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Some of the winners from our BART Lines Teen Poetry Contest will be participating in the Bay Area Book Festival's free and family-friendly Outdoor Fair this Sunday, June 2 in Berkeley.

Festivalgoers can stop by our table to write a BART “flash” poem with our award-winning poets. Every flash poem writer gets a BART prize. Several of the teen poetry contest winners along with Youth Speaks Brave New Voices team members will be reading their BART Lines poems at the table throughout the day. We’ll be tabling at the Outdoor Fair in the Family Fun Zone - booth 106.

We’ll also be selling our hot-off-the-presses BART Lines chapbook. Be the first to get your hands on a copy and get it signed by one of the teen poets whose work is featured in the collection. The one-of-a-kind books will be for sale on railgoods.com after the event.

The Outdoor Fair runs from 11am to 4pm in MLK Jr/Civic Center Park in Downtown Berkeley, and the BART station is just a 3-minute walk from the festivities. More info here. See you there!

As part of it’s ongoing commitment to making BART the Bay Area’s safest way to travel, the BART Police Department is pursuing an aggressive recruiting campaign to fill 28 officer vacancies. The announcement comes after the BART Board of Directors unanimously approved an agreement that increased BPD officer salaries to make them competitive with other Bay Area law enforcement agencies. BPD salaries had previously been 19% below the market average for 10 comparable jurisdictions.

“We are pulling out all stops to fill our current officer vacancies and continue our progress toward making BART the safest way to travel the Bay Area,” said interim Police Chief Kevin Franklin." Competitive pay is essential to attracting the top officer candidates, and we believe this pay increase will help BPD attract excellent candidates. We also offer state-of-the-art equipment and training, an array of special assignments, and an unmatched commitment to community policing across the Bay Area.”
           
BART General Manager Bob Powers and the BART Board have committed to adding 19 additional new officer positions once BPD fills all its current vacancies. 

“We are putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to ensuring the safety of our riders,” said Powers. “In addition to our success adding Crisis Intervention Specialists and Transit Ambassadors, these new sworn BPD officers represent an important investment in the safety and security of the BART system that the Bay Area demands, and we will provide. We know that by filling these vacancies through the duration of 2023, as well as adding additional, highly-trained BPD positions, we will ensure BART is safer and cleaner for all our riders.”

BPD has set a goal of hiring 6 officers a month starting in August. The department has hired 19 officers so far this year including 4 that are set to graduate from academy this month.

BPD has streamlined its hiring procedures to ensure qualified candidates move swiftly through the process. The department’s latest recruitment open house in July was a great success. It attracted 65 prospects and 21 applied on the spot to take BPD’s written exam and physical agility test.

BPD has had success hiring non-sworn Crisis Intervention Specialists (CIS) and Transit Ambassadors. BPD has filled 19 of its 20 CIS positions and 9 of its 10 Ambassador spots. These unarmed BPD staff play a vital role in helping the department to boost its visible safety presence in the system. They receive de-escalation training and work in coordination with sworn officers.

Officer candidates can learn more about working for BPD at the department’s employment page. The site allows prospects to text a recruiter so they can speak live to staff about applying with the department.

BART will provide four trains with limited stops before regular BART service begins for the Bay to Breakers event on Sunday, May 19, 2024. The special service will get race participants to Embarcadero around 7am.

The special early morning event trains will pick up passengers for an Embarcadero arrival with limited service from the following peninsula stations; Millbrae, Daly City, and 16th Street Mission in San Francisco and from the East Bay; West Oakland, MacArthur, Pleasant Hill, El Cerrito del Norte, Bay Fair, and Dublin stations. These stations will be the only stations opened early for service.

These four trains will go out of service once they drop riders off at Embarcadero. Riders cannot board a train at Embarcadero. 

Special Service Details

• One train will leave Millbrae at 6:30am and will stop at Daly City at 6:43am, 16th Street Mission at 6:53am and then Embarcadero at 6:58am. No other stops will be made along the line.
• A second train will leave Pleasant Hill at 6:24am and will stop at MacArthur at 6:43am, West Oakland at 6:52am and then Embarcadero at 6:58am. No other stops will be made along the line.
• A third train will leave Dublin at 6:18am and will stop at Bay Fair at 6:35am, West Oakland at 6:55am, and then Embarcadero at 7:01am. No other stops will be made along the line.
• A fourth train will leave El Cerrito del Norte at 6:36am and will stop at MacArthur at 6:49am, West Oakland at 6:58am and then Embarcadero at 7:04am. No other stops will be made along the line.

Regular systemwide BART service starts at around 8am.

Tips

BART parking is free on Sundays. People driving to BART to take the train should park at one of these stations being served: Pleasant Hill, El Cerrito del Norte, MacArthur, Bay Fair, West Oakland, Daly City, and Millbrae. 16th Street Mission does not have a BART parking lot.

BART has loaded these event trains as special service to the Trip Planner.

Once on the platform, these four trains will be labelled as: “Limited Stop to Embarcadero.”

Load your Clipper card in advance with enough funds for the round trip.

If you don’t have a Clipper card, add one for free ($3 savings) to your phone’s wallet in advance and use Google Pay or Apple Pay.

For New Year’s Eve, Sunday, December 31, BART will run standard Sunday service (starting at 8am) but with an extended closing time and extra event trains.

• Last East Bay bound train running through downtown San Francisco will be at around 1:30am.
• Last southbound train heading toward Millbrae will run through downtown San Francisco at 2:10am (it will not stop at SFO).

Our 1am Extended Service will be as listed:

• Three-line special service (Yellow, Blue and Orange only in both directions, for total of six trains for 1am Extended Service). Yellow Line will be the only line running in San Francisco and Peninsula. Blue Line will run between Bay Fair and Dublin/Pleasanton.
• Trains will be waiting at 12th St Oakland, MacArthur and Bay Fair to complete timed transfers.
  • Yellow Line and Orange Line trains in all directions will be timed to meet at MacArthur Station at 1:47am in a "Grand Meet". This is the transfer point for riders coming from San Francisco heading toward Richmond or Berryessa or riders coming from the East Bay heading toward San Francisco.
  • Yellow Line and Orange Line trains will be timed to meet at 12th St Oakland. 
    • Riders boarding a Berryessa-bound Orange Line train heading to San Francisco can exit their train and wait for the Millbrae-bound Yellow Line at 1:55am on the same Platform 2 (Lower Level).
    • There will be a timed transfer at 1:43 am on Platform 1 and 3 (Upper Level) between Antioch-bound Yellow Line train and Richmond-bound Orange Line train.
  • Orange Line and Blue Line trains will be timed to meet at Bay Fair Station at 2:16am. Dublin-bound riders can take the Berryessa-bound Orange Line train and transfer at Bay Fair Station.
• SFO and OAK airport stations will NOT be served.
• Last East Bay bound train running through downtown San Francisco will be at around 1:30am.
• Last southbound train heading toward Millbrae will run through downtown San Francisco at 2:10am.

The regular last trains of the evening (Yellow, Blue, and Orange lines) will be dispatched from the end of their lines at midnight and then at 1:00am, we will run another set of last trains of the evening to serve 48 out of our 50 stations. The 1am trains will not serve SFO and OAK airport stations.

BART’s Trip Planner has been updated to include the extended service trains.

Avoid Vending Machines and Put Clipper on Your Phone

We encourage all New Year's Eve riders who need a Clipper card (BART no longer sells paper tickets) to add a digital card to their phone’s mobile wallet and to load round trip funds before arriving to BART. The funds will be available for immediate use. 

A digital card avoids the $3 plastic card fee and the hassle of waiting in long lines at machines. Here are the Google Pay and Apple Pay instructions. Do not download the Clipper app, go through your phone's wallet. 

Each person 5 years and older need their own Clipper card. There isn't a way to share one because you have to tag in and out at the fare gates. Multiple cards can be added to a phone's digital wallet, if you need to use multiple cards, turn off express mode so you can toggle through each one when entering and exiting at the fare gates. 

1am Extended Service details

Besides the extra event trains which be dispatched as available, only the Yellow line (Millbrae to Antioch) will run between San Francisco and the East Bay. Riders heading from San Francisco towards Richmond, Berryessa, and Dublin will need to transfer. Yellow Line trains will not serve SFO. Southbound Yellow line (Antioch to Millbrae) trains will run to Millbrae, stopping at all stations except SFO.

