BART Strike Will Affect Bay Area Riders, Non-Riders

The looming BART strike, beginning Sunday, August 16th, will immediately affect the Bay Area's transit and business situation. According to BART's website, BART has an average of 330,000+ riders, who will be scrambling to get to work on Monday, but this cease in service will affect everybody in the Bay Area.

Even with carpooling, there are only 3 bridges (Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge) connecting San Francisco/peninsula/Silicon Valley to the East Bay. Traffic is already an issue on a normal weekday during the morning and nightly rush hours, and according to the Mercury News, officials are estimating 60 to 90 minute delays on these main roadways.

As reported by KRON-4, Some extra cross-bridge buses will be running during the strike, however, they will be stuck in bridge traffic along with the rest of the Bay Area. There are some ferry options, but these will be overcrowded for the weekday commute, shutting out some of the commuters who normally take the ferry to work.

Besides the transportation nightmare, the BART strike will affect certain businesses that rely on their proximity to BART. Thrifty sports fans who refuse to pay for stadium parking rely on BART to get to Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics and the Raiders, AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and Monster Park, home of the San Francisco 49ers. Additionally, the San Francisco Airport and Oakland Airport have specific stops for travelers who would rather not pay a hefty fee for a taxi or shuttle.

This BART strike comes at a time when California unemployment is over 10 percent, when home foreclosures happen every day, and when BART itself is a valuable tool for jobseekers to meet prospective employers. Some folks with jobs will be forced to quit because they can't find an affordable way to their work, while some employers will have to narrow their candidate base down to locals. Because the strike is a result of BART workers haggling for more money, the BART strike has drawn anger instead of sympathy among the majority of Bay Area citizens, as witnessed by reader response in an SF Chronicle online open forum. Expect more anger and frustration once the Monday commute arrives, as it brings the Bay Area to a crawl.

In 1997, a BART strike lasted only 6 days, but caused a nightmare for Bay Area transportation. The strikers this time hope to capitalize on the leverage caused by a BART stoppage.

SOURCES:
BART, "Financial picture for BART bleaker than expected despite union leadership claims"
Mercury News, "Roadshow: BART strikes will have major impact on traffic"
KRON-4, "Bay Area Transportation Agencies Prepare for BART Strike"
Reuters, "California's unemployment rate tops 10 percent"
SFGate, "News Forum"