Bay Area Rapid Transit

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Bay Area Rapid Transit
BART logo
Basic information
Company headquarters Oakland
Web presence http://www.bart.gov/
Reference year 2014
owner Alameda County , Contra Costa County , San Francisco (33.3% each)
Supervisory board Gail Murray, Joel Keller, Rebecca Saltzman, Robert Raburn, John McPartland, Zakhary Mallett, Nick Josefowitz, Tom Radulovich
Managing directors Grace Crunican
Employee 3137
Lines
Gauge 1676  mm
Light rail 5
Other lines 1
statistics
Passengers 126 million (2015)
Stops 42
Operating facilities
Track length 167 km
A BART train in local public transport

The Bay Area Rapid Transit ( BART for short ) is a public transport company that operates a combined subway / commuter train system that connects the largest cities in the San Francisco Bay Area . The first section between Oakland and Fremont opened in 1972. Today over 360,000 passengers are carried every day.

history

The BART system has a forerunner in the form of the Key System , a local transport system with suburban trains, buses and trams that connected the "East Bay", ie the suburbs east of the San Francisco Bay, with San Francisco to the west. The connection across the bay was made possible by ferries and a tram line in the lower deck of the Bay Bridge . At its greatest expansion in the 1940s, the "Key System" operated over a hundred kilometers.

The trams were discontinued in the Bay Area in 1948, the last suburban trains in the East Bay ran until 1958, the tracks on the Bay Bridge were removed during the renovation in 1957. All local transport was converted to buses at that time, for the background see under Great American tram scandal .

Even at the time of the Key System, there were plans to modernize local transport to San Francisco, including a subway under Market Street in the center of San Francisco. In 1959, after various preliminary considerations, the first planning resources for a "rapid transit in the Bay Area" were made available - in English "Bay Area Rapid Transit", the very term that gave the new S-Bahn system its name.

Originally all nine counties of the Bay Area were included in the planning, but the Santa Clara County jumped off in 1957, followed by the San Mateo County in 1961, and shortly thereafter the Marin County in 1962. The reasons lie in the already high costs for the BART routes, so that some counties rely on classic suburban trains, and the idea of ​​a route over the Golden Gate Bridge (to Marin County) was postponed as a "long-term option" at an early stage. The plans for the BART system were then approved by referendum in the remaining counties in November 1962.

After the funds were released, construction began a short time later, mostly along older railway lines. The first line went into operation on September 11, 1972, but only on the east side of the bay between MacArthur and Fremont. The Transbay tunnel through the bay, the heart of the system, was completed in 1969, but the track construction and electrification still took a few years so that the first trains to San Francisco could pass through in 1974.

In the course of the construction, a tunnel was built under Market Street, which corresponds to today's western part of the Market Street Subway . The tunnel was expanded for the Muni Metro until 1980 . In the common part, BART uses the lower level and the Muni light rail system the upper level. The first BART trains started running in the city tunnel on November 5, 1973.

In the first few years, BART was only operated on weekdays and then not at night. The expectation that large numbers of commuters would switch to the new system was not fulfilled. Instead of the expected 157,000 car journeys, only 44,000 were replaced in 1976. In an overall view in 1976, the total costs were estimated at 1.586 billion US dollars, including routes, vehicles and tunnels (adjusted for inflation today, almost 10 billion). Even then there was criticism that the implementation took almost four decades and that one of the most expensive systems came out. The innovations implemented were never adopted in the same way in other transport systems.

The route network was expanded regularly in the following years . However, as part of the renaissance of fast light rail and light regional trains, alternatives were also considered from the 2000s. Instead of expanding the BART routes on the west side south of San Francisco, the plan is to electrify the Caltrain route there, accelerate it with stepless entrances and connect it to Market Street in the tunnel (Downtown Extension - DTX). On the east side, the section to Antioch will no longer be built as a BART, but as an eBART. With a change at the same platform, regular-gauge Stadler GTW trains will continue to run, which is significantly cheaper to build as an S-Bahn than the previous BART routes (around a third of the costs).

Route network

The BART network has a gauge of 1676 mm ( Indian broad gauge ), which is otherwise not used in the region, and is operated with 1000 volts DC . The energy is supplied via a lateral busbar that is coated from below . With a top speed of 128 km / h and the large distances between stations, BART achieves an average speed of 53 km / h. The network is, considering the high train density not everywhere in the United States , generously developed, recognizable by the dual track layout of all lines, the low-speed route and the extensive track systems.

