Revisit some of our favorite BART stories from 2024
There are a million stories on BART. In 2024 we talked to riders, artists, train operators, transit fans, and more about what BART means to them. We celebrated the Transbay Tube and the Fleet of the Future.
Here are some of our favorites stories from 2024:
Bay Area history reclaimed: The story of 95-year-old artist Janet Bennett and her longstanding tile artworks at 16th and 24th St. stations
Janet Bennett’s tile murals have come to define the character of BART's Mission District stations, and yet, in the fifty-plus years since the tiles were placed, her contribution has gone unattributed...This past Women’s History Month, BART was honored to bring forward the story of the artworks as well as that of the wonderful midcentury artist who made them.
The mother of all Train Operators: BART's Mama Linda on the miles she’s traveled, the meals she’s shared, and the ancestors who shaped her
After 33 years as a Train Operator, Linda Yee-Sugaya, better known as Mama Linda, has seen a lot. She’s watched the old trains become the new; stations built and BART lines lengthen; and thousands of faces stream past the windows of her train.
An artist creates fantastical pop culture scenes with BART as her canvas and riders as her subjects
"Some people read, some people work, some people apply makeup,” says Joanna Sokua of riding BART. “I draw.”
Since 2017, Sokua has been creating what she calls “BARToons” during her morning and evening commute. You might say she is a seasoned BARTist. In the past seven years, she has drawn more than 170 BART illustrations. While on the train, she snaps photos of scenes and passengers that spark an idea, and when she gets home, she’ll sketch them out or, most often, superimpose pop culture figures onto the images using a digital pen.
The biggest BART fan in Japan flew to the Bay for a day to ride a legacy train one last time
On Friday, April 19, at 3pm, Atsushi Goto’s plane touched down at San Francisco International Airport. He hastily collected his carry on, went through customs, and dashed toward the SFO BART station. A train was waiting for him on the platform.
The 24 hours that followed his touchdown were a whirlwind of a trains, buses, cable cars, and one big party for a bunch of old trains at MacArthur Station – BART’s retirement celebration for the legacy trains. On the night of Saturday, April 20, just over a day after arriving, Atsushi was on a plane again, headed back home to Japan. Atsushi is an automobile designer, and on Monday, he had work.
BART Connects: This rider uses their BART System Map tattoo to give directions
When Sam Johnson sees someone lost in a BART station, they roll up their sleeve and show them a bicep.
Etched five layers deep into the epidermis of Sam’s left arm is a tattoo of the BART System Map. It’s Sam’s first and only tattoo, and in a pinch, it comes in handy.
“I’ve helped a bunch of people figure out where to go,” Sam said. “I point to my arm and say, ‘We’re here in Concord, you’re going to transfer to this station, then ride along here, and get off at this station.’”
It’s a practical tattoo but also a piece of art, an homage to the Bay, a love letter to transit. And let’s be honest, said Sam, “It looks good on me.”
Podcast: The future is now; the journey of the Fleet of the Future from blueprint to backbone of BART’s daily service
BART’s base train schedule now consists of all new Fleet of the Future trains, a major milestone for a project that’s been more than a decade in the making. Project Manager John Garnham reveals how fast the new cars speed along BART’s test track, explains why the process of building the outer shell is a bit like using a classic DIY toy and other insider nuggets on our podcast, “Hidden Tracks: Stories From BART.”
The Transbay Tube turns 50: Inside the groundbreaking history and future of the Bay's underwater crossing
On the Transbay Tube’s 50th anniversary, BART honored this one-of-a-kind structure that has ferried millions of passengers across the Bay for five decades and will continue to do so for decades to come. In the above video, we invite you to look inside the engineering opus for yourself.
BART Connects: BART showed Steve and Vanessa that "there is life out there"
July 26, 2024, marked the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA protects the rights of those with disabilities and is recognized as a watershed milestone for civil rights in the U.S.
More than 7% of BART riders have a disability (as self-reported in a 2022 survey), including Steven Howell and Vanessa Castro. Steven and Vanessa use BART to get just about everywhere. Says Steven: "[BART] showed me there is life out there."
Hear more from the couple in the above video.