johnwoo

Good luck with BART. There is no parking to be had on week days unless you go really early in the morning. Leaving San Francisco around 5:00pm you'll be crammed in like sardines.

Not to mention- "BART police are beefing up patrols at Oakland stations after dozens of juveniles terrorized riders Saturday night when they invaded the Coliseum Station and commandeered at least one train car, forcing passengers to hand over bags and cell phones and leaving at least two with head injuries.

The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses told police that 40 to 60 juveniles flooded the station, jumped the fare gates and rushed to the second-story train platform. Some of the robbers apparently held open the doors of a Dublin-bound train car while others streamed inside, confronting and robbing and in some cases beating riders."

Driving in another nightmare, no parking again, stuck in traffic on the bridge.

Maste

Having seen the Midwest summer weather currently, I'm kind of dreading my arrival. I'm not very good with heat. AT ALL.

SultanOfSwing

Screens for windows and sliding doors are the only reason we can get fresh air into our house on nice, non humid days.

Summer can be kind of unpredictable here. You expect it to be reasonably sunny, warm (80s) and often humid. You also expect storms and the occasional spell in the 100s. Then, even in mid-July it can turn around and give you a day in the mid 60s, just for shits and grins

malch

Yup, I rarely ride BART but it's sounding less and less attractive. Parts of the system are getting old although they have started replacing the railcars. However, crowding, crime and homeless folk using the trains as toilets... yuk!

Complaints have risen sharply this year but the response from BART and BART Police appears, at this point, to have been umm, less than effective.

I hope they can get things back on track but I can't say I'm very confident.

WEBlue

Do you not have window screens? We have screen doors too. Very much need both here where we are--especially in this incredibly rainy summer!

lizzyq

Yes we do have screens, but the little sods still find me.

WEBlue

Oh no, my condolences! You must be a superior treat for them if they'll fight their way through the window screens to you....

We do get a few mosquitoes that sneak in, actually. This year no place seems completely free of the little blood suckers--swarms of them everywhere outside.

Steerpike

I think this is a bit like reading an article about crime in NYC and then saying it's unsafe to visit NYC ... despite the fact millions do so every year and have no negative incidents. Or, like reading about terrorist attacks in London, and concluding it's too dangerous to visit.

We drive and Bart in to SF fairly recently, and never have issues. For driving, obviously you avoid rush hours - that's what Bart is for. We go in on weekends, and know when to avoid the crowds. Bart has been fine; yes, there have been incidents, but they represent a very small fraction of trips.

malch

Crime on BART has been rising rather sharply but I certainly wouldn't claim that it's too dangerous to ride.

But it has become too unpleasant for some of us. The trains are crowded, noisy and dirty. Service reliability has been falling. Homeless people together with their urine and feces are not especially nice and neither is open drug use.

After years of increasing ridership, BART started into a decline last summer with increased complaints and fewer riders.

I need to get to SFO next week. I live a little over a mile from a BART station so it should be the natural choice. It's cheap at ~$12. But it takes 2-2.5 hours. SuperShuttle is $60. So, Uber it is at ~$50.

Giantaxe

Ridership is down 3.4% this year. But it has been steadily growing and is about 20% higher than it's pre great-recession peak:

https://www.bart.gov/about/reports/ridership

I agree that BART has become both more unreliable and subject to crime. Civic Center station, in SF, is definitely a place I avoid. And I do recall having to report faeces on a seat (in Berkeley) a couple of years ago.Plus equipment is way past it's natural life. Not just the trains, but escalators, especially those exposed to the outdoors (and homeless). There's one at 24th St in SF that's constantly out of order. They put up a sign saying "Escalator back in service July xx" and someone replaced the date with "Never".

Having said all that I frequently use BART and will continue to do so.

johnwoo

I've given up going into the City on weekdays, finding a parking space at the Pleasanton station is impossible unless you go really early in the morning. The last time I went, I parked in a shopping center parking lot and walked to the station. Coming home the train was so crowded people at the Embarcadero Station people couldn't even squeeze into the car.
I guess if you really have to get into the City it's better than driving, I used to enjoy a day out in San Francisco, but the hassle is hardly worth it anymore.
The whole 680 corridor one town merges into the next, traffic is a nightmare condos are going up all over the place. I'm looking to find somewhere that's like it was here thirty years ago. Any ideas?

Giantaxe

Get on at Montgomery or Powell. That's what i do if I'm going to the East Bay in the rush hour.

johnwoo

Yes they are a small fraction, but not so much so for the victims of these incidents.

johnwoo

Last time I went I got on at Civic Center, to avoid the crowds. The train was still crowded, standing room only, by Montgomery it was as full as it could be.
Embarcadero "forget about it".

Giantaxe

Is there a major city where it's not "standing room only" at the height of the rush hour?