BART Connects: 92-year-old Nona rode BART to the people she loved
“BART is how seniors like me can get around.”
Read more BART Connects stories at bart.gov/bartconnects.
92-year-old Naomi Hulme stopped driving. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t out and about in her hometown of San Francisco.
Naomi, AKA Nona, would never live in a city without public transportation.
“BART is how seniors like me can get around,” she said.
Nona knew the scope of her life would narrow if she didn’t have the option to take transit. Many seniors experience social isolation, loss of independence, and declining mental and physical health when they give up driving. But transit provides seniors with another option.
For decades, Nona took BART from Glen Park to Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre to see the same person. That would be her best friend of 72 years, Dee. The old pals from college would shop, dine, and once a month, play Bridge.
Nona said riding transit made her feel happy and grateful to be active, and she loved striking up conversations with people on the train: “Where’re you going? Where’d you come from? How’d you meet?”
Earlier this year, Nona passed away. Her family asked us to share this story in her memory and in honor of the many years she spent riding BART to see the people she loved.
About BART Connects
Tens of millions of people ride BART every year -- to work, dates, practice, friends, and fun. BART Connects tells their stories.
In June, BART Communications launched the second edition of BART Connects, a storytelling series that features real BART riders who span generations, neighborhoods, and walks of life. You can read their stories below.
In the coming months, the stars of BART Connects will take us for a ride in a series of video featurettes that will be regularly posted on BART social media.
You will also see the faces of BART Connects riders in advertising spaces in the BART System and across the region.
BART Connects grew out of a call for rider stories BART Communications launched in 2023 to learn how our transit system impacts people’s lives. The initial response made clear that BART means something to those who ride it.
Have a cool BART story to share? Submit a short summary at bart.gov/story. You may be the next BART Connects feature!