The Blue line will operate from Bay Fair to Dublin only. If travelling from San Francisco, Dublin-bound riders need to transfer at MacArthur to a Berryessa (Orange line) bound train and then transfer to a Dublin (Blue line) train at Bay Fair to complete their trip. These transfers will be timed meets to reduce travel time.

The Orange line (Richmond to Berryessa) will also run hourly to coincide with the other trains. Riders coming from San Francisco who need to transfer to a Richmond-bound train will do so at MacArthur; riders who need to transfer to a Berryessa-bound train (or Dublin) will do so at 12th Street. These transfers will be timed meets to reduce travel time. BART to OAK service will not be operating after regular BART hours.

Avoid lines, get Clipper in advance

Each rider 5 and older needs their own Clipper card to pay for BART fare.

For those who already have Clipper, make sure you have your roundtrip fare loaded (lines will be long at the station).

If you don’t already have a Clipper card, save $3 per plastic card, and add Clipper to your phone’s digital wallet for free. No app required. You can instantly load cash value with your Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

For step-by-step instructions on how to add a new Clipper card to your phone, please go to Clipper's  Apple Pay page or Google Pay page for more information.

Parking

Parking is free on Sunday, except at Berryessa/North San Jose and Milpitas stations, which are owned and operated by VTA and parking fees are enforced on 7 days a week, including holidays. Monday, January 1, will also be free parking, excpet at Berryessa/North San Jose and Milpitas stations.

You can leave your car at BART lots overnight if necessary.

Stay Safe

Save these numbers in your phone:

• 510-200-0992 to text BART Police dispatch to discreetly report criminal activity
• 510-464-7000 to call BART Police in an emergency (It’s faster than calling 911)

We also offer the free the BART Watch app--a free mobile app available on the App Store and Google Play that allows you to quickly and discreetly report criminal or suspicious activity directly to BART Police.

You can reach the train operator using call buttons in each car. On old cars the button is at the end of the car, on new cars, the call button is by the side doors.

Note your train car number when contacting police or the train operator. The train number is located above the doors on the inside of each end of the train car.

BART will have extra safety staff working on New Year’s Eve to have more staff on trains, on platforms and inside stations. 

Sunday Service on New Year's Day

New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024, will be a regular Sunday schedule with service running 8am until midnight.

UNGAR: We're now approaching MacArthur Station. MacAarthur Station is a transfer point for patrons headed in the Berryessa direction. If your head down Berryessa away, step across the platform and catch that Berryessa train on platform number four. This is a San Francisco International Airport Yellow Line train making all stops in downtown Oakland, San Francisco and all points on the Peninsula to San Francisco International Airport.

FILIPPI: Welcome to “Hidden Track Stories from BART.” I'm Chris Filippi and on this edition of our podcast, I'm joined by Casey Unger, who is a Transportation Supervisor based in our Daly City Yard.

As a Transportation Supervisor, Casey plays a critical role in BART's daily ability to implement our service. But before he got a promotion, Unger was a Train Operator and a very popular one with announcements just like that. Casey, welcome to Hidden Tracks.

UNGAR: Thank you so much, Chris. I'm thrilled to be here.

FILIPPI: Did I detect a little bit of a dialect on that one?

UNGAR: Oh, it's hard to say. We had a train controller, a man named Virgil, and Virgil had a beautiful southern accent and whenever Virgil came on to the console, people listened. People perked up. The whole system was a little more responsive. And part of that was because listening to Virgil was a delight. He was a change from the everyday. What I tried to do when I first started operating trains was to make my announcements listenable, to make my announcements something that people would actually perk up to that might cut through the noise on their headphones or whatever they were doing at that time and to be reassuring, you want people to listen to the Train Operator when anything anomalous occurs, when something weird happens and for the Train Operator to be a voice of reassurance. You know we're going to be delayed for 15 minutes in downtown San Francisco direction due to police activity. I'll let you know when something changes and that's a good way not only to keep our patrons involved, our patrons interested, but a good way to keep the system as a whole running, as a good way to reach out to people, to provide that customer service, that as an organization we really try to strive for.

FILIPPI: That was very soothing. I noticed in the announcement and you have a musical background, is that right?

UNGAR: I do. I was in conservatory for a couple of years. I then transitioned over to history and when I was a historian at San Francisco State University in graduate school, I studied the history of sound and the history of religion. The history of sound in particular is something that's very interesting in the Bay Area. People talk about the noise of BART or the noise of Muni, the fog horns in San Francisco. To me, that's all part of what makes the Bay Area and public transit in the Bay Area a crucial part of the fabric of our everyday lives. How the train sings to you when it pulls into the station, the clatter of the overhead wires, the bus goes through an intersection. They're incredibly important parts of the soundscape of the Bay Area. That's always something I tried to be cognizant of, that people would hear my voice sometimes for upwards of an hour and a half, and I wanted to make sure it was a pleasant experience, not a grating experience.

FILIPPI: It's funny you talk about the sounds of transit. It's almost like it's like comfort food. We hear so much about the BART screech and it's annoying if you're in the Transbay Tube, but for a lot of folks, it's almost like that comfort food for our ears.

UNGAR: It really can be, you know, to tell a personal story. I lived on Fourth and Balboa for quite some time in San Francisco, and there was a trolley coach line that I used to drive that ran right outside of my apartment. One of the things that felt like coming home was to sit in my living room and to hear the were of the trolleys, to hear the carbons on the top of the trolley poles interact with the breakers, to hear the air brakes at the stop outside of my house. For me, that's a big part of how we perceive place. The sound of public transit, the sound of BART, the horns on the legacy fleet, Gracie and George when they're in the station, you know, it's important. It helps people understand where they are. It gives them a sense of place, gives people like me a sense of purpose in a very real way.

FILIPPI: I’m speaking with Casey Ungar, a Transportation Supervisor here at BART, formerly a Train Operator. Casey, you really have a passion for public transit and even before you came to BART, that started with Muni.

UNGAR: Yes. I dropped out of graduate school, as one does, to drive a bus for a couple of years. And prior to that, I had or prior to coming to San Francisco, should I say, I never had the opportunity to take a bus in my hometown. The bus ran every hour, if you were lucky. SLO-RT is doing a fabulous job in San Luis Obispo County, but limited resources. The buses never run past 8:30. When I moved to Stockton to be in conservatory, there wasn't really a reason for me to take the bus. I was centered around campus. When I moved to San Francisco for the first time in 2010, I believe I'm coming up on my 13th anniversary this week. It was the first time in my life I had never had a car. 

Taking the bus throughout the city, taking BART throughout the Bay Area felt like a sense of freedom. It was an incredible thing to be able to stand on the corner of California and Park Presidio and to have the 28 come and take me to school. Every 15 minutes, every 10 minutes. It was an incredible thing to go to Daly City BART and to have a train that would take me to UC Berkeley so I could go to class just so that I could use the library. Regularly it would get me there quickly. It would be faster than driving. It was a sense of freedom for me. I didn't have to fill up my car. I didn't have to pay for insurance. I didn't have to find parking. I could just get up and go. So, when I decided that graduate school wasn't for me and Muni came calling, that felt like a really good way for me to figure out who I was in the space of the greater Bay Area, figure out who I was in terms of what it meant to my community to have this really good bus service and to give back in a very real way. I'd been riding the bus, I drove for five years at that point, and again Muni came calling and it taught me so much about the city I lived in. It taught me so much about the people around me. It taught me a lot about myself. The habits I formed driving out of Presidio Division on Presidio and Geary, I still hopefully carry with me through this day or to this day. It was hard work. It was stressful and difficult work. It was work where you could go throughout a ten hour shift and you might not have more than a five minute break.

But at the end of the day, what Muni gave me was a real sense of fulfillment. It felt like I was doing good work that helped people and so when BART came calling and offered me a similar sort of position, one that was a little more technical, maybe, of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

FILIPPI: It must have a special importance for you, considering how empowering transit could be, especially for folks with limited incomes or even perhaps limited personal mobility, to have this opportunity to use a public transit system that can get you to a job, to see loved ones to a vital medical appointment, that must have given you a lot of purpose in the work that you were doing.

