Hogging seats on BART? You may face a fine in the future

Leo May, 24 years old, from Quorn, England packs a suit as he heads to the airport on BART at the Daly City station on Monday, March 7, 2016. Leo May, 24 years old, from Quorn, England packs a suit as he heads to the airport on BART at the Daly City station on Monday, March 7, 2016. Photo: Liz Hafalia Elizabeth Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia Elizabeth Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Hogging seats on BART? You may face a fine in the future 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

It’s the height of the morning commute, and the BART train is packed so full there’s nowhere to sit or even stand — except, of course, for that perfectly good seat occupied by the suitcase of an airport-bound passenger or by the sprawled legs of a sleeping rider.

While the sight may be infuriating, a violation of the unofficial commuter code of conduct and just plain rude, it’s not illegal.

But BART Director Joel Keller wants to change that. For Keller, the disapproving glare of fellow passengers isn’t enough.

He’s pitching an ordinance that would make it illegal for a BART rider to take up more than a single seat when it would prevent others from sitting down.

The proposal would exempt people whose size or medical condition requires them to occupy more than a single space. But seat hogs who refuse to relinquish a spot occupied by their backpack, makeup kit or takeout dinner could be subject to a $100 fine on first offense — with the penalty rising to $200 for the second violation. Repeat offenders could be fined $500.

Keller’s proposal, like any ordinance, needs to be approved twice. The first vote may come Thursday when it’s presented to the BART Board of Directors.

Adrian Yusi, a 25-year-old Twitter worker who commutes from Vallejo, hopes it becomes the law of the rails.

“It’s definitely a good idea,” he said. “People deserve to sit down — your stuff doesn’t. You brought it along, you carry it.”

Yusi saw one BART rider board a crowded train and politely ask a man with his belongings piled on the seat to move them. When he declined, he gently removed them, placed them on the floor and took a seat.

Mike Neumann, chief operating officer for an early childhood education group, said that approach makes more sense than passing a law to dictate BART seating etiquette.

“If I see someone taking two seats and I want to sit down, I just tell them to move their bag,” he said.

Avoiding trouble

But some riders admit they’re either too timid or afraid of provoking a confrontation.

“You risk starting something if you say something,” said a Walnut Creek commuter who didn’t want to give his name.

Pointing at a young woman, her knees bent, sleeping across two seats, one regular BART rider said such an extravagance was permissible when plenty of seats were available. But when commuters are packed in elbow to belly button, he said, it was worthy of a citation.

“That’s just not fair,” said the man, a Walnut Creek resident who didn’t want to give his name.

Shawn Garrett, a 21-year-old construction worker from Hayward, said issuing citations “seems like a little bit too much. Maybe they could give a warning. I don’t think making such a big deal out of it is necessary.”

Magda Rinaldi, 48, a dental assistant who lives and works in San Francisco, said she liked Keller’s proposal. “But how are you going to enforce it?” she wondered.

Keller’s foray into regulating BART manners isn’t the first attempt to get riders to behave better. New York City’s subway system has a series of “Courtesy Counts” posters that tell riders to take off their backpacks, avoid holding doors and playing on poles, eating and, most notably, spreading their legs. The anti-man-spreading poster — Dude: stop the spreading please — attracted worldwide attention and produced a plethora of jokes and Internet memes.

Keller represents residents of eastern Contra Costa County, who face long BART rides that can seem interminable when they’re standing. He said he was motivated to draw up the ordinance when he boarded a train and found a sleeping young man sprawled out over four seats near the door. He realized that even if he summoned police, they could do nothing but rouse the seat hoarder and ask him to sit up.

Bolstering police

The ordinance would give police the legal leverage to force the greedy passenger to slide over or sit up, he said.

“In the past, when we had plenty of seats, it was not as serious an issue as it is today,” Keller said. “But with ridership growing and seats becoming a much more desirable commodity, we have to make sure they’re available and avoid them being taken up with backpacks, luggage or someone using two seats to lie down.”

The BART Police Citizen Advisory Committee, created in the wake of the police shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009, unanimously endorsed Keller’s proposal after being assured it wouldn’t be enforced on trains with an abundance of empty seats.

“We always expect that, when we ask law enforcement to enforce ordinances, they use good judgment,” Keller said.

The ordinance is not an attempt to crack down on homeless people sleeping on trains, Keller said.

“I think it’s bigger than that,” he said. “There are homeless people on our trains taking more than one seat, but there are also people with backpacks, with luggage, with other things occupying seats. This is not an effort to target or harass anyone, merely an effort to make seats available.”

If the ordinance is enforced unevenly against the homeless, he said, he will seek to have it reconsidered.

Yusi, the Twitter worker from Vallejo, hopes the ordinance would just open up a few more seats for weary commuters.

“The trains get crowded and people coming home from work just want to sit down,” he said. “It’s not fair for somebody to take two seats just because they think they’re more important.”

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com