A night in the life of BART’s cleaning crew

You probably have an idea or two about what kind of grossness is on every BART train. It could be as innocuous as ice cream drippings from this over-the-top stoner, or toe jam (sorry!) from this shoeless rider. Or you could be cleaning up after this NSFW hot mess. last week BART interviewed some of the utility workers in a story on what it’s like to clean the trains every night.

BART interviewed Tony Gletty, who trains the utility workers to clean the trains, and Jennie Meixel, utility foreworker:

“When BART had the old carpet flooring, I used to have to get on my hands and knees to scrub spots, and bend in awkward positions.” Gletty reflected. “It’s a lot better now.” Meixel mixes it up to keep workers from strain: “I try to rotate tasks as much as possible,” she said.

Black splotches of gum, flattened into the floor by being stepped on hundreds of times, were like sticky polka dots on the floors of train cars. (Even though the new composite flooring is easier to clean than the old carpeted floors, the last of which were removed in August 2015.) Someone had left a half-drunk Big Gulp beverage on the seats as well, but the workers said that was one of the cleaner cars they typically encounter.

Hats off to these hard-working people. Read more about it here.

Photo credit: BART.gov