UNGAR: Absolutely it did. I operated one of the busiest trains in the system prior to the pandemic. I would leave San Francisco International Airport at 4:57 pm or 16:57, as we prefer in operations, and I would get to Embarcadero at 17:26 or thereabouts. There were 1500 to 2000 people on my train every single day operating that train through the Transbay tube under a couple of hundred feet of water, knowing that I was getting these folks safely home, safely to their loved ones where they needed to go, getting them to work in the mornings when I had a morning shift.

That was something that really motivated me and gave me drive to continue. BART and Muni and public transit as a whole is the lifeblood of the Bay Area and I am so lucky to have been able to be a part of this and I'm so lucky to have been able to be an operator for four years and even throughout the pandemic, when we were serving 25,000 riders a day, 22,000 riders a day in April of 2020, I felt honored to serve the essential workers. I felt honored to be an essential worker with these people and to give those folks who needed us the most the option to take the service. Having BART there, even in the darkest days of 2020, I feel, was an incredible service. It was the honor of a lifetime.

FILIPPI: And it's interesting you talk about how few riders we had at that point, but literally each one of those riders, they were relying on us. Most of them had no other option and they were coming to us and you were in a position where you could help each of them.

UNGAR: Absolutely. I remember again in April of 2020, right after shelter in place, there was one person in my lead car, whereas previously there had been 175. They were people working out of Oakland International Airport. There were people working at SFO. There were nurses, there were janitors, there were people working at the supermarkets. The people in society who really help society run relied on us and they still rely on the work we do and that's an incredibly important thing. And that's something that now as a supervisor who works with Train Operators, who works with Foreworkers, I try to remind my people that the work we do is incredibly important.

FILIPPI: I've heard multiple people tell me that the best job at BART is being a Train Operator. Do you agree with that?

UNGAR: That is a fabulous question and I 100% agree with you. Now, when I was a Train Operator, people would come and tell me that being a Train Operator was the best job at BART, and I thought they were crazy. Now that I'm a supervisor, I completely agree. It's good work. It's fulfilling work and its interesting work. At the end of the day, you clock out not only do you have a paycheck, you have a sense of purpose. Train Operator and Station Agent, for that matter, are incredibly important jobs and they’re jobs that I feel should be getting a lot more recognition from the public. You know, we should be saying thank you more to our Train Operators and Station Agents. Train Operator. Absolutely a wonderful job and I miss it every day.

FILIPPI: I was going to say so you were a Train Operator and you messed it up by becoming a supervisor?

UNGAR: Well, you know, desperate times call for desperate promotions.

FILIPPI: There you go. So, tell us about that, because I think a lot of people, a lot of our riders don't really know what a Transportation Supervisor does. How does that play out? What's your role here?

UNGAR: Well, I've only been a Transportation Supervisor for about 18 months now, maybe a little more. And I'm still learning everyday what it is that my job entails. It's a very complex job. As a Train Operator, you're responsible for a single train as a Station Agent, as single station. As a Foreworker, which I did for six months, you’re responsible for the operations side of things, the integrity of the line, making sure that trains dispatch on time, people are paid appropriately, that everything moves smoothly, even though like a duck underwater, you're paddling frantically, you're still on top and the system continues to run.

Now, as a Transportation Supervisor, I'm responsible for BART itself. When I breakdown my job, it's really four major components. I do a lot of customer service, both external, responding to patron complaints, going to incidents. I'm out there doing service disruptions. If you send an email, you might get one back from me. I help in stations. I help whenever we have train problems. That's external customer service that's making the system run just a little bit better. 

I do a lot of internal customer service though too. I'm the face of the District for my employees. If they have questions about policies, they come and talk to me. If they need something, they come and talk to me. If they're feeling overwhelmed by their responsibilities, they know they can come and talk to me.

It's important. That part is important because I try to make my employees feel like they're respected by the District, that their input is valuable. I let management know when we're having problems. I try to solve the issues on my own. If I can't I try to bring in people who can by serving my Train Operators and Station Agents in that way I try to make a better working environment for everyone. I try to make the system run just a little more smoothly. I try to make people happy. Customer service is one. The next part is safety. I, with help, obviously run the Daly City Rail Yard, the Millbrae terminal, the airport terminal, and our Daly City terminal 122 train operators, lot of trackage.

I'm out there every day checking to make sure Train Operators are following the rules. Checking to make sure that we're working safely, checking to make sure that our stations are safe, you know, are there slipping hazards that need to be mitigated? Are there other issues that I, as a supervisor can take care of proactively? Safety is a big part of it. And as a supervisor, when I'm on the line or when I'm out in the field, I want my people to know that all I want from them is for them to behave safely. And all I want is for the system to be safe so our patrons can be safe, so that we can all go home at the end of the day and say, wow, that was boring day.

The third major component of my job is kind of a labor relations component. I work with one of our unions, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555. That's the operators’, agent and clerks’ union and I work to make sure the rights of their members are respected. I answer their grievances. I meet with our union reps to discuss pressing concerns again, doing some of that internal customer service there but sometimes they also have to do investigations, sometimes they also have to do discipline. But one of the things that I really like about that, that I really respect about the way we do things here at BART is we use positive discipline. It's corrective in nature. We focus on the problem, but not the person and I hope that whenever I do an investigation or have to talk to an employee about an issue, they come away feeling respected, having learned something.

The final part is kind of miscellaneous. You know, some days I might have to write a report, some days I might have to make a presentation about trends that are going on in my rail yard. A lot of what I do is employee morale. My train operators know that once a week there's going to be free food in one of the break rooms. It's an incredibly important thing. Other miscellaneous things, I love doing employee development. I love talking to new Train Operators and new Station Agents, seeing what's going on, trying to help them figure out how they fit in the system and how the system can help them live a good life and how they can have a good life at BART. It's a big job.

FILIPPI: And that's critical, isn't it? Because what I'm thinking of is BART has really placed an emphasis in recent months on hiring more Train Operators and by doing that, giving the operations greater flexibility, avoiding cancelations, because we don't have enough Train Operators for a given day. This is a huge customer service initiative for BART, and what I'm struck by is what you're saying about that internal communications part and making people feel valued and wanting to be part of this complex dance when it comes to providing our service, how important is that to ensure that everybody feels like they're a part of the puzzle here and they're really serving the Bay Area by being a TO at BART?

UNGAR: It's incredibly important and it's kind of difficult at the same time. Train Operators, you're really focused on the train and it's easy to forget that you're part of this bigger, more complex organism. 

What I've seen the last eight months is that our train cancelations have dropped virtually to zero. Our Train Operators are less stressed. They don't have to worry when they go into work every day that they might be doing something different. They know what they're going to be doing. Our yards are running a little more smoothly because we've got more people in place who are willing to work. It's a huge deal for our employee morale and I feel like hiring more Train Operators, hiring more Station Agents is one of the best things we could do to promote good customer service in the Bay Area. By staffing those stations, by staffing those trains, we're showing the Bay Area that we are invested in making the BART experience better, in making our reliability better, and for that matter, in our employees’ well-being because staffing the system better means that everyone gets to relax a little more, gets to feel better about the work they do. And frankly, over again, in the last six or eight months since we've really been hiring, I've noticed so much improvement not only in the temperament in my breakroom, not only in the morale of my employees, but system wide. It's really been an incredible thing to see, and I'm thrilled that we're continuing to hire through the end of the year.

FILIPPI: I'm struck by how the people component is critical to service. And there are so many moving parts to it that go beyond our employees. You're talking about the track, the trains, the stations, and then the external factors. Weather, our riders, external traffic, there's so much that goes into it. How complex is it to ensure that our service is operating the way it should be?

UNGAR: Oh, my goodness.

FILIPPI: And I probably only touched on a fraction of the different factors that go into it.

