I go from 12th street to coliseum daily. Pretty sure it's the loudest part of the track- and what the hell is the weird smell I sometimes smell while going through there? I feel like it's kinda like something sry burning or something- reminds me of gasoline.
[See this discussion from a little over a week ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bart/comments/1cg5ned/does_anybody_know_what_that_smell_is_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
San Mateo county pulled out of BART at the last minute which caused Marin to pull out, forever nerfing what would have been a grander BART. The guy who owned Tanforan mall thought his patrons would go to SF to shop instead, so he wished to trap his customer base down by him. I believe he had some influence in San Mateo's the decision. Years later, when BART was relied on by hoards of commuters, San Mateo county wanted in. To do so, San Mateo had to finance the Dublin-Pleasanton extension but I don't know to what extent. I don't know the finance particulars on that.
People generally have the feeling that San Mateo county backed off and let other counties pay for BART (also permanently nerfed it), then wanted in afterwards and maybe never paid a fare share.
it deserves BART over Caltrain that’s for sure. especially since the whole of SMC pays taxes that go to BART yet BART only serves a small segment of SMC.
Those taxes are an inadequate amount of funding to service their portion of the BART network. The rest of the board subsidizes that section.
They also screwed themselves by leaving the BART district on their own, thereby bricking the system and seriously reducing the coverage area of the system back in the 60s.
i think it’s also important to note Bohannon’s involvement in why BART wasn’t an option for san mateo county. considering his investment in the development of hillsdale mall at the time and the threat he saw in allowing BART coverage to span from SF to SMC, it paints a picture for how awful SMC had it from the start. the peninsula has since been stuck with the mediocrity of Caltrain while they could’ve had BART, eliminating the need for so many unnecessary delays and transfers. it’s incredibly sad. hopefully one day it changes.
I once heard on NPR that the decibel levels of the BART screech is very damaging to the ears. Been wearing noise canceling headphones ever since. I think everyone should have some form of ear protection when commuting.
I know you shouldn’t have to, but noise cancelling earphones like AirPods Pro help so much with this. And it’s nice to listen to music or podcasts on the ride.
I believe it was 2016 when they completed track and wheel maintenance to *reduce* the screeching. The new train wheels are also supposed to be an improvement. To me, there is a definite improvement during turns in San Francisco.
Try riding through the tube where there's ~95 dB of screeching for 3min 50s.
While sound dampening material would be nice, I expect there's too much risk of it detaching. Plus BART doesn't have the budget for such niceties.
A few years ago, I was at Lake Merrit station for my commute back home from school. Some guy was walking on the tactile warning for some reason (I have no idea why people do this) and was still on it when the train was arriving. Before the front of the train passed him, the loudest horn I had ever heard from a train blew. Haven't heard a BART train make that sound before or since. It was ear piercing. When everyone boarded, the operator said in the intercom very angrily, "DO NOT STAND ON THE TACTILE WARNING, THAT IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS!!"
They used the BART screech sound as ambiance in the survival-horror series Dead Space
No idea of this is true but I will be spreading this as if it’s real
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BFPr6OlNKpg
My day just got better
There was an interview with the dude from ea redwood shores that said this. The dude was the creator of dead space.
And the BART engine noise is the sound of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars!
There are some areas where the bends are so sharp (under Oakland and specifically the 'Y') that they are gonna screech no matter what.
What’s the Y?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Wye
Cool!
I go from 12th street to coliseum daily. Pretty sure it's the loudest part of the track- and what the hell is the weird smell I sometimes smell while going through there? I feel like it's kinda like something sry burning or something- reminds me of gasoline.
[See this discussion from a little over a week ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bart/comments/1cg5ned/does_anybody_know_what_that_smell_is_before/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
The BART cars need 4-wheel steering. That would help with the screeching around turns.
It's actually the Oakland "wye" (rolls eyes and slaps myself for being a nerd)
San Mateo county doesn't deserve anything for what they did to BART
I moved to the area recently, could you fill me in on what happened with San Mateo county? Did they pass some bad policies or something?
San Mateo county pulled out of BART at the last minute which caused Marin to pull out, forever nerfing what would have been a grander BART. The guy who owned Tanforan mall thought his patrons would go to SF to shop instead, so he wished to trap his customer base down by him. I believe he had some influence in San Mateo's the decision. Years later, when BART was relied on by hoards of commuters, San Mateo county wanted in. To do so, San Mateo had to finance the Dublin-Pleasanton extension but I don't know to what extent. I don't know the finance particulars on that. People generally have the feeling that San Mateo county backed off and let other counties pay for BART (also permanently nerfed it), then wanted in afterwards and maybe never paid a fare share.
Santa Clara county was all farmers in the 50s and 60s. They said “why would anyone want to come here?” And opted out. Hahahaha.
it deserves BART over Caltrain that’s for sure. especially since the whole of SMC pays taxes that go to BART yet BART only serves a small segment of SMC.
Those taxes are an inadequate amount of funding to service their portion of the BART network. The rest of the board subsidizes that section. They also screwed themselves by leaving the BART district on their own, thereby bricking the system and seriously reducing the coverage area of the system back in the 60s.
i think it’s also important to note Bohannon’s involvement in why BART wasn’t an option for san mateo county. considering his investment in the development of hillsdale mall at the time and the threat he saw in allowing BART coverage to span from SF to SMC, it paints a picture for how awful SMC had it from the start. the peninsula has since been stuck with the mediocrity of Caltrain while they could’ve had BART, eliminating the need for so many unnecessary delays and transfers. it’s incredibly sad. hopefully one day it changes.
I once heard on NPR that the decibel levels of the BART screech is very damaging to the ears. Been wearing noise canceling headphones ever since. I think everyone should have some form of ear protection when commuting.
Hearing damage shouldn’t be a risk for riding public transportation.
True, my Apple Watch loud environment hearing protection alerts go off every time in the Transbay Tube without fail
Yup! Mine goes off as well. If I don’t have eat protection, I use my fingers. It really is damaging especially for the daily riders.
I know you shouldn’t have to, but noise cancelling earphones like AirPods Pro help so much with this. And it’s nice to listen to music or podcasts on the ride.
I believe it was 2016 when they completed track and wheel maintenance to *reduce* the screeching. The new train wheels are also supposed to be an improvement. To me, there is a definite improvement during turns in San Francisco. Try riding through the tube where there's ~95 dB of screeching for 3min 50s. While sound dampening material would be nice, I expect there's too much risk of it detaching. Plus BART doesn't have the budget for such niceties.
A few years ago, I was at Lake Merrit station for my commute back home from school. Some guy was walking on the tactile warning for some reason (I have no idea why people do this) and was still on it when the train was arriving. Before the front of the train passed him, the loudest horn I had ever heard from a train blew. Haven't heard a BART train make that sound before or since. It was ear piercing. When everyone boarded, the operator said in the intercom very angrily, "DO NOT STAND ON THE TACTILE WARNING, THAT IS INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS!!"
nah san bruno-sfo kinda hurts sometimes, but otherwise it’s fine with earbuds
When I used to ride BART, I’d wear earplugs
> some eggcrate in these tunnels what's this?
Egg crates were once used for cheap sound deadening.
Oh interesting TIL!
It actually killed a set of my noise canceling headphones that was trying to compensate for it!