Personally, I commute daily from the East Bay into Inner Sunset. I drive to Bart, take Bart, and then take Muni to get to work daily. My experience with both Muni and Bart is overall not great, but it's the most convenient method to get to work. Both Bart and Muni tend to be delayed and stretched to capacity, often leaving no room to sit let alone breathe. Many riders on Bart are also rude and I've seen people pushing others onto the train to pack into an already full train. The Bart cars are poorly maintained, with ripped seats, leftover food, drinks and garbage in the trains. I get concerned about my health and safety being on Bart due to these issues as well as the recent increase in theft on Bart. The cleanliness of both Bart and Muni is concerning especially since both attract a lot of homeless people when it's cold and raining. A lot of times the stations and individuals smell like human waste.
Personally, I feel like Bart and Muni riders are more of a health concern due to the crowded trains and the lack of cleanliness. Pollution from Bart and Muni is probably not as significant as the pollution from cars. Despite the issues with public transportation, it reduces the numbers of cars on the road meaning less pollution from cars. This in turn should result in better health for the communities they serve and better overall air quality. Pollution from roadways and freeways does negatively impact the health of many communities and decreases air quality. Reform and investment into a safer and more efficient public transportation system would benefit commuters, communities and overall air quality.
Hi Cristina,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that the cleanliness of Bart is a concern. I am not sure how often they maintain the trains or if they do but every time I ride Bart it seems to be in the same deteriorated conditions. With flu season upon us, the spread of cold and flu on a crowded train and or bus seems unavoidable with so many people going on and off every hour. Bart has a substantial budget and should be doing more routine cleaning or installing hand sanitizers on the trains and in the stations to stop the spread of germs. However it does reduce carbon emissions significantly which help the environment but should passenger health be the trade off? More methods of disease prevention need to be emphasized and put in place in public transportation.
Hi Christina,
ReplyDeleteI take Muni going to work and I agree that it is convenient but it has so much issues/problems on a daily basis. I agree that both the Bart and Muni are not clean and they are always crowded which can be a concern to the people who take these public transportations. In addition, there is also a problem with safety. I kept hearing about robberies in Bart and Muni. The government needs to create better transportation policies that will protect the public’s health and safety.
- Krissy