UNGAR: Absolutely. A lot of that has to do with the Operations Control Center. But a lot of that also comes from our Train Operators, how they're trained, our Station Agents, how they work, you know, as a Transportation Supervisor, as kind of a middle management sort, I am fortunate to be able to interact with the different departments that make BART tick. Buildings, tracks, train control, power, mechanical. I work a lot with outside agencies. I'm BART's incident commander. When incidents occur, I'll deal with the police, fire department, San Francisco International Airport. As a Train Operator and a rider, I never realized. I thought it was a magical thing that a train came out of Richmond Yard and would take me from downtown Berkeley to Montgomery Street. And it's an incredibly complex thing, transportation is not an island. We work closely with our shops to make sure that we've got the cars that we need to provide revenue service. We work closely with the buildings department to make sure that our stations are in tip top shape, that the bathrooms are open. Elevator, escalator, they work invisibly day after day after day to keep our stations accessible for people. It's an incredibly complex dance and when I was on the front lines, when I was Foreworker, you never know about it. And one of the things that I really love to do as a Transportation Supervisor is to reach out to these different departments and to see how we can get things working a little better. To see if we can get the radios down at Millbrae reprogramed to work with our new system just a little better. To see if we can do little ergonomic things the train cabs or in our break rooms, working with the Vehicle Systems Engineer to make my Train Operators lives a little more comfortable. I live to help the front line do their jobs and working with all of these different departments to help the front line get our patrons from point to point is a complex and interesting thing.

BART as an entity is fascinating. We do so much here that people may not know about. And again, I've only been a supervisor for 18 months and I'm still learning about ways that we can make the customer experience better. That I can make my Train Operators and Station Agents lives a little easier, that we can make things just work a little more smoothly.

FILIPPI: I'm speaking with Casey Unger, a Transportation Supervisor here at BART. Casey, before that, you talked about your experience as a Train Operator. How much does it help having that hands on experience as an operator and now as a supervisor?

UNGAR: It's incredibly helpful. As a former Train Operator, there are two big parts of my job that it really, really impacts. The main one for me right now is how I'm able to talk to our patrons. When a customer comes to me with a complaint, I'm not just offering an apology on behalf of the District. I'm not just telling the customer we're sorry, we're going to do better for you next time. I'm trying to figure out what happened so that I can educate the customer this is why this sort of thing happens. This is why the doors on this train car didn't open. This is why the Train Operator’s announcements might not have been clear in 1681, but they were certainly clear in car 1522.

And as a former Train Operator who's worked with Train Operators before, who's worked with kind of the train control system and the broader nitty gritty operational elements of BART, I find that a lot of my job when I'm doing that external customer service is educational. I want people to come away from interacting with me, from talking to me about the problems they're having, and I want them to understand why we do things here the way that we do them. The answer shouldn't be, well, this just happened because and we're really sorry. It should help give people a better investment in the system, a better understanding of why we do things the way that we do them. And more impetus to continue riding, continue working with BART. I try to assure people that even when they're having a bad day in the system, it's not something that happens all the time.

Their problem was something that was rare and interesting and that we can all learn from. And as a supervisor, it's my job to try to instruct my employees to take those proactive actions to communicate a little more clearly about these issues. As a former Train Operator, that's incredibly useful when I'm talking to my employees, because while I speak the language, it's a huge thing for me to be able to go to my operators and try to find out what happened and talk to them and see what is going on and mainline to read between the lines of the issues they may be having. 

I will never forget what it was like to be the last train of the night coming from Dublin, Pleasanton to Daly City and having to sweep the train out of service and bring it into the yard. I will never forget going through a Station Agent class and I was a Foreworker and having to close 19th Street Station with only one other Station Agent. For me, being a part of BART's front line, learning about how to be a Station Agent, which was the other frontline working position, I would hope it's made me a more empathetic person. I would hope it's made me a better communicator for our patrons. And I would hope that when I go out into the field and I talk to my agents, when I talk to my operators, they don't see a supervisor. They see someone who's lived the same life they have. I have 27 years until I retire, give or take, and I hope that until the day I retire, I don't forget what it was like sweeping that train out of service. I don't forget what it was like closing 19th Street. I hope that I am able to be the sort of supervisor and manager who is there for my employees, who is there to understand the problems they're facing, and who can communicate to our patrons who are having issues why these things happen, why the system runs the way it does, why we work the way it work, and to get that buy in both from our external customers and our internal customers, to make BART run better, to bring our patrons back after the pandemic and make the system as a whole just a little bit more of a joyful, understandable place.

FILIPPI: Casey, you work at the Daily City Yard, so that's a really important portion of the system. You're touching on multiple lines there. What is it like working there?

UNGAR: Daily City Yard has been my home well, for the entire time I was a Train Operator and as a Foreworker I worked at one of the adjunct terminals. Daily City Yard is also the newest yard in the system. It was built, I believe, in the 1990s as part of a capacity project, as part of the Colma extension and the Daly City tail tracks. Daly City Yard is one of the busiest places in the system. My Foreworkers are there checking Train Operators in and out. They're pulling bad order trains from mainline and replacing them flawlessly and seamlessly. They're there coordinating with the shops to make sure that we can make our revenue requirements in the morning. My terminal zones are dispatching trains. They're checking Train Operators in and out, they're communicating with central. It's an incredible ballet to see when I come in at 1300 all that's been accomplished and all we have to accomplish. 

And as a supervisor, my role is unfortunately not to be in the nitty gritty anymore. I'm no longer a Foreworker, I can't manage a terminal. But what I can do is I can be there for my Foreworkers, I can be there for my Train Operators. I can help them figure out what they need to do to make sure the yards and the terminals are running. And Daly City, again, as a yard is fairly unique. We dispatch Dublin trains, we dispatch Berryessa trains, we dispatch Antioch trains. We dispatch just about everything except for the occasional Richmond train although we've done that before too. And in Daly City Yard it's very busy, but we've got the best Foreworkers in the system. We have the best Train Operators in the system. We have people who are willing to work to make it work. And I am so lucky to have cut my teeth there as a train operator, to have worked at Daly City Terminal as a Foreworker, and now to be there as a supervisor. The work we do at Daly City Yard is important for the functioning of the system, and we do it well. And I am so proud of the people that I work with. I am so proud of the work that we do there because every day we make it happen, all of our trains go out on time, all of our trains got the link they need., all of our operators are there and they're ready to work and they're ready to put in the work that they need to make the yard run, that they need to make the system run.

Daly City Yard is the smallest yard, but we are a linchpin in BART and I like to remind my people of that. I'd like to remind my people that the job they do is important. And it's not only important to get the trains out, it's important to keep the Bay Area running.

FILIPPI: Is there a particular challenge that's most common that comes up when it comes to executing that vision?

UNGAR: Oh, gosh. As a supervisor, the challenge is knowing what's happening and knowing why things happen. So just knowing why we weren't able to run a train one day, it isn't enough. Knowing why it happened that's part of the job. To know that our train wash is broken, that's not enough. To know when it'll get fixed and how it'll affect our ability to wash trains. That's a huge challenge. And then to be able to present my findings to my boss and my boss's boss and the Chief Transportation Officer, and to give suggestions on how we can do it a little better. To give suggestions to my Foreworkers about how we can maybe staff a little bit more efficiently to make things run a little better.

My job is not one where I'm making decisions that are tremendous. It's not one where I make decisions every day that will change the world. My job is to make things run a little bit better, to provide that oversight, to ask the questions, and to find out reasons why the things that happened happened. And for me, as a former historian, as someone who really is interested in research and really interested in the way the system runs, there's an incredible fulfillment. My days go by really fast and there is a joy to knowing that the support that I give to my frontline workers helps make it happen and helps make the yard run, and that every day we're getting a little better.

FILIPPI: You touched a little bit on your history before really getting into BART and public transit of being a historian. Where would you put BART in terms of its importance to the history of the Bay Area?

UNGAR: To my eyes, BART is one of the most impactful projects the Bay Area has had within the last century. After the Key System dissolved in the fifties, after Muni streetcars stopped running, what did we have? We had the automobile. We had all of these towns that weren't connected. When I think of the Bay Area, I think of what it must have been like in 1950, 1960, 1970, when they were waiting for BART. The traffic, you had to take a bus. You couldn't use the Transbay Tube. You were going across the Bay Bridge. Maybe there was a ferry. There was so much air pollution. I try to think of a world now without BART, a world where there's traffic, a world where the people who need us the most don't have us. What would the Bay Area look like without BART? My answer is that it wouldn't be the Bay Area. When BART opened in 1972 on its little stub line from Fremont to MacArthur, that was an incredibly transformative moment for the Bay Area, for the culture of the Bay Area. It brought back what we had lost to the Key System. It gave people more options and more places they could live.

