the risks are worth the benefits.

"We'd be choosing convenience over safety," Keller said.

Saltzman suggested that if the transfers are eliminated, BART should take some of the additional commute-hour trains off the Pittsburg line and move them to the Richmond line. She agreed to meet to discuss the issue with Keller and try to come up with solutions to the crowding.

The real answer, however, isn't likely to arrive until BART's new rail cars, now in the final stages of design, begin to arrive in 2017.