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What it takes to deep clean a BART station – a process BART recently doubled in frequency

Michelle Slade (left) and Maria Chappell (right) hard at work scrubbing and power washing the entrance of South Hayward Station during an overnight deep clean. Each BART station is deep cleaned every few months.

Michelle Slade (left) and Maria Chappell (right) hard at work scrubbing and power washing the entrance of South Hayward Station during an overnight deep clean. Each BART station is deep cleaned every few months.  

Watch a short video of the cleaning process here.

Maria Chappell, a longtime overnight station cleaner at BART, has a series of photos stored on her phone of a station platform, wedged among images of her kids and grandchildren. The photos show almost nothing but the floor, and intentionally so.  

Chappell snapped the imagery on a recent weeknight after hours of scrubbing, sealing, and waxing the floors with fellow cleaning crew members. If you visit the station in person and look down, you can almost see your face reflected back at you; the flooring truly glitters and gleams after one of these regular, and labor-intensive, deep cleans.  

It’s hard work to make BART’s well-trafficked stations sparkle and shine. Each day, hundreds of people pass through, carrying dirt and grime on the soles of their shoes, along with trash, gum, and dust.  

A cleaner power washes stairs.

Maria Chappell power washes the stairs. 

Chappell and her colleagues spend eight hours a night, working from 10pm to 6am, to make sure that riders travel through clean stations when the sun rises each day. They’re the late-night crew that takes care of the deep cleaning of stations – tasks that can’t be done during the day when scores of riders are passing through.  

Every station is cleaned throughout the day when the stations are open to the public. These cleaners handle tasks like picking up waste and mopping and disinfecting, including high-use areas like stairs, escalators, handrails, bathrooms, and Add Fare machines.  

Recently, BART doubled the frequency of overnight station deep cleans. These thorough cleans can take workers one to two weeks to complete, and each station in the system will get one every few months, depending on the station’s needs and busyness. BART also recently doubled the frequency of train car deep cleans

Dirt is blasted off stairs with the hot steam power washer, while a cleaner squeegees the water into a nearby drain.

Dirt is blasted off stairs with the hot steam power washer, then the water is squeegeed into a nearby drain.  

Cleaners must be detail-oriented while also focusing on the big picture. Overnight cleaners begin their eight-hour shifts at 10pm. At that time, until the station closes around 1am, the cleaners will focus on the concourse and stairs, escalators and elevators, and public restrooms. They surround the work area with orange cones and caution tape to ensure passengers stay safe and out of the way. For safety reasons, platforms are cleaned only when the stations are closed for the night.  

The stairs and floors are always the dirtiest parts of the station, for obvious reasons. But the workers clean the entire station, scrubbing and power washing everything from the stairs and station walls, including metal paneling, to the restrooms. Smaller, more sensitive surfaces are washed and disinfected by spraying a cleaning agent on a rag and scrubbing manually. Bleach is used very minimally, solely for biohazard incidents.  

The shining platform floors at Hayward Station after cleaners scrubbed, sealed, and waxed them.

The shining platform floors at Hayward Station after cleaners scrubbed, sealed, and waxed them. 

The floor cleaning process, however, is the piece de resistance. Below is a snapshot of the procedure, which is used for station entrances, concourses, and platforms: 

  1. Floors are dust mopped to capture loose dirt and dust bunnies.  
  2. Cleaners run the magnum floor scrubber – a small Zamboni-like machine that’s operated manually – to scrub away socked-in grime and old floor sealant. Sometimes, an alkaline stripper is used to break up seriously caked-in dirt.  
  3. Next, it’s time for the steam power washer, which reaches temperatures of 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and blasts away grime the magnum scrubber breaks up.  
  4. The water from the power washer is squeegeed into drains. The stairs and floors are dried with dry mops.  

The above process is done every few weeks. But every four to six months – one to two months at busy stations – cleaners seal and wax the floors to keep dirt from building up and to make them sparkle. They use mops to carefully layer multiple coats of sealer, which keeps dirt from building up on the floor. Then, they mop multiple layers of wax onto the flooring to make it shine.  