I try to think counterfactually what is a Bay Area without BART look like? It doesn't look like the Bay Area. The work we do, the system we have is a treasure. BART is something that cannot be replaced. We can widen the freeways as much as we may want. We may build more bridges. We can never replace the work that BART did during the ‘89 earthquake. We can never replace the capacity BART has in the Transbay Tube. We can never replace the the important impacts BART has on our environment. That’s huge, we're running electric trains in the Bay Area.

We are making people's lives better simply by running by taking those cars off the road, by giving people that option. So where is BART in the history of the Bay Area? It's one of the most hugely impactful infrastructure projects in the last 100 years. Could the Bay Area run without the Bay Bridge? Absolutely. Could the Bay Area run without BART? I don't think so.

FILIPPI: And you mentioned all of the importance that BART has had throughout the history of the Bay Area the last 50 years. Certainly, the pandemic was a historic time as well. And you touched on your experience during that time with our diminished ridership. And on a much lighter note, I know you would go to Millbrae during the pandemic and saw some interesting things there.

UNGAR: So, one of the things that I loved about the pandemic was the genesis of the Slow Streets movement. Areas that were closed to cars where people could walk and be socially distanced and be outside. And for me, when I was working at Millbrae during the pandemic, I had a shift that started at I think it was 14:45, 2:45 if you're out of operations and then end at 10 pm or 10:30 pm. I had some downtime in there between when I would run the shuttles and take a train from the airport to Antioch and back. And one of the things that I did instead of being in the break room was I would walk on the Millbrae parking structure on the top level. I do four or five laps. There'd be a few of us who all do our laps at about the same time. 

One of the clearest memories to me was back then you could see the airlines coming in and landing at San Francisco International Airport. You could see the sunset over the mountains. And there was a family of very cute ravens and I got to watch one of them raise their fledglings from a chick to a full grown raven over the course of that pandemic year. And I just remember walking on by the ravens and they'd look at me and I'd look at them. They'd fly to the other side of the parking structure, and they'd look at me and I'd look at them. It was one of the weirder relationships I've had in my life. But that moment of connection with those ravens as the planes fly in from parts unknown and as I'm getting ready to take my train from the airport to Antioch and the cool of the winter evening, that was an experience that kind of defined the pandemic for me. And that was for me a very BART thing.

FILIPPI: It really was something how the world kind of slowed down in that time and BART was always there. No matter what the ridership was or what the circumstances were, BART was still there and our frontline workers continued to show up, even though there was so much uncertainty about what was going to happen with that virus and what it would do to people awe were still there. I mean, there's a really powerful statement in that, isn't there?

UNGAR: There absolutely is and being a Train Operator during the pandemic, seeing my coworkers show up to work every day, knowing the stations were staffed was an incredibly powerful thing. And again, you want to speak to the importance of BART in Bay Area history. I would say our two greatest moments were the service we ran after the ‘89 quake when we replaced the Bay Bridge for months, 24-hour service, we kept the Bay Area moving. But that we kept running throughout the pandemic, that we kept providing people with the ability to get where they need to go without a car. And I think that's a very powerful argument for BART as part of the social safety net of the Bay Area and for something that is absolutely indispensable to our culture.

FILIPPI: BART Transportation Supervisor Casey Unger, thank you so much for joining us.

UNGAR: Thank you, Chris. It's been a delight.

FILIPPI: And thank you for listening to Hidden Tracks, stories from BART. You can listen to our podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play and of course at our website, BART.gov/podcasts.

You can get full details on the track revitalization project happening between Rockridge, MacArthur, and 19th Street stations in Oakland here.

(Podcast transcript below)

FILIPPI: When it comes to rebuilding the backbone of BART, the upcoming track work in the heart of Oakland is the main event. Welcome to “Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART.”  

Years of planning have gone into the track replacement work that’s going to be happening on select weekends over the next three years in the core of the BART system. Organizers are calling this the most challenging and complex segment of BART’s revitalization plan that started in 2016, when District voters approved Measure RR. The measure provides $3.5 billion to replace aging track, traction power cables, and other vital equipment.

I’m your host Chris Filippi and this time on Hidden Tracks I’m joined by BART Project Manager Kevin Reeg who can talk about the challenges of this work and what will be accomplished, as well as BART Operations Planner Hayley Toy who will share more about how to navigate BART during all this work and the many efforts we’ve taken to reduce the impacts on riders from these shutdowns. Kevin and Hayley thank you both for being here.

Kevin and Haley, thank you so much for joining us. 

REEG and TOY: Thank you. Thanks for having us. 

FILIPPI: So, Kevin, let's start with you and give us the 30,000 feet view of this. This is a huge project that's coming up. It's in the heart of Oakland. Tell us what's going on. 

REEG: Yeah. So this, all the track work in this area was opened in 1972. So, it's seen 52 years of service. The section of track we’re planning to replace with this project is between 19th Street and MacArthur Station. It’s the most complicated section of track in the BART system.  There are actually four tracks wide there, anybody that’s ridden through that area knows the platform at MacArthur well.

FILIPP: I think it's really interesting that BART is more than 50 years old. We just celebrated our 50th anniversary last year. The equipment that's being replaced literally was there at the start of service back in 1972. It's amazing. It's lasted so long. 

REEG: Yeah, I mean, we're fortunate Oakland's got a Mediterranean environment, so it's a little easier on conditions. It's not in Chicago or somewhere else like New York City. So, 52 years it has made that benchmark. But, it's all on timber tires and they are degrading and then the track is also wearing out just due to significant wear at that location.

FILIPPIL: When you look at what's happening with this project, we're talking about equipment that's decades old. but on top of that, there are other challenges here, right? Like this is a difficult part of the system to get into when it comes to equipment, when it comes to access for the team. 

REEG: This site is particularly challenging because it's in the median of State Route 24. Back when this was built, there were 3 million less people in the Bay. State Route 24 was two lanes in each direction and, there was an area to work from to actually build this trackway. Now, of course, the freeway goes right up to the BART right-of-way, and the four sets of tracks go right up to the, Caltrans right-of-way.

So, all the work has to come in. either through the trackway or through a minor driveway that comes off of West MacArthur Boulevard. So, in other interlocking replacement projects, we've used large cranes and we've pre-assembled panels and lifted them into place. Here, just due to the density and the location of the freeway and the proximity to the other tracks, this is going to have to be built piece by piece and all those pieces will come in on the track away from a yard in Oakland. 

FILIPPI: And I would think that's got to be one of the reasons why this work is happening on select weekends over three years. This is going to take some time. 

REEG: Yeah. There’re 16 switches, just to give the kind of complexity between 19th Street and MacArthur, there's 16 switches between those two stations that need to be replaced. Switch is like an interchange where you can change tracks from one track to the next. There's 16 located in that spot so, it's very dense and then at each of these weekends, we'll replace one of those switches. Each of those will be loaded up on a train in Oakland, brought in and then assembled right on location. And while we do that, because of the proximity of the tracks to each other and the absence of room to work from, there can be no trains going by. First off, the section of track that we're facing will be completely removed. But secondly, will be too close to the tracks adjacent to have trains going by so this is what necessitates the bus bridge and why we do it on the weekends, just when we have less ridership. 

FILIPPI: This is such a complex dance, and it requires so much planning. And Haley, that's a great spot to bring you in because you deal with the operations planning aspects of this and specifically how riders are impacted and how they can get around the bus bridge. When you're presented with a major project like this, it's going to extend over three years, multiple weekends, 18 weekends, I believe. talk about the planning process and what happens on your end in terms of trying to limit the impact on our riders.

TOY: Yeah, absolutely. going off what Kevin said, we try to mitigate the delays as much as possible for our riders with these big track work projects. At the beginning, when we're in the beginning planning and initial planning phases, we review all the work and route prohibits that are suggested for the track work and then we work around that. So, we really analyze where the track work is taking place compared to where the trains are running. So, like in this case, at MacArthur, there really is only room for one track to be open and we actually fought for that track to be open for in Operations Planning. This will allow the Orange Line to come into MacArthur and is also one of the reasons why the Yellow Line is stopping at Rockridge. So, through this initial planning phase, we can create the best scenario for our customers that is the least impactful. 

