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Half of the 1,200-pound bull gear ready for installation at 12th St. Oakland Station.

The sun has just risen in a wash of pink and purple over BART’s Oakland Shops, and four men dressed in