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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Make BART Automated!

One of the most interesting things that I learned in my mass transportation class at Berkeley is that BART can run entirely automated. When BART was first built in the 70’s it was demonstrated that the system can run without drivers, but the leaders of the project thought that the public wouldn’t want to put their fate in a computer’s hands. That initial decision has had lasting consequences: due to strong unions, BART administrators now cannot eliminate drivers. The public trusts automated trains - wikipedia has a list of "large scale metros" that are driverless - so why don’t we make the trains automated and put all of those driver salaries towards making BART run at night and add additional lines? My frustration with BART comes from the fact that they are always somehow strapped for cash despite the fact that passengers pay exorbitant prices to pack themselves like sardines in a 10-car train for a quick ride under the bay. It costs $8.65 to go from SFO to downtown Berkeley, but to go the full length of the route, SFO-Pittsburg/Baypoint costs $10.90, and with an average of 75 people per car (that's how many in my BART car as as I write), that's a ton of money.

 QUICK MATH: ~75 people x 10-car train x $10.90 =  $8,175. The full trip takes 1hr 20 mins. Where does all the money go? Service. Look at these salaries of BART employees. Drivers, known as "train operators" can make more than $136,000 dollars a year + awesome benefits. For what?... driving  - something a computer could do a better job at doing, it seems. I guess just knowing that other metros, like Vancouver's SkyTrain, have used technology to liberate human beings from the unnecessary task of driving makes it feel like something within BART's reach. To me this is representative of a larger movement as we move forward of making computers do menial labor for us wherever possible.

It looks like BART,
 but it's the 47 mile driverless SkyTrain of Vancouver
The most ridiculous aspect of BART is that it doesn’t run at night. How is it possible that BART trains don’t run between the hours of 1am and 7am on weekends? Do the administrators not realize that such a decision is absolutely crippling to everyone in the Bay Area? 
The effect it has on my life is that when I go clubbing in the City, it means that me and my friends can't get home afterward, so I end up getting in a car with a drunk driver. It means I can't make the 7:35am flight from SFO to Santa Barbara which is my only chance flying standby (my dad works at the airport).

So why don't they run it at night? Again, service. You have to pay everyone more for working late-night. If there weren't drivers, would all-night trains fit into the budget? How about all of those extensions, like to the San Jose airport
Let's embrace technology and modernize BART.

10 comments:

  1. getting in a car with a drunk driver?!? what about a cab??

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  2. I'm milking drama to make a point Nonny. But, since you asked, it would cost at least $60 to get a cab from San Francisco to Berkeley.

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  3. Well, I am not sure if that is the way to make a point. That is really serious, unsafe, and irresponsible. I guess my point was just that it is not uncommon for public transit to not be 24 hours (NYC is unique worldwide for operating 24 hours). I agree that there is room for improvement, but I would refrain from using such toxic examples to make a point. We understand that public transit is inhibiting to your social life.

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  4. You choose the example of "inhibiting your social life" to highlight the triviality you see in the problem of public transportation that is not 24 hours. But, it's not just social lives that are being adversely affected; it is people who have to work late hours in order to make extra money, etc., which is not something trivial at all. It took me upwards of 3.5 hours to get from Berkeley to SFO (instead of 40 minutes for BART) this past weekend using the other forms of all-night public transportation. The people who can't afford cars get absolutely screwed.

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  5. Absolutely! I agree completely that public transit is difficult for many people's commutes. Nearly all my friends and colleagues are reliant on public transit to get to work everyday. And it is certainly not perfect. That is a great example of a reason why we need to improve the system.

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  6. with train cars that are ~40 years old and break downs that happen every day a fully automated system is impossible, there has to be someone there to make the trains movable again, or lots of commuters would get stuck between stations until someone could be sent out to check the train and/or manually operate it to the next station. The train ops are also there in case something happens on the train (fights, medical emergencies, whatnot) that needs to be reported to police/emergency services personnel.

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  7. Zed,
    If these problems that you speak of can only be solved by human drivers, than how do the slough of other driverless trains do it?
    Does Canada's driverless 68km SkyTrain built in '85 not have 'break downs,' 'fights, medical emergencies' etc?
    Obviously they do, and there are simple resolutions that don't require having a driver.

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  8. Bart is a VERRY old system.. It would cost waaay more money trying to convert it into a operatorless system than it does leaving it the way it is and leaving/paying operators... BART is more set on expansion and increasing ridership, making MORE money...Mission statement. IN THIS ORDER

    1: SAFTEY= Bart wants as safe a system as possible.. Removing people only decreases that..

    2: ON TIME PERFORMENCE=Bart wants to be able to have a problem listed above but only end up being 5 min or less delayed because of it, if it was driverless, plan on being 30-40 min late for work everyday..

    3: Customer Service= Nuff said


    Making BART driverless will prolly never happin, at least in our lifetime.. Long run, BART wants to make money without having to spend a whole bunch to get it...

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  9. Also, BART has at one time 50 somthing trains running at once, and during commute with up to 2000 people on each train.. Why not have at least one person that knows what the heck is going on and where to go in a tunnel or tube or ariel in an emergency.. Just makes sense...

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  10. Automation = SAFER (when done properly)

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