FILIPPI: And it must be really hard to do that given the location of where this work is happening. I mean, Oakland's right in the core of everything. 

TOY: Yeah. Urban stations add another level of complexity to bus bridge coordination, not only for the customers, but also for our bus operators, the bus agencies that we work with. It makes it much more complex for bus routing. And street availability for drop offs and pickups. Also, for passengers who may need, the elevator like ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) passengers or people with baggage. 

So, the next piece of the puzzle for our initial planning is the train schedule development. For this bus bridge because it's so complex, we've actually, tested multiple scheduling scenarios through modeling software that we have. We’ve basically found the most resilient and efficient option for our customers. This involves balancing the need for efficiency, as frequent service as possible, while also the goal of minimizing disruption. Through this modeling, we actually tested multiple service scenarios with tribulations. So, building in delays and testing for delays. Then we decided on the best service to run. For example the Orange Line, Green, Blue and yeah those three lines have 30 minute service while the Yellow Line has 20 minutes service. We tested all four lines of 20 minute service, and because of the way our track is structured and the need for single tracking in and out of 19th and 12th Street, and as well as, MacArthur Station for the Orange Line, those service scenarios would not work if there were delays. It would cause compounding delays and like hours of delays for our customers.

So, we have a resilient plan, a little bit of a longer headway for 30 minutes for a lot of the lines while also servicing the airport every 20 minutes in downtown San Francisco through the Yellow Line. 

FILIPPI: It's really interesting, the software modeling aspect of this. Is that something that's new or has that been used on past track shutdowns?

TOY: We usually use it for the really complex shutdowns and we actually go through a third-party vendor and they develop the testing for us and then we analyze, basically go through analysis of it. We don't usually use it for other shutdowns, especially the ones at the end of the lines because they're more simple, we can do our own analysis and testing through our software system there, like building the schedules and doing our own testing. Whereas the more complex ones we have a train modeling third party come through.

FILIPPI: It’s not just about headways, right? It's not just about the time between trains, but it's having resiliency and having confidence in the schedule you come up with that it can actually stand up through whatever may happen on a given weekend.

TOY: Yeah, absolutely. 

REEG: Well, and the Orange Line has special challenges just because, the Orange Line, we're bringing single track into MacArthur Station, there's no switches between MacArthur Station and the Berkeley Station. So, the trains have to be single tracked, from MacArthur to Ashby to Berkeley and it's not until past then that they can switch tracks and go onto both platforms at North Berkeley. The net effect is, is you have one way traffic into MacArthur Station and one way traffic back out, which leads to the longer, headways on the Orange Line. 

FILIPPI: It speaks to just the realities of the BART system and the fact is, we do not have redundant tracks. So, we really do rely on these interlocking, these components of the trackway that allow trains to go from track to track. It's a really important thing that I think a lot of our riders maybe aren't even aware of. 

TOY: Yeah, it's a very complex system, and there are a lot of different constraints that can cause extra delays for passengers based on where the work location is happening. 

FILIPPI: And then, Kevin, planning on your end of things. I know the talks about this project have been going on for years, right?

REEG: Yeah, I've only taken the project over the last year. But as you mentioned, Measure RR was approved in 2016 and, the planning for this project started in the spring of 2017. So, it was a massive design effort, that ended a few years ago and then we've gone into major procurements for traction power materials, train control materials, and the biggest packages of all were the special track work, for all the 16 switches. Those have gone to the (BART) Board and over the last couple of years and now we're receiving materials and getting ready to go out there and actually build the work. 

FILIPPI: We've successfully completed more than 50 tracks shutdowns since RR was approved. What lessons have been learned from those past track shutdowns? 

REEG: Those weekend shutdowns were comprised both of by contractors replacing switches and interlocking and also BART forces and of those, BART forces have replaced 34 switches. Most of those were panelized construction but, recently we've done more what I call stick build where they're built piece by piece on location where there's not access for a crane. In fact, the, the shutdowns in spring of 2023 were built in the same way between Rockridge and MacArthur Station. So, the BART crews have gotten, significant experience doing this work and they've developed quite the skill set for that. 

FILIPPI: Shutdowns are kind of a new thing for BART. We really didn't do them before measure RR, but we do them now with some frequency. Why shut down the trackway? Why is that necessary? 

REEG: The biggest thing is the proximity of the two tracks to each other. Most locations are only two tracks wide. At this location were four tracks wide. But we're pulling one track completely out of service, so obviously you wouldn't be able to run trains there. But, with our workers, we can't have the trains running past them. We need the adjacent area to bring in equipment and materials. And so just from a safety aspect and operationally with the construction itself, it's just impossible.

FILIPPI: We have what we call the blanket, which is when revenue service ends in that period until it resumes early in the morning and that's only a few hours. You really do need more than that for a project like this, I would think?

REEG: Yeah, just the process of taking the trackwork out will take a few hours, but then now you have to go back in and do regrading, new ballast, bring in all the materials. It's actually a challenge to bank it in that weekend shutdown. We have an hour-by-hour schedule that we go through starting Friday at midnight all the way until Monday morning at 4 a.m. when we can bring the track service back into service. It's around the clock, there's multiple crews that take over, after the one crews time out, but it's a 24-hour operation from Friday night to Monday morning. Then there's multiple safety checks done Monday morning and a test train that's run to make sure that the new trackway is operational and safe before revenue service starts on Monday morning.

FILIPPI: How much pressure are you feeling when it gets to like 1 a.m. on Monday? 

REEG: Well, it goes back to the hour-by-hour schedule. That’s the whole point of that is to find out if you're falling behind and fortunately, over the last couple of years, we've been able to maintain and be right on top of that schedule, so the stress levels have gone down. Early on, I think there was a little bit more stress with that when we were first getting into this Measure RR program. But knock on wood and timber ties, we've been fortunate recently. 

FILIPPI: Yeah, 24/7 work. So, how many people are involved in a project like this?

REEG: At a typical, section of the day, there would be 30 to 40 workers on site. Over the weekend, with all the different locations where work is taking place, there'll be a couple hundred workers that they'll be out every weekend. 

FILIPPI: And then Haley, they're going to be extra people at all of the impacted stations, too. There are other layers of this. We do so much public outreach for a big project like this, talking to reporters, the public, elected officials, doing all that outreach. But a key part of that really is the additional people that will be at these stations helping riders to find their way. 

TOY: Yeah, exactly. We have at least 15 people at 19th Street Station, and this is mainly for outside the paid area. There's also additional transportation staff inside the paid area on the platform and in the concourse and then we have wayfinding guides. outside of the paid area on the concourse and the street level to help people, to help guide people to the correct bus, depending on their final destination. 

We also have a very intense signage plan. We have a total of 149 signs for all three of the stations, which is our biggest and most complex signage plan to date. So, we supplement the signs obviously with personnel and we also have interpreters. we have Mandarin, Cantonese interpreters as well as Spanish interpreters on the platform, concourse, and street level at 19th Street Station and then, the street level at MacArthur and at Rockridge stations. 

FILIPPI: And also, coordination with other agencies is a big factor too and building relationships with your transit partners with, AC transit, with County Connection, those sorts of folks. That must be a big part of this as well. 

TOY: BART is super fortunate to have strong relationships with the bus agencies in the Bay Area, which is really crucial for the successful coordination of a bus bridge.

FILIPPI: And I assume more lessons learned there, too, not just for the track folks that are actually doing the work, but for, again, providing a bus bridge that's resilient and helping riders find their way. What kind of lessons have been learned over all these different shutdowns?

TOY: Each shutdown lends lesson learned opportunities and we examine what worked well and what didn't. Over the past year, we've had a lot of one-off bus bridges. This is like a bus bridge for only one weekend at different locations throughout the Bay Area. This has really given us an opportunity to have new bus bridge experiences and focus on lessons learned for those. So, I think the biggest one is improved communication. On previous shutdowns, it's been highlighted that the need for better there is a need for better communication with passengers and this is not only for BART passengers, but also passengers that may be affected by bus station stops being relocated. In response, we've significantly increased staffing and implemented an extensive signage campaign for this bus bridge, like I mentioned. This will ensure that passengers receive clear, timely information and assistance throughout their journey, which is really important. And making sure that there's adequate signage for the temporary bus stops, which will happen at 19th Street and at Rockridge Station. 

