BART Considers Range of Options for Retired Vehicles
By 2022, about 670 train cars in the Bay Area Rapid Transit system will be replaced with new vehicles, reports Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez. The BART board of directors is considering a wide array of possibilities for the decommissioned cars.
They could be sold to another operator or for scrap or recycling. The cars also could be repurposed for housing or restaurants. "One party has even reached out to the agency about buying BART cars to use for Airbnb listings," says Rodriguez.
BART could also donate the cars to museums, the military, or schools for training and educational use. Another idea is to donate them for use as homeless or temporary shelters.
Rodriguez notes that the decision on the final destination of the trains might be influenced by the fact that BART will owe the Federal Transit Administration 70 percent of the value of the cars since the FTA helped pay for them. As a result, any donations may end up costing the agency.
Topics
- The Deliberate Segregation of U.S. Cities, as Evidenced by Freeway Congestion
- A Retiring Dean Considers the Changing Responsibilities of Planners
- Light Rail to Be Extended East of Los Angeles Again
- Pop Quiz: Cities and Obscure World Records
- The Climate Has Already Changed
- Shared Mobility Subsidies Dry Up, Revealing the Industry’s Economic Realities
- Voters Will Decide on $3.5 Billion Transit Funding Bond in Houston
- Jakarta's Suburb in the Sky
- Columbia River Crossing Project Officially Back From the Dead
- Gentrification and Race in the San Francisco Bay Area
- A Comedian's Brutal Takedown of Public Transportation's Failures
- Editorial: Pittsburgh Fails to Provide Adequate Parking Around Downtown
- School Playgrounds to Parks
- New Space for Multi-Generational Living in High-Rises
- British Researchers Sound the Alarm About the Dangers of Large SUVs
- Scooter 'Redlining' Raises Questions in San Francisco
- Bikelash Strikes Again in New York City
- There's Still a Catch to Plans for the World's Largest Undersea Rail Tunnel
- As Cities Densify, New Building Design Strategies Keep Them Livable
- Mobility Data: How Your Travel Patterns Could Inform Policy
