Posts Tagged ‘BART’
Despite promises, the $484 million Oakland Airport Connector yields few local jobs
One year after construction began, has the controversial, $484 million Oakland Airport Connector project created the jobs it promised? “It requires a lot of physical strength and it wears on the body,” said Tiffany West, 31, of her work as a carpenter’s apprentice. Every Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 3:30 pm, West is somewhere along Hegenberger Road between the Oakland Coliseum and the airport shoveling debris, fine-grading sites for paving or building the footings for the connector’s elevated guideway.
Read MoreGot Thanksgiving travel plans? It’s time for Oakland North’s Race to the Airport
It’s nearly Thanksgiving, and that means quality time … at the airport. But what’s the fastest way to get there? Last year Oakland North put this eternal question to the (semi-scientific) test by racing reporters on bus, bike, BART and car from Bakesale Betty to OAK. Who got there first, and who made it there with the most intact pie?
Read MoreCostumed East Bay adults line up for competitive playground game
On Thursday night, a cast of about 40 characters gathered under the lights of the Rockridge BART parking lot for the annual pre-Halloween version of FourSquare East Bay, dubbed “Costume Square.”
Read MoreLate-night Occupy Oakland crowd marches jubilantly through city streets
A jubilant crowd of Occupy Oakland supporters poured into the city’s downtown streets late last night, after their “general assembly” approved supporting a citywide strike Nov. 2. But the crowd’s efforts to cross the bay to join the Occupy S.F. group were thwarted by BART officers, who shut down the 12th Street BART entrance amid cries of “Police brutality!” and “This is what democracy looks like!”
Read MoreProfitable transportation agency votes to leave Oakland
Amidst pleas by city officials to remain in Oakland, the Bay Area Toll Authority voted 8-6 to purchase a new building in San Francisco, where the agency will locate its new headquarters.
Read MoreAt open house on redesign of Lake Merritt BART area, talk of bike lanes, security improvements
Community members and city officials met Monday night at an open house held at the Laney College Student Center for the redevelopment of the Lake Merritt BART station neighborhood.
Read MoreThe Great Race for Clean Air asks commuters to step out of the car
Thousands of Bay Area commuters will forego their solo morning drive in September and October after the 2011 Great Race for Clean Air kicks off this Thursday. For the next two months, employees will be encouraged to use bicycles, take public transit and carpool to get to work.
Read MoreBART strikes $1.3 million settlement with Oscar Grant’s mother
On Tuesday, BART settled a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the mother of Oscar Grant for $1.3 million. Grant was shot and killed by former BART officer Johannes Mehserle on a train platform New Year’s Day 2009.
Read MoreBART pushes back talks on pilot project for later trains on Friday nights
On Thursday BART directors postponed the discussion of a demonstration project that would allow trains to run one hour later on Friday nights. Under the proposed six-month tryout plan, which was presented to the BART board of directors on April 28, the last trains on Friday night would depart at 1 a.m. instead of 12 a.m., extending the service for all 44 stations for one hour.
Read MoreHundreds peacefully protest Johannes Mehserle jail release
Oakland activists organized a peaceful march from the Fruitvale BART station to Frank Ogawa Plaza on Sunday night to protest the upcoming release of ex-BART police officer Johannes Mehserle from jail. Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last July for the 2009 shooting death of Oscar Grant, and sentenced that November to two years in prison.
Read MoreGroundbreaking begins for MacArthur Transit Village
A giant excavator was parked in the yard of a motel near the MacArthur BART station on Monday afternoon, where dozens of people were taking pictures with the machine that may soon start tearing down the motel rooms. The MacArthur Transit Village project will eventually transform a 7.76-acre site near the MacArthur BART station into a mixed-use area with new housing units and retail shops, along with restaurants and possibly a day care center.
Read MoreMan hit by BART train alive and conscious
A 43-year-old man survived a collision with a Pittsburgh/Bay Point-bound BART train pulling into the Rockridge BART station Tuesday. The investigating officer does not believe he was trying to commit suicide, but it is too early for definite answers.
Read MoreGolden State Warriors hand out free BART tickets to promote environmentalism
On an otherwise uneventful commute across the bay, passengers riding BART from Rockridge to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon were faced with an unusual sight: two pro basketball stars handing out free passes for the train.
Read MoreBART riders lobby for later service
While BART’s schedule has been the source of private grumbling since it opened in 1972, the Internet has provided a new tool, however blunt, to quantify the demand for expanded service. Since last year, advocates of a round-the-clock BART schedule have congregated on a Facebook page called “Make BART Trains run 24 Hours,” which is “liked” by more than 22,000 people.
Read MoreBART celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy
A crowd of Bay Area Rapid Transit employees and community members filled up the Kaiser Center Auditorium in downtown Oakland on Wednesday. They were there to celebrate and remember the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Read MoreA new chief for the BART police seeks to heal community ties
Ever since then-BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fatally shot Oscar Grant on the platform of its Fruitvale station nearly two years ago, BART—and particularly its police force—has struggled to rebuild its relationship with the communities it serves. New BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey says he’s the man for the job.
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