Michael Short, Special to the Chronicle / Special to the Chronicle

If your BART train looks shorter and more crowded lately, it probably is.

In August alone, BART averaged 418,000 riders per weekday - 27,000 more than a year earlier. Last week, there were three days when ridership topped 430,000.

At the same time, however, dozens of cars in BART's fleet are out of service because of damage, rehabilitation or routine maintenance.

"So what was a 10-car train yesterday may be a nine-car today," said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost.

One car here or there might not sound like a lot, but even a shortage of five cars can mean no seats for 7,200 riders throughout the day and tighter squeezes for the thousands who stand.

As for what's behind the car crunch?

For starters, age. On average, 19 cars a day are being rehabbed for new carpets, seats and air conditioning.

Another 70 train cars are out daily for routine maintenance and "unscheduled failures."

On top of the maintenance crunch, four trains totaling 38 cars are always held on standby at various locations in the event of a breakdown.

That leaves BART typically with 535 cars actually in service - far short of the 662 it has in its fleet. The result: "We don't have much of a cushion," Trost said.

BART officials are bracing for ridership to go up even further during the traditionally busy months of September and October, before it starts dipping some.

When it comes to rolling stock, officials don't expect much relief until 2017, when the first of 775 new train cars on order start to arrive.

Until then, they'll just keep packing them in.

"It's just been miserable, said Jeff Lancaster of his commute from Orinda to downtown San Francisco. "These shortened BART trains are ... often so crowded you don't even have the space to read a newspaper."

He's back: When Arnold Schwarzenegger joins his fellow governors in the state's official portrait gallery, he will tower over most of his contemporaries by more than a foot.

The only modern governor who comes close to Schwarzenegger's 6-foot-3 1/2-tall, photo-realistic image is Gray Davis' full-body portrait, which stands 6 feet 2.

The portraits of Govs. Jerry Brown, George Deukmejian and Ronald Reagan all come in at a mere 5 feet.

"He's definitely the biggest guy on the block," said Brian Ferguson, spokesman with the Government Operations Agency.

Big as he is, Schwarzenegger is not the biggest of the 38 governors with paintings in the Capitol. That honor goes to turn-of-the-20th-century Gov. Henry Gage, whose portrait is almost 8 feet tall.

Unlike recent governors who had the taxpayers help pay for their portraits, Schwarzenegger used his own money - then donated the painting to the state.

Gottfried Helnwein, the artist who painted Schwarzenegger's portrait, told Barbara Gasser of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that Arnold insisted on being portrayed "with the air that is worthy a governor and statesman. He did not want to be portrayed as an action hero."

Helnwein said he depicted Schwarzenegger in a "realistic and monochromatic style."

A style, we might add, that appeared to shave quite a few years off Schwarzenegger's age.

And for you Dan Brown fans who like a good symbol mystery, Helnwein told Gassser that there is "one little interesting detail" in the portrait - "which I cannot give away because I am not allowed to tell, but it was very important and meaningful to the governor."

Whatever it is, you can try to find it when the portrait goes on display in about two weeks.

Suburban shield: Oakland Mayor Jean Quan will get her wish that Urban Shield leave town - at least for next year.

Quan, never one to miss marching in a demonstration, said she was upset over the strain the five-day police confab was putting on Oakland cops who were assigned to deal with several hundred peaceful protesters outside the Marriott Hotel and convention center.

Sgt. J.D. Nelson, spokesman with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, which organized the event, took exception to Quan's comments, saying it was sheriff's deputies who were in charge of crowd control and not OPD.

Whatever the case, the event, which drew about 1,500 participants, is moving elsewhere. Not because of Quan, Nelson said, but because the Marriott is booked for the date next year.

"At this point, the most likely spot will be Pleasanton," Nelson said, "but there are plenty of cities around the country that would love to host the event. Just not Oakland."