More on the wayA group of East Bay residents protesting BART officials' handling of the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day say they plan to shut down the Fruitvale station on Thursday, March 5, during evening rush hour.
The effort will mark the first organized attempt by protesters to disrupt the commuter train's operations -- though, last month, BART service was disrupted by riots in response to Grant's death.
George Ciccariello-Maher, an Oakland resident and spokesman for the pr
​When one juxtaposes the terms "union negotiations" and "BART," images of men and women in jumpsuits driving or fixing trains come to mind. You don't think of spokespeople or anyone with the term "multi-media" in his or her job. But you should. Of the five employees in BART's communications department, two are union-represented and would head out on strike with their brothers and sisters if it comes to that in ... nine hours or so.
http://world.nycsubway.orgDid we just miss the last, best, and final train?​The other day we joked about how, come Labor Day weekend, it might take a Dunkirk-like flotilla of small boats to cross the Bay. Not so funny anymore! With the Bay Bridge scheduled to be closed for construction, BART had announced plans to run for 24 hours a day over that weekend (i.e. the Drunken Express). Now the system may soon run 24 fewer hours a day as a looming strike is looking more realistic than ever. BART sp
Has BART found the map to smooth service?​If you were hoping to work from home Monday, your best excuse just pulled out of the station. BART and the tenacious ATU No. 1555 union reached a tentative accord yesterday. You can ride the morning train with a new-found enthusiasm Monday. See you over the coffee machine at 8:30 sharp! Of course, this is a "tentative" deal, so everyone is on pins and needles until the ATU ratifies this new contract (or doesn't). It is unclear at this moment when the u
http://world.nycsubway.orgGuess who's still here?​If you rode BART to work this morning and came to the horrible realization that not only was your seat cold, but wet, too -- congratulations! You're still a winner. You can still go get a new pair of pants at Ross or Old Navy and get to work in less time than it would have taken to drive your car into the city and find parking. Obviously commuters are the biggest winners in this averted strike. Like Joni Mitchell warbled, "You don't know what y
​The union for BART's drivers and station agents blamed the system's financial woes on George W. Bush and greedy management while the system pointed the finger at well-compensated, overtime-hoarding employees. And the riding public can offer a Mercutio-like pox on both their houses while dozing off on the Pittsburg-Bay Point train, because the union-management sniping is no longer being made with the prospect of a disastrous rail strike hanging in the balance. Yesterday around 80 percent of th
​In a definite candidate for the ironic hall of fame, the BART board last week awarded part of a multi-million dollar contract to Nedar Bey -- who had earlier accused that very board of being "servants of the devil." Fittingly, hundreds of thousands of dollars in government money may be going straight to hell, as Bey has been unable to line up the necessary bonding -- insurance, basically -- required of BART contractors. In a flurry of distressed memos and in interviews with SF Weekly, several
​On Friday we reported that BART's decision to split a multi-million dollar "emergency contract" was in jeopardy of leading to an unforeseen emergency of a different sort. With the contractor for a job installing lighting at North Berkeley station unable to come up with the proper bonding by the state's mandated deadline of Oct. 31, BART stood to lose nearly $800,000 in government grants. Thanks to ink finding its way onto a hastily assembled contract Friday evening, BART escaped the specter o
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