From: gurd@next04wor.wam.umd.edu (Daffy Duck)
Newsgroups: alt.california
Subject: BART 20th. Anniversary
Date: 5 Oct 92 20:19:24 GMT
Reply-To: gurd@wam.umd.edu

The following article also appeared in the September 28th. issue of  
Passenger Transport.  Copyright 1992, American Public Transit Association,  
copied without permission.  The comments in [] are soley my own.

"BART Celebrates 20 Years of Service"
Special to Passenger Transport

   SAN FRANSISCO, CALIF, -- No longer the cherub of the transit industry,  
San Fransisco Bary Area Rapid Transit District hit the big 20 on Sept. 11,  
marking two decades of service to the people of the San Fransisco Bay  
Area.  BART watchers from near and far joined in a colorful celebration  
and cake-cutting ceremony held in San Fransisco to observe this milestone  
for the system and to give it a rousing cheer as it moved into its third  
decade.
   Among the special guests in attendance were former General Manager Bill  
Stokes, the president of the board at the time the system first opened in  
1972, George Silliman; State Sen. And Chairman of the state's Senate  
Transportation Committee Quentin Kopp; and San Fransisco Mayor Frank  
Jordan.
   BART Board President Wil Ussery, whose opening remarks set the tone for  
the event, said the system has brought a sense of cohesiveness to the  
region by providing the core lines for more than 15 different communities.
   He said that BART has not only provided safe, efficient, economical  
service over the past 20 years, moving almost a billion passengers more  
than 12 billion passenger miles, it has meant jobs, contributed to the  
economic health and vitality of the community, provided mobility for  
persons with disabilities, and prevented thousands of tons of pollution  
from being pumped into the atmosphere.
   BART General Manager [not for long though] Frank J. Wilson said that  
through the its trials and successes over its 20-year journey, BART was  
without question a public treasure of the first magnitude.
   "I can't imagine a BARTless Bay Area." he said.
   Wilson said that when BART first opened the doors for service about  
$1.6 billion had been invested in the shiny new system, primarily locally  
financed.  Today it would cost between $8 and $10 billion to replace or  
build the same system.
   He said it was one of the best investments every made by the people of  
the Bay Area [and now he want's them to make the WORST investment ever by  
building some maglev toy lines].
   On Sept. 11, 1972, pening day of the new regional system, there were  
eight two car trains being operated along a 26-mile stretch of between  
Fremont and MacArthur stations in North Oakland, serving 12 stations.  By  
the end of the first day, nearly 12,000 people had taken their first ride  
on the system, and 100,000 by the end of it's first week.
   The day was the culmination of a history that officially goes back to a  
joint Army/Navy study in 1947, which recommended a transbay tube be  
constructed to supplement with high-speed trains an already overcrowded  
bay bridge.  However interest in such a venture can actually be traced  
back to October 1920.  At the time, bay area newspapers were reporting a  
spectacular plan proposed by Gen. George W. Goethals, the man who built  
the Panama Canal.  In order to solve the mounting transportation problems,  
particularily transbay, which was being served soley by ferry boats, Gen.  
Goethals proposed a subaqueous tube be built connecting the east and west  
bay.  Interestingly enough, his plan called for a route alignment almost  
exactly like the one adopted 42 years late by BART engineers.  This, of  
course, was a long before the bridge was built.  It was not until 1857,  
following years of study, that the State Legistlature created teh Bay Area  
Rapid Transit District to build and operate a rail system.  And in 1962,  
the residents of the three BART Counties -- Alameda, Contra Costa, and San  
Fransisco -- voted to tax themselves [unlike the fools in San Mateo] to  
finance construction of the 75-mile project.  The project included 71.5  
miles of BART and 3.5 miles of lines for the San Fransisco Municipal  
Railway [Muni Metro].
   Construction began in 1964 with President Lyndon Johnson presiding over  
the ground breaking in Contra Costa County.  Final plans called for  
approximately 19 miles of subway and tunnels; 23 mile of aerial; and 25  
miles of surface or at grade construction; and four miles of transbay tube  
including the approachways.
   Following on the heels of the first Fremont/MacArthur segment opening,  
the Richmond Line opened in January 1973; the Concord Line in May 1973,  
and the San Fransisco Line in November 1973.  It was not until Sept. 16,  
1974 that BART was able to begin full transbay service, thus linking up  
the full 71.5 mile system.
   The early years were rocky ones for the fledgling system.  BART's  
attempts to make a quantum leap in the use of space age technology for  
this, the newest system to be built in the United States in some 60 years  
resulted in severe reliability problems [UNDERSTATING the truth just a  
wee-bit there].  Also, under a California Public Utility Commission order,  
trains could not be operated closer than two stations apart initially.
   BART engineers set to work to refine, modify, and generally fix the  
various problems that surfaced during the first four years of service.   
Success was slow at first [like they didn't have any], but eventually  
sure, ultimately resulting in the lifting of earlier constraints and BART  
being able to put more trains into service in the summer of 1980 [it took  
them long enough] and opening a fourth line -- direct service between  
Richmond and San Fransisco/Daly City.
   Ridership has also grown over the years.  Since 1975, when the full  
system was in operation, average daily ridership has increased by over 100  
percent, or from 120,000 to to the current 250,000 a day, about 73 million  
annualy and ridership projected to reach well over 300,000 a day by the  
turn of the century.

BART Looks to the Future

   This past year, BART launched its $2.6 billion [more than the entire  
orginal system's cost] first phase extension program that will increase  
the size of the system by almost 50 percent when completed.  Work is now  
underway on the system's Pittsburg/Antioch Extension in eastern Contra  
Costa County, the Dublin/Pleasanton Extension in eastern Alameda County,  
and the Colma Station project in San Mateo County.  The Colma Station will  
be the link to the San Fransisco Airport Extension, which is scheduled to  
begin in late of 1994.  The extension program is running about four years  
ahead of schedule.
   In order to support the new extension when they come on line over the  
next few years, BART has ordered 80 new transit cars that will be built by  
Morrison Knudsen Corporation at a cost of about $141 million.  The first  
of the order is expected to come of the assembly in early 1995.  The  
contract with MK also includes options for up to 250 additional cars.

Systemwide Rehabilitation Program
   
   BART is embarking on a critical $800 million rehabilitation program  
which will cover virtually ever operating and maintenance area of the  
20-year old system.  The original fleet of cars, most of which have logged  
over one million miles each, must be completely renewed and be ready for  
service as as the new extensions come on line. This is going to be a major  
part of the rehabilitation program.  The BART stations must be given a  
facelift.  Everything from escalators, elevators, grounds, lighting,  
restrooms, and other portions of the stations must be renewed, rebuilt, or  
replaced.  The shops and yards, where the BART fleet is maintained, while  
state-of-the art 20 years ago, now must be updated with the latest  
equipment and systems.
   BART's ambitious System Rehabilitation Program will be a cornerstone  
for the long term future of the system.