Will BART’s fleet of the future have seats two inches narrower than its fleet of the present?
Over 89 percent of participants in BART’s Fleet of the Future mobile test lab say that would be fine by them.
BART’s seats are currently 22 inches wide, among the widest public transportation seats in the country. Shaving off a few inches would still make BART’s seats wider than those from most other systems, but would create wider aisles and easier movement throughout the trains.
These mobile test labs ask transit riders to try out seats from buses and trains from all over the United States, and then fill out a survey.
WMATA, the Washington DC Metro, has 18 inch seats, and its seats were voted the favorite by 62 percent of participants. Only 17 percent of participants rated the LA Metro, with 17 inch seats, as their top choice.
In addition to seat width, these surveys ask for opinions and preferences on:
- armrests,
- seat height,
- legroom,
- cleanliness,
- comfort,
- passenger information,
- accommodating bikes, luggage and strollers, and
- sideways-facing or forward-facing seats.
It’s not too late to give your input at a mobile test lab.
Monday, June 13, 2011, 3pm – 6:30pm
Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station
Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART Station, at the plaza next to fountain.
Saturday, June 18, 11 am – 3 pm
Prewett Family Park and Community Center
4701 Lone Tree Way, Antioch
Parking lot (adjacent to pool)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
South San Francisco BART Station
Wednesday, June 22, 10 am – 4 pm
Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco
Thursday, June 30, 2011, 3 – 6:30 pm
VTA Great Mall Transit Center Park and Ride Lot
1193 Great Mall Parkway, Milpitas CA
(At the Intersection of Great Mall Parkway and Main)
Can’t make it to try the seats in person? You can still get involved!
- Sign up to receive email updates about the project so that we can keep you posted on developments and ask for your support in partnering with us on this effort. (Under “BART News” check the box next to “New Train Car Project.”)
- Send in your ideas for the Fleet of the Future using the comment form. Your feedback really can make a difference!
- Share photos from your experiences on other transit systems – what you liked and what you didn’t about their trains. You can send them to BARTcomment@bah.com
Once BART collects feedback from the public, they’ll send the requirements off to the industrial designers to make a new BART car. Look for pilot cars to start appearing in the BART system in 2014, before the full order starts to arrive in 2018.
What do you want to see in BART’s future cars? Have you been to a mobile test lab? What did you think?