A Foreworker oversees the process, assigning tasks based on priority and ensuring the crews are working to meet BART’s high standards.  

The Foreworker overseeing Chappell’s crew is Wendy Salazar, who started at BART nearly a decade ago as an overnight cleaner herself. The regular crew includes Chappell, Michelle Slade, Lynn Ensminger, and Josh Brown. They refer to themselves as “the Fremont Crew.”  

Foreworker Wendy Salazar is pictured behind a fare gate at South Hayward Station.

Foreworker Wendy Salazar is pictured behind a fare gate at South Hayward Station. 

Luis Villatoro, the Assistant Superintendent of System Service (the department that oversees cleaning), said Foreworkers with hands-on experience like Salazar are major assets to their crews.  

“She knows the process, how to get the work done, and how to run the machines,” he said.  

Like many BART employees, Salazar’s path to BART is a story in and of itself. Salazar graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in theater. At the time she applied to BART, she said she was “really just looking for a job that had insurance.”  

But the work and her fellow crew members made a deep impact on her. In the nine years she’s been with BART, she has seen herself mature.  

“I started here at 22,” she said. “I’ve basically grown up at BART.”  

As a cleaner, she said her colleagues gave her a lot of guidance, support, and encouragement. A Foreworker told her early in her career that they could see her as the boss in a few years. 

“And here we are,” she said. 

Sudsy water is power washed away near the Add Fare Machines.

Sudsy water is power washed away near the Add Fare Machines.  

Salazar said the public might be surprised to learn how many components go into station cleaning and the specialized skills it requires. Cleaners at BART are trained for two-and-a-half weeks in a classroom setting, as well as on the job.  

Salazar said her staff take immense pride in their work.  

“On the overnight shift, you handle the bigger projects, and you get to immediately see the results,” she said. “Cleaners get to say, ‘Hey, I did that!’”  

Or, like Chappell, they snap a photo to remind themselves of their hard work and the gratification of a job well done.  

You've never seen BART like this before

Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos
Vallery Lancey's BART photos
Vallery Lancey’s BART photos

Like something out of the Blade Runner universe, Vallery Lancey’s transit photographs crackle and burn with an undercurrent of energy. You haven’t seen BART like this before, folks.

Lancey, a software engineer based in San Francisco, knows her way around the transit system. The Canadian national is a transit enthusiast – and member of the famed Transit Twitter Besties group. She found herself drawn to photographing BART, a system she takes often to visit friends in the East Bay, because “I really enjoy taking photos of ordinary stuff we take for granted and making people look at it differently.” Lancey said she doesn’t drive and has “always been transit-dependent.”

The photographer is relatively new to the game. A painter in a family of artists, Lancey started making photographs as inspiration for paintings. She became more serious about photography in winter 2020, during lockdown, when she began hiking and snapping pictures of sunrises.

Her photographic progression – from the natural light of the setting sun to the artificial light of a transit station at night – followed naturally. When she found herself on transit, she also found herself taking photographs. Plus, she’s carved a unique niche and style for herself.

“There’s a lot of people in the Bay Area who care about transit,” she said, “but not a lot of people making transit-themed art. So, there’s an appetite for my work.”

Much of the effort comes after the photo is taken, Lancey said. Rather than using gel lights, she extensively edits her photos in post-production, applying a multitude of manipulations (turn down the highlights here, up the vibrancy there).

Image of a BART station at nightSome of the settings Lancey uses during the editing process.

“It’s a little hard to boil down,” she admitted. “I think the particular thing I do is I play with clarity, which gives it a smoother or sharper feel.”

She started toying with her images’ clarity to hide the blurriness of a moving train or bus, but she thinks it’s helped her develop her signature style.

“The right combination of lighting and clarity make the photos feel soft in a way that’s very visually appealing and un-photographic,” she said.