Another thing is really optimizing our transfers. So, we've learned the importance of ensuring timely transfers, especially when we're canceling the supplemental lines of service, like maybe the Red Line or the Green Line, depending on where we are in the system. That mitigates delays for passengers needing to transfer lines to get to their final destination. 

FILIPPI: So, let's just say for the sake of example, we have a rider who uses BART on the weekends. Listening to this podcast is the first time they've heard of this shutdown. What's your advice for them? 

TOY: Plan in advance and make sure that you check the BART Trip Planner to plan your trip and you can also go on the BART App to have to look at the real time departures. So, this bus bridge is actually specific in that all lines of service are going to be affected. So, don't rely on your normal weekend departure times because they will be different. 

So, while you're planning your trip, also make sure that you incorporate delays. So, if you need to get somewhere at a certain time, incorporate up to 40-minute delays and plan for that.

While you're traveling on the bus bridge, make sure you're paying attention to station announcements as well as train operating announcements while you're on the train. This will help you know when to disembark the train to go onto the bus bridge. Then once you're off the train, follow the wayfinding signs. If you need help or if you need assistance, don't be afraid to ask someone in the yellow vest for help and make sure you're also kind of paying attention to where your final destination is so that you can make sure you get on the right bus especially if you're someone who transfers regularly at MacArthur or 19th Street. 

FILIPPI: And Kevin, sticking with that bottom line for riders, the whole reason we're doing this is to increase the resilience of the system, to make it more reliable, so there's a payoff for them. I was impressed. I saw in the last year the number of trains that were delayed due to rail issues dropped by 400 from the previous year, and that has to do with the work that's going on that these shutdowns, they're a temporary inconvenience, but they're paying off for the rider.

REEG: Yes. even just around this location, we've replaced the interlocking work in into this location. So, between Rockridge and MacArthur, we've replaced those interlocking, between West Oakland and 19th, we've replaced interlocking. We've been replacing infrastructure throughout the system, and we've had measurable results on that. 

FILIPPI: Does the past experience with the other shutdowns give you confidence going into what really, it seems to me to be the most complex of the projects that we have going with this? 

REEG: It has. BART forces have replaced 34 switches at various interlockings and recently we've done more of the stick build variety, and we've matched up and developed hour-by-hour schedules that we've been able to, hit successfully and repeatedly and that's it has given us a lot of confidence here. 

FILIPPI That was an interesting transition going from contractors early on to now it's primarily BART crews that are doing the work. What was that and why did that happen, that transition?

REEG: there's a natural efficiency for utilizing the BART forces that are already out there. They're trained and even when there's a contractor out there, we need to supplement with BART forces. So, there's an efficiency there by doing the work ourselves.

We've now established a very, well-trained crew and very skilled, crews to do this work efficiently. 

FILIPPI: Kevin, how long have you been with BART? 

REEG: I've been with BART for six years. 

FILIPPI: Six years, you've had a chance to be involved in similar projects. Maybe not on this scale, but certainly nonetheless important projects. What do you enjoy about getting ready and organizing a huge thing like this?

REEG: Yeah, my background is in construction. So, when I came to BART, it was part of the Measure RR to do the track interlocking replacements and so that's been my primary, focus I've worked on interlockings throughout the system and so that's kind of my forte. My biggest reward is, I'm a construction person, so I always enjoy seeing, brand new, concrete ties and brand new track work and walking away from something and looking at it, and it's in perfect condition and everything has been renewed. There's a satisfaction with that for sure.

FILIPPI: And Haley, same question for you. How long have you been at BART? 

TOY: I've been at BART, it'll be eight years in October. 

FILIPPI: And so, what do you enjoy about being involved in a major project like this? 

TOY: I actually really love being in the field. I am kind of the bus bridge coordinator, so I'm out there all day, both days, making sure the busses run smoothly, making sure our wayfinding guides are actively helping passengers and making sure they're positioned in the right places. But I really enjoy seeing the riders, and working in the stations, helping people find the right bus to get on, and just engaging with the customers in a level that I did not get to before I worked as an operations planner.

FILIPPI: What are you hearing from our riders? 

TOY: We get a lot of positive and sometimes negative feedback too, and that that's helped us really improve the customer experience for these bus bridges. We have a lot of specific challenges that we always think about in the planning process, and this is often with passenger flow, just the way the stations are built. It's not always ideal to have a group of people exiting and entering from like one station exit, for example. Trying to really mitigate the issues that we've seen before. For example, when an escalator exits, you just only have one escalator instead of two, one going up and the stairs next to it. And the you can switch the direction of the escalator.

We basically get a lot of feedback about how easy is it for a person to get off the train, find the bus that they need to go on, get on the bus, and then get back on the train at the next station. So usually, we really try and make sure that we've developed a bus schedule and provided enough busses so that no one's waiting, that they can just get on the next bus to get on the train and also developing a train schedule that really centers around the bus bridge riders. 

FILIPPI: When you talk about organizing the bus rides, a key factor is having enough buses. How many do you need to handle all the riders on an eight-car train? 

TOY: That really depends on where the bus bridge is happening in the system. So, the end of the lines usually see less passengers because it's not a core corridor of BART.

So previously for bus bridges like from Richmond to all El Cerrito del Norte Station or from Concord to Pleasant Hill, we usually use one 60-foot articulated bus per eight car train or six car train, depending on where it is in the system and that is completely out the window for this bus bridge. So, we're going to have, like between Rockridge and 19th Street, we're going to have eight articulated buses in rotation. Additionally for MacArthur and 19th Street we're having an additional eight articulated buses in rotation. So, that's 16 buses just for those two direct routes. And then we also have a smaller route going from MacArthur to Rockridge station and those are going to have 40-foot buses and that'll be like likely two 40 foot buses per train load coming into MacArthur.

FILIPPI: And then another part of that is also accommodating bicyclists that are on BART. That has to be factored in too, I would think, to the buses. 

TOY: Yeah, absolutely. and especially now, because we're seeing a lot more bicyclists on BART. A lot of the times we incorporate that just by having buses take off every ten minutes. So, even though the trains are coming in, every 20 minutes or even every 30 minutes, we have buses taking off every ten minutes so that the passengers who have bicycles can wait for the next bus to come and get on the bus and then still meet the train waiting for them at the next station.

FILIPPI:  I'm sure one question some passengers are going to have is, why are we canceling the Red Line? How does that help things? 

TOY: It is mainly due to the single tracking between Berkeley and MacArthur stations, because it takes 25 minutes for one train to get from Berkeley to MacArthur, unload passengers, reload passengers, and then go back to the switch just north of Berkeley. That's 25 minutes so we really don't have any leeway, any additional time to slot the Red Line trains in there and because we have 20-minute service on the Yellow Line south of 19th Street that's going to bring people into the city on a 20-minute headway and that'll also be servicing San Francisco Airport all day instead of just after 9 p.m.. So, we're supplementing some additional service on the Yellow Line to make up for the Red Line being canceled. 

I will add that the success of a bus bridge, not only from the track work and maintenance side, but also from the bus operations and train operation side, really depends on the coordination of so many departments all working together towards one common goal. It's really impressive to see that happening in real time during the bus bridge During the bus bridge, I get updates from the project managers and can see in real time the work happening and there's always one thing I pay attention to, which is, is there a threat to revenue service on Monday? And the answer is always no because they're that efficient.

FILIPPI: BART Project Manager Kevin Reeg and BART Operations Planner Haley Toy, thank you both for joining us. 

REEG AND TOY: Thank you. 

FILIPPI: Thanks for listening to “Hidden Tracks: Stories from BART.” You can listen to our podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and of course at our website BART.gov/podcasts.

BART engineer Joshua Muñoz pictured in front of 19th Street/Oakland Station in the 2024 BART Pride t-shirt.  

Mechanical Engineer Joshua Muñoz was always a strong student. But in third grade, he got in trouble with his teacher. After finishing an English quiz, young Joshua flipped the paper over and began doodling. When his teacher came over to tell him to focus, she glanced at the back of the quiz and found it covered with an intricate design for a rollercoaster.  

