Author: jeff

Image: Bay Area News Group

Holy transit nerd heaven!

Via SFist, we learned today about the latest, greatest BART plan for the transit system’s future growth. Good news: Along with expected growth in the Bay Area’s population, officials expect a big boost in the use of public transportation. But how to accomodate the expected more than 50 percent growth between now and 2025?

The answer is BART Metro, and here’s what it entails:

• Instituting express service that would allow trains to zip through less-used stations.
• Picking up rush-hour passengers every 12 minutes instead of every 15 minutes — and using only 10-car trains (the longest possible).
• Increasing night, weekend and transbay service.
• Utilizing 10-car trains that would split into a pair of five-car trains to take passengers in different directions at the Bay Fair station south of Oakland.

Anyone who has visited New York City knows the beauty of express trains. The only problem here: No one knows how to pay for these enhancements.

Read the SJ Mercury article for more information.

Via our pal Burrito Justice, Eric Fischer once again dazzles the transit-geek world, this time with amazing old photos of brand-spankin’-new BART stations and the map above, which shows the already nixed Marin line as well as the still-planned-for Geary line that extended to 25th Avenue.

Here’s a great shot of the 24th Street Station plaza back in 1970.

I don’t see a single pigeon. Amazing!

For more great photos from this series, including a shot of a 1972 BART train derailment, check out Eric’s set on Flickr.

Thx: Burrito Justice.