BART makes an attractive photography subject, she said, because you can view extensive scenery in “good light” thanks to the trains’ large picture windows. The stations themselves provide for interesting lighting and architectural details, as well. In Lancey’s hands, the text on BART’s digital displays glows and sizzles in red. Especially at night, the stations come alive behind her lens. Her favorite station to photograph is West Oakland, she said, thanks to its beautiful cross-the-bay views of San Francisco.

“I like it when people take away more appreciation for the environment around them,” Lancey said in conclusion. “What really keeps me going from station to station on a Monday evening is I feel like I’m creating art that no one else really is. It’s so satisfying to be able to do that – and keep getting better at it.”

You can view a selection of Lancey’s photographs in the above slideshow. She also regularly posts images to her Twitter, @isthelaststop. 

One Book One BART: Register for lunchtime author talk this Wednesday at BART HQ

book club logo big

 

Live Author Talk with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton and Vanessa Hua

Wednesday, Nov. 1, noon to 1pm at BART Headquarters (2150 Webster Street, Oakland)

Register at this link

Members of the public and BART employees are invited to BART Headquarters in Oakland for a live author talk with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of the fall 2023 book club selection, On the Rooftop, moderated by Vanessa Hua, author of the national bestseller Forbidden City: A Novel. The event is free. 

You must sign up to attend in-person. A limited number of seats are available.

Oakland's A Great Good Place for Books will be selling copies of Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's and Vanessa Hua's books. The authors will sign copies of their books after the talk. 

If you can't attend in person, the talk will be livestreamed on Zoom. Click this link at the start of the event to watch. No registration is required for the livestream. 

Click here for more information about One Book One BART. 

"3 Cheers for BART!": Read our favorite BART poems written by riders at SweaterFest

3 cheers for BART! Best time of year, let's spread some cheer! All the trains run far and near. Richmond line is so divine. This'll surely feel so right. You're sure to get to your destination with delight! - Lon
TITLE: Bart and life. Bart is life. And it makes life really nice. Right when I didn't have a car. The train helps me get to the bar. Year after year, it helps me save gas from my car.
Title: Holiday evening. Bright lights illuminate the night sky. As the next train to Antioch rolls by. Revelers crowd the cable cars at Powell.  The bus service slowly switches to "night owl" You can't wait to get home and eat pie!
Rockridge to Mission. Barting my way on a crisp winter day. A trip to the city, a blitz through the bay. Rockridge to Mission, how long will i stay? "Taking the train is delightful," i say! Yellow line guide me, a sunny golden ray
Join me on my adventures. Boarding BART at the Civic Center. Riding to new adventures. Try it out. You'll have a blast.
3 cheers for BART! Best time of year, let's spread some cheer! All the trains run far and near. Richmond line is so divine. This'll surely feel so right. You're sure to get to your destination with delight! - Lon
Just a little ditty. Bart brings a smile to my face. Ashby is the closest station to my place. Rolling around the Bay on the Train everyday You too should ride BART
Bart's the Best. Bart. Always. Real &. Timely. Yes
Barty and I. Barty and I are very best friends. And when i need to get to work, Reliable barty gets me there! Tomorrow or the day after You and I will ride together. <3

At SweaterFest '24 this past weekend, we invited attendees to write wintery poems all about BART, and nearly 100 poets stepped up to pen BART odes that would make the Bard proud (had he stuck around long enough to see the invention of mass rail transit). Reading through the works, we were struck by the profound professions of love for transit, which rivaled Shakespeare's finest romances. BARTy is to the Bay as Juliet is to Romeo. Some of the poems even brought tears to BART employees' eyes! 

Image
A group of people

The rules were simple: Start each sentence with the specified letters and include mention of a few transit-y words.

We invite you to read some of our favorite poems in the slideshows. Click and hold on a poem to pause the slideshow.

Happy holidays to all and to all a safe ride!

Didn’t make it to SweaterFest? 

There’s still time to buy a sweater, scarf, and beanie (the sweater vests are sold out). Head to Railgoods.com to get your BART holiday swag! 