From a very young age, Joshua has been fascinated by wheel and rail systems. The “weird obsession,” as he describes it, began one day at Knott’s Berry Farm as he stared up at rollercoasters so massive, they seemed to poke the sky. He loved the way the trains articulated and twisted, and how they moved loudly yet gracefully around the track.  

When he was seven, Joshua finally rode his first rollercoaster, Knott's Berry Farm’s iconic Montezooma’s Revenge, a flywheel-launched shuttle coaster. 

“I was too afraid at first to ride it. I actually got on then got off,” Joshua said. Eventually he conquered his fear and experienced the exhilaration of being launched at 55mph into a vertical loop, ascending a spike, then reversing direction. 

A photo Joshua took on Montezooma’s Revenge on his last visit to Knott’s Berry Farm in February 2022. He said,” This is the view I will never forget from my childhood.”  

Joshua’s coaster obsession kept growing. During his childhood, Joshua estimates he drew hundreds of rollercoaster designs, including a “gentle rollercoaster for old folks” and one called “Triple Knot,” which had a knot configuration that looped on itself three times.  

In time, Joshua’s interests expanded to include another class of wheel and rail systems (one without the loop-de-loops). That would be railroads, of course. Joshua said being able to combine this passion with BART's mission of safely carrying people around the region makes his work feel important and meaningful. 

Plus, he still gets to enjoy his rollercoasters. In August, he’s taking himself on a vacation to the amusement park Cedar Point in Ohio. “I’ve been ogling it since I was a kid, and I finally am in a place to treat myself,” he said.  

A photo of Montezooma’s Revenge Joshua took on his last visit to Knott’s Berry Farm in February 2022.  

Joshua’s dad was a Marine, and he grew up on Camp Pendleton, an military base in Oceanside, Calif. 

“I’m lucky it was a military base in a progressive area,” Joshua said, adding that his parents were “ultimately progressive.” 

But if there was one place on the base Joshua felt most comfortable, it was the pet supply store he worked at in high school. The manager was outgoing and accepting, the type of supervisor who didn’t take the work too seriously.  

“That environment allowed me to be 16 and gay. It was a nice escape after a school day to go work at the store. It gave me a lot of room to be outgoing and comfortable,” Joshua said.  

Joshua’s dog, Chip, (not adopted from the Camp Pendleton pet store) smiling on a sunny weekend day at Dolores Park in the Mission District of San Francisco.  

Joshua never had a formal coming out. “Judging by the pink shirts I bought at Hollister, I wasn’t hiding the fact that I was gay,” he said. “I was able to present as gay and didn’t have to come out. I do remember hearing remarks out loud here and there, but I am grateful that the harassment never reached harmful levels.” 

“You know, I still look good in pink,” he added.  

Given his love for rollercoasters, Joshua decided at a young age that he’d be a mechanical engineer. At Oceanside High School, he excelled in math and physics and knew he was on the fast track to a university engineering program.  

Then, his family moved inland. It was his senior year, and Joshua was faced with starting all over in an area that was wealthier, more conservative, and less diverse.  

“When we moved, I lost that open world I had back at Oceanside High," he said.  

At his new school, an English teacher pulled him aside after class to tell him to act less gay.  

“I know you’re out,” she told him. “You just have to be a little more cautious.”  

Joshua started to “check out” at his new school. Then he got a C in calculus. 

“I completely lost my confidence,” he said.  

After graduating, Joshua went to a community college to “recover” and get his bearings. He did exceptionally well, and after finishing his coursework, he applied and was accepted to the engineering program at University of California, San Diego. Finally, he was in the big city he dreamed about living in when he was a gay kid on the military base.  

“I couldn’t get down there fast enough,” he said.  

Joshua supported himself in college by working at Seaworld. He had a coveted job as a Dolphin Interaction Photographer (DIP) taking photos of people petting the park’s dolphins.  

“It was primarily a group of young women, and my manager was gay. I was lucky to be welcomed in that space. It was an extremely supportive environment,” Joshua said of his former coworkers.  

Joshua and friends celebrating Pride weekend in 2023. 

Joshua’s railroad career officially began when he became a PhD student, studying at Virginia Tech’s Railway Technologies program.  

Getting accepted into the program was a watershed moment for him. Finally, that C in calculus stopped haunting him.  

“My advice to students is don’t peak early,” he said. “I did the slow climb, the glow up. Know who you are and what your true passion is, not what others insist on you pursuing.” 

At Virginia Tech, Joshua wrote his dissertation on Doppler LIDAR as a multifunctional railroad surveying tool. Doppler LIDAR measures the velocity of a moving object based on the frequency differentials of emitted near-infrared light versus the scattered light that is captured by sensors.  

His graduate research is highly relevant to BART, which uses Doppler LIDAR for a variety of purposes. For example: BART’s new Rail Inspection Vehicle. As the vehicle moves along track, it measures a series or “railroad geometries,” such as superelevation, tilt, and the geometric curvature of the rail.  

After obtaining his PhD, Joshua worked at a series of railroad and consulting companies. He moved to the Bay Area in 2018 to work as a consultant on the Caltrain Electrification Project. Three years later, he found himself at BART.  

“I just love the BART system,” he said. “I used it all the time to visit my long-distance partner over a decade ago, who lived in San Francisco before I moved to the Bay.”  

Years before Joshua worked for the agency, BART was an integral part of his life that connected him to friends and experiences, including the Castro District in San Francisco, where he had many “meaningful queer experiences.”  

“I have all these memories now because BART carried me to these places and memories,” he said. “BART has connected me to the gay community and my favorite experiences for years now."  

Joshua is currently focusing on BART’s Berkeley Hill Tunnel’s emergency ventilation system (EVS) renewal project to replace the system’s old equipment and further bolster its safety and reliability. The work is fulfilling because Joshua knows he is part of a team that’s “holding passenger safety in their hands.”  

Joshua regularly mentors new engineers, including BART’s engineering interns, and contributes to youth outreach efforts. In five years, he said he sees himself in a leadership role where he can inspire young engineers and keep learning.  

BART has been welcoming and highly supportive of him and other LGBT employees, Joshua said. LGBT people bring a unique point of view and skillset to the workplace that benefits the entire organization. Diversity in perspective, experience, and thinking enhances and strengthens every project and situation you face at work, he said. 

"As a gay person, you come into the workplace with empathy because we have all experienced some form of discrimination in our lives,” he said.  

“We also practice resiliency because we have to. We’ve had to put in extra work to prove to others and ourselves our capabilities,” he continued. “And we have a drive to succeed, to prove our worth and demonstrate that we, too, are critical to our communities.” 
 

Joshua pictured with his abuelito, Luis Juarez, in matching train conductor hats. Luis was a railroad worker in his younger years. 

In 2019, Joshua’s family experienced the horrific impacts of hatred firsthand. Joshua's abuelito, Luis Juarez, was killed in a mass shooting in an El Paso Walmart that has been classified as a hate crime. The shooter was specifically targeting Latino people. At 90, Luis was the oldest victim. His wife, Martha Juarez, was injured in the shooting but survived. 

"The experience demonstrated that there is extreme hatred in our country,” Joshua said. “It showed me that all underrepresented, underprivileged communities in this country are living under the constant threat of physical violence, including the LGBT community.” Out in the Castro with friends, Joshua said he always pays attention to his surroundings and makes sure he knows where the exits are.  

The tragedy, he said, also made him stronger. It taught him the importance of resilience and leaning on others for support.  

“You don’t have to be alone in being resilient. The fight for resilience teaches you that you need your community to help with your recovery, to help you find your strength and move forward,” he said. “Find the people and resources you need to recover from a hardship, to understand your trauma, and to return to your life stronger." 

Joshua models the new BART Pride merchandise at Lake Merritt. 

This year, Joshua is looking forward to another jubilant Pride weekend. He’ll be celebrating with BART by walking with agency’s contingent, including the BARTmobile and a cool scissor truck, in the San Francisco Pride Parade.  

“Pride is a time for friends to get together and be ebullient in our celebration and spend the day happy. It is a day to have more pride in ourselves than the hate we receive. It is a day to be more stentorian than the raucous contempt in the world toward the LGBTQ community,” he said. “Pride reminds you that you are loved by your city, your friends, our family. And it reminds you to love and celebrate yourself.”