In San Francisco, the trunk line runs under Market Street and has four central stations there. To the east, the route leads through the Transbay Tube under San Francisco Bay to Oakland, where it branches off in different directions. Four lines run through San Francisco, the fifth (orange) remains on the east side of the bay. Each line runs every 15 minutes, which results in a 3.75 minute cycle on the main route. In the evening traffic, three lines run every 20 minutes, so that there is a train every ten minutes on the main route. Outside of San Francisco, the routes are often centered on highways. In most cases, the stations have bus stations and a large number of park-and-ride spaces, some of which are subject to a fee.

At Oakland Airport , BART operates a Cable Liner Shuttle to connect the terminals and the Oakland Coliseum station .

Extensions

Extension to San José, the route to Beryssa is currently under construction (blue), the further route is being planned (turquoise). In the picture also the routes of the VTA-Stadtbahn (yellow) and regional trains (orange)

In line with the growing population in the region, the BART route network is being expanded regularly. Previous extensions concern the routes to Colma and Pittsburg / Bay Point (1996), Dublin / Pleasanton (1997) and SFO / Milbrae (2003). The “Cable Liner Shuttle” to Oakland Airport has been in operation since 2014.

When the BART was established, Silicon Valley was not connected because it was rejected in Santa Clara County . Nevertheless, there were initial plans in the 1990s and with the better financing situation from 2006, the expansion was fundamentally decided. The new building from the previous endpoint in Fremont was divided into several phases, the first section to Warm Springs on the border with Santa Clara County has been under construction since 2009 and went into operation in spring 2016. The connection from Santa Clara on the outskirts near Berryessa is planned for 2018 [out of date] and will allow a change to the VTA light rail from Santa Clara at the station in Milpitas in front of it . The Milpitas transit center is also a hub on the county's bus network.

The original plan was to extend the route into Silicon Valley as far as San José. This plan is currently postponed until 2025. The plan is to move the route underground at Alumn Rock. It then turns underground to the west to connect the business center of San José under Santa Clara Street and to run north again via Diridon Station to San José Airport and the Santa Clara Caltrain train station. While most of the underground lines are being built by BART as under-paving railways using the open construction method, the closed construction method is planned for the business center so as not to disrupt surface traffic too much. The Diridon Station on the west side of the business center is not only an important junction in the rail network, but is also intended as a stop for the California high-speed train , which is expected to run to Los Angeles from 2027.

In addition to the previous BART routes, the eBART system has already been built for an extension, which is based on its own diesel-electric trains and connects to the Pittsburg / Bay Point station. The section to Antioch had been under construction since 2011 and opened on May 26, 2018. From there expansions to Oakley, Brentwood and Byron will be built, and in the further future to Tracy and Stockton.

In 2010 there was a completed planning approval for an extension from Dublin / Pleasanton east to Livermoore, where the Altamont Corridor Express would be connected directly. A petition to align the route more closely to Interstate 580 led to a decision to reschedule in 2011. Initial plans for this have been in place since 2012, but no resolution has yet been passed on the construction.

Line network

Bay Area Rapid Transit route network (2019)

The BART network consists of the following five lines:

Line name route Travel time particularities
Richmond-Millbrae Richmond - 19th Street / Oakland - Daly City - Millbrae 54 min (to Daly City)
71 min (to Millbrae)
Only operates Monday through Saturday during the day, the Daly City – Millbrae section is only served Monday through Friday
Fremont – Richmond Fremont - Bay Fair - Coliseum - 19th Street / Oakland - Richmond 62 min
Pittsburg / Bay Point – SFO Pittsburg / Bay Point - 19th Street / Oakland - Daly City - San Franscisco International Airport (SFO) - Millbrae 85 min (up to SFO)
89 min (up to Millbrae)
The SFO – Millbrae section is only served when Richmond – Millbrae is not serving it
Dublin / Pleasanton – Daly City Dublin / Pleasanton - Bay Fair - Coliseum - Daly City 64 min
Fremont – Daly City Fremont - Bay Fair - Coliseum - Daly City 65 min only runs Monday through Saturday during the day

Comparison with other railways

The structure of the BART network is an S-Bahn that connects suburbs via lines with transfer options to downtown San Francisco, where there are several train stations. It surpasses the S-Bahn trains from Berlin and Hamburg , which are also powered by busbars - the distances between the stations are greater on the outer routes and the limit of the busbar is almost maxed out at 130 km / h (in Berlin and Hamburg you drive 100 km / h h, the banker's train occasionally drove 120 km / h on routes without intermediate stops). This enables spatial connections that are otherwise reserved for regional trains - the connection from the Fremont terminus to the city center takes about an hour, as is the Oranienburg terminus in Berlin . The suburb is around 35 km away from Berlin, but around 55 km from BART.

At the same time, the system has a number of features of the subways. The heart of the system are the tunnel under Market Street and the Transbay Tunnel, so that the vehicle profile was adapted for underground tubes from the outset. The entire network is also designed independently of the rest of the rail and road traffic. In Hamburg and Berlin, too, where people often travel on their own tracks independently of the long-distance railway, even into the outskirts, there are still some routes that are shared with long-distance trains, as well as some restricted crossings. The BART network, on the other hand, is completely decoupled and also drives on the external routes to the end stations on an embankment or often in the cut of motorways.

While the concept of the BART-S-Bahn is good for some records, it has not been adopted by other metropolitan regions. From track gauge to vehicle construction to track width, there is nothing comparable in the world that keeps maintenance and modernization costs high. There are no old series, even the first delivery lot is still on the regular route every day. The high speeds with the old vehicles used mean that noises of 100 dB (jackhammer) were measured in the Transbay Tunnel and 90 dB at 23 other locations. Even on the straight outer stretches, 70–80 dB are regularly measured.

Rates

Although similar in structure to an S-Bahn, BART is not treated as a local transport system, but rather as a regional train. The basis for the fare is the kilometers traveled between two stations. There are no zones, nor daily, weekly or monthly tickets. Only the tunnel under Market Street is treated uniformly, de facto as a zone, because every journey that ends at one of its stations costs the same. There is also an option for the Muni monthly pass to use the BART route under Market Street.

The fare for single journeys can be paid in advance at ticket machines. Commuters use electronic top-up cards that are scanned in when they enter and from which the fare is debited when they are scanned again at the exit. If there is not enough credit on a BART top-up card, you will be turned away at the exit and you can pay later at a top-up station within the station area. The cross- mode clipper card also works for BART. There are reduced rates for schoolchildren, young people and seniors. Otherwise there is only an effective discount of 6.25% when buying BART HVD (high value tickets), with costs of 45 dollars (booked 48 dollars) or 60 dollars (booked 64 dollars). The BART HVD tickets can also be loaded onto the clipper card, but the amount is only validated in the area of ​​the BART stations. Discounted transfer tickets can be purchased from the connecting regional railways before the transition to the BART (some 20% cheaper).

There are proposals to simplify the classification. The Caltrain is divided into zone and monthly cards. So far, no proposal has prevailed. In general, there is no public transport network in the San Francisco Bay Area.

BART Police

BART Police patrol car at Dublin / Pleasanton station

BART has its own police department that takes care of the safety of trains and the infrastructure. The BART Police was founded in 1972 with the opening of the BART passenger service and currently operates 11 police stations.

Notoriety was the killing of Oscar Grant in 2009 by a BART police officer at Fruitvale Station . In 2014, another BART police officer accidentally shot and killed a colleague during a house search.

Passengers were robbed in April and June 2017; BART refused to publish surveillance videos because they were not obliged to do so in the course of ongoing investigations and because the suspects were minors.

vehicles

A-wagon with the sloping front, the four-digit number indicates a train that was modernized around 2000
Demonstrator with the new C2 interior design
Trial train of the future D-series

Although the BART system uses the Indian broad gauge instead of the normal standard in the USA, the car width of 3.2 m is within the scope of the usual American clearance profile of 3.25 m. The platform height of an estimated 44 "(1100 mm) is also similar to the platform height of 48" (1200 mm) in the northeast corridor for regional and suburban trains there. At BART there is stepless access to the trains (other regional trains in California stop at low platforms around 380 mm). In contrast, the tunnel profiles with a diameter of five meters (16 feet) are comparatively small and correspond to the dimensions of underground trains. The cars are adapted to this tunnel profile and have a strongly bulbous, almost hexagonal cross-section.

The length of the individual wagons is around twenty meters. As a rule, trains with three to ten cars run. In the longest combination, it will reach 216 meters (710 feet). Such trains use almost all of the platform lengths of 213 meters (700 feet). This corresponds to the full length of regional platforms in California and is more than most S-Bahn trains (in Germany between 150 and 180 m). At peak times, more than 500 cars are in use at the same time (there were 579 cars in 2010), which means that the line overlay ensures a cycle of two and a half minutes under Market Street.

The wagons of the series purchased first were divided into A and B wagons, which correspond to the usual letters for railcars and sidecars of a system. The A-cars with a driver's cab are five feet longer than the B-middle cars without a driver's cab. The cars in this series were procured from 1968 to 1971. In 2009, 59 A and 389 B cars were still in operation.

During the second acquisition from 1987 to 1989, a new design for the type C cars was developed. The cars of this type are all equipped with a driver's cab, but the ends of the cab are no longer aerodynamically shaped. The wagons can thus be freely coupled. Two manufacturers were selected, the C1 cars were built by Alstom and the C2 cars by Morrison-Knudsen. Both types of car differ only in the interior design. A total of 150 C1 and 80 C2 cars were procured.

In 1995, plans were drawn up with ADtranz (today Bombardier) to modernize the A / B cars. An interior design designed for the C2 car was to be transferred, which was then done as part of general overhauls, mainly around 2000/2001. In the course of the modifications, the three-digit numbers of the A and B cars were changed to four-digit numbers with a prefixed 1 (car 212 becomes 1212). In the late 2000s, BART began testing new design features, such as folding seats and bicycle areas, in some C2 cars. They were later also adopted for the A and B cars. It should be noted that it is generally permitted to take bicycles with you at no extra charge, but not in the first three cars at peak times or in the event of overcrowding. Folded folding bikes, on the other hand, are always allowed.

In the course of the network expansion and increasing passenger numbers, the procurement of further cars is planned. As with the A and B cars, two types are again planned, D cars with and E cars without a driver's cab. Each car has six doors for faster passenger changes. Following a tender process, the $ 896 million order went to Bombardier Transportation in May 2012 to purchase 410 cars, divided into an initial delivery of 260 cars and an option for 150 additional cars. As early as November 2013, the delivery was increased by 365 cars, so that a total of 775 cars of the new series are being procured, around 40% of which have a driver's cab. The first wagons for a ten-car train were originally due to be delivered and tested in 2015. Due to delays, the test train was not commissioned until 2016 and only ten more cars were delivered in 2017. An agreement with Bombardier now envisages accelerating production to 16 cars per month in order to have the new fleet in operation by 2022 at the latest.

Series

In addition to the series of the broad-gauge BART core network, the company also owns and operates vehicles for the lines connected to it.

Manufacturer  model series  image  number   Years of construction   Hints 
pipe A. Bart A car Oakland Coliseum Station.jpg 59 1968-1971
pipe B. 389 1968-1971
Alstom C1 BART C1 car front.jpg 150 1987-1989
Morrison-Knudsen C2 80 1994-1996
Bombardier D. 310 2012– At terminals
Bombardier E. 465 2012– At terminals
Doppelmayr Cable liner OAK-Coliseum Airport Mover.jpg 4th 2014 Cable car
Stadler GTW EBART test DMU idling at the central Pittsburg transfer point.jpg 8th 2016– on delivery, diesel-electric

See also

Web links

Commons : Bay Area Rapid Transit  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Total Annual Exits FY1973 - FY2015 (xls) San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. 2015. Accessed November 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Melvin Webber: The BART experience what have we learned? . In: National Affairs . 1976, pp. 95. Retrieved on May 31, 2016.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nationalaffairs.com  
  3. ^ Melvin Webber: The BART experience what have we learned? . In: National Affairs . 1976, pp. 93. Retrieved on May 31, 2016.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nationalaffairs.com  
  4. ^ Peter Geoffrey Hall: Great Planning Disasters . California Series in Urban Development, 1982, ISBN 978-0-520-04607-8 , pp. 109-130.
  5. Stadler Rail delivers trains to Oakland . Stadler Rail . April 26, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 9, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stadlerrail.com
  6. EBart Groundbreaking . Minute 0: 53-01: 05, speech by Grace Crunican (BART General Manager). October 7, 2012 .: “This a 462 million dollar project for us. But you should notice that this is 60% cheaper than using the old BART technology. "
  7. Celebrating 40 Years of Service 1972 • 2012 Forty BART Achievements Over the Years (pdf) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). 2012. Accessed December 2, 2014.
  8. New BART service to Oakland International Airport now open . Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). November 21, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  9. a b BART's Train Supplier is Missing Deadlines, Losing Contracts, Seeking Bailout . March 22, 2016.
  10. Michael Cabanatuan: Noise on BART: How bad is it and is it harmful? . September 7, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  11. ^ Nelson, J. T: TCRP Report 23: Wheel-Rail Noise Control Manual. . National Research Council. 1997. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  12. ^ A b Oakland North Radio , October 24, 2010. Accessed April 10, 2012.
  13. ^ Henry K. Lee, Kale Williams, and Carolyn Jones: BART police officer shot dead by colleague in Dublin - SFGate. sfgate.com, accessed July 4, 2015 .
  14. BART Withholding Surveillance Videos Of Crime To Avoid 'Stereotypes' - CBS, 2017-07-9
  15. http://www.bart.gov/about/projects/cars/delivery-plan
  16. http://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/PosterTimeline_v2.pdf