 

Title: We are here, We are BART. Stop the train! We have arrived at our De(st) in(ation). Everyone is dripped out, BARTCORE. And the band drops banger after banger. Trees sway to the groove. Ever just ... feel at home? Remember: We are so lucky to be here. Fools would we be to take BART for granted. Ears perk up as we are called to pose. Smile for the camera, Live for the moment. Til next year: Enjoy the journey!
Title: Evening on the Richmond line. Standing on the platform. Waiting for the Richmond train. Excited to hear the friendly beep. All aboard the BART again. Taking us home to the East Bay. Evening lights at the Oakland Port. Rolling on along our way. Fast and frequent runs the BART. Electricity powering the wheels. Sweater weather stall has a chance. Take BART and keep the climate cool!
Title: "BART WILL MOVE YOU" SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT STATION, WINTER TRANSPORT FOR EVERYONE, ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT, TO THE MOST EXCITING PALCES! RIDE BART FOR FUN, FOR ENTERTAINENT, SEE EVERYTHING, ITS BARTABLE! TRAIN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Poem text: BART is my bae. Sweet sweet BART train. Weathering the rain. Each trip getting me where I need to go. At dawn or dusk. Take BART I must. Every morning and night. Rockridge or to a flight. From the valley to the hills. Elevated or. Subterranean. Trains keep me going.
Poem text: Artsy BARTsy. So it is time again / We celebrate our favorite train system / Every time I need to go somewhere / And I don't want to drive / To look for parking / Endless circling of neighborhoods / Really stresses me out / Fear not / Everything will be alright / Skip on down to N. Berkeley BART / To show my sweater  to the conductor!
Poem text: Sweaterfest. So this is BART SweaterFest / Where BART lovers and allies can / Earn transit holiday joy / And spend time with friends old and new / This is Sweaterfest / Every train lover is here / Revelling in holiday joy / For today, tomorrow and the holiday season / Ending perhaps at 4pm at Rockridge Station / Still happening every day in our hearts and /Trains that take us around the Bay.
Happy Holidays. Sweet days upon us / Warmth and sweaters we trust / Every BART train sings a tune / As winter evenings grow shorter / Through powell station festive light / each sweater feels just fine / Riders sing, their spirits high / Flying through the bright moonlight / Enjoy the ride, the season glow / Speeding through stations / that mark our home.
A morning commuters gloat. So / what if / everyone is waiting / at / the toll plaza today / everyone knows that the / real ones take / fast commutes / ever so happily / sailing away / on the Red Line.
Untitled. Sweaters sweaters sweaters / were / everywhere / at / Rockridge Sweaterfest! / Everybody's / Ridin' BART trains / from the / East Bay to the north south and west / Sweaterfest, sweaterfest U R / the best!
Opus One. So I was walking on the street / when i heard dancing feet / each time I turned around / All I heard was a happy sound / There were people dancing on the bridge / each one like they did at Rockridge / Remember the day we partied with BART? / For once the station was full of heart / eggs, elephants and lullabies there were not / so many good songs - the band was really hot / Thank you!
You gotta have BART. Sweet as the sound of closing doors / wind at your back / every city / at your fingertips / time doesn't matter / everything else does / riding as your heart desires / following the bay breeze / everlasting love and hope / sure to bring you home / the journey doesn't end here

BART crashes the SF Auto Show!

Move over new cars, the BARTmobile is in town and it's about to outshine all of you! The BARTmobile will be at the San Francisco International Auto Show at the Moscone Center to show all of the new hybrids how to really save gas, confront muscle cars with some real mighty-mite power and challenge all the new

BART Survey & Contest - Official Rules

The following Official Rules apply to the 2015 BART Survey & Contest. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VALID ONLY IN CALIFORNIA. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE WILL BE USED FOR

Top 22 BART accomplishments in 2022

2022 was focused on welcoming riders back as people began to venture out, attend large events, and return to the office. Our staff worked tirelessly to put out service to keep the Bay Area moving, adapt to the new normal, and celebrate our 50th anniversary. 2022 was not without its challenges such as