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We waited years for 15 more minutes

Ann Lehman
Thursday September 19, 2002

To the Editor: 

BART released its new schedule this week and Richmond line riders got left in the lurch. There are no more timed transfers to San Francisco. After waiting for years for what would appear to be a no-brainer – timed transfers to San Francisco on the Richmond-Fremont line – they have been removed.  

BART is telling riders to not bother transferring (except for night travel) since it won't help at all.  

What this essentially means is West Contra Costa residents just had their BART schedules to San Francisco cut in half. What used to be a 6 to 7 minute wait at commute time for service that would take you to San Francisco is now a full 15 minutes.  

How did this happen? Are we supposed to be overjoyed because soon we can go to the SF Airport and/or have longer trains for half the service? Ask most riders that regularly commute to San Francisco and the great majority would prefer increased. For those of us with children and tight schedules where ever minute counts, especially when you are paying for after school or babysitting, those extra 15 minutes are a nightmare. 

What is it about BART and West Contra Costa…. we have never been given the extensions we were promised years ago and now, more than any other line, our service has been severely disrupted. Hello, is anyone listening out there? We need more service not less if public transportation is to encourage us to leave our cars behind and increase ridership. Please rethink these schedules immediately. Is it really that difficult to continue to have timed transfers? 

 

Ann Lehman 

El Cerrito