May 6, 2009 at 8:00 pm

72 days

by Andrew Smith

In 1972, BART began revenue service in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here’s a video from 1968 about BART construction:

Video from Flickr user bobster855.

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9 Comments

Comment by Erik
2009-05-07 00:51:59

So do you think those sandhogs and miners got the flu from each other while sitting in the decompression chamber? Did that one guy wash his hands after touching his nose?

 
Comment by AJ
2009-05-07 08:35:56

It’s strange how similar SF of the late 60s and Seattle of the late 00s look.

Also, the beer ads EVERYWHERE.

Comment by Mickymse
2009-05-07 09:56:55

Well, Seattle does seem to be on that trajectory… which has both its pluses and minuses.

 
Comment by Andrew Smith
2009-05-07 12:45:24

I like the beer ads, and I think SF in 1968 was almost as beautiful of SF of 2009.

 
Comment by Bernie
2009-05-07 18:22:51

I’m surprised that we’re as close in population now and growing faster (sorry about the formating). The geography is very similar. The big difference is it rains more in SF :-)

Rank in 2007 pop. Metropolitan statistical area Population estimates Change, 2006 to 2007

July 1, 2007 July 1, 2006 Number Percent

12 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 4,203,898 4,164,463 39,435 0.9
13 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 4,179,427 4,046,914 132,513 3.3
14 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,081,371 3,994,711 86,660 2.2
15 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,309,347 3,262,445 46,902 1.4
16 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 3,208,212 3,172,012 36,200 1.1
17 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 2,974,859 2,948,362 26,497 0.9

 
 
Comment by Gary
2009-05-07 13:32:00

Unfortunately Seattle is building a system that will reach max capacity way before BART will. The too small stations in the DDT guarantee it, as does the surface component along MLK.

One that that San Fransisco did manage to do right was to put back the tourist street cars along the waterfront. They aren’t nearly as nice as our’s but they are up and running.

Comment by Mike Orr
2009-05-07 15:37:16

Given the 50 years we’ve waited to get even this far, I’d say be happy for the light rail. They did make some good decisions, such as making most of it grade-separated and putting the stations 1-2 miles apart. That will be increasingly important as the system is extended and people go longer distances.

When it reaches capacity, they can build more lines. One on 405 for sure, and perhaps one down the west side through Ballard. There are a lot of people who want to go north-south, but different ones would choose different corridors if they were available.

Unfortunately the number of stops means it will never compete for Seattle-to-Tacoma trips when it gets built to Tacoma, but it will be good traveling to and from south King County. Ideally they would have built express tracks next to the local tracks, but again, considering how it’s been the past 50 years, Link is a big improvement.

Comment by joshuadf
2009-05-07 15:54:35

In many places there are express trains that just don’t stop at most stations. I could imaging an airport express or Tacoma Express someday.

Comment by Nathan
2009-05-07 18:10:40

But that requires quad (or at least triple) tracking. That’s just not going to happen along most of this route. I’d love it, but it’s very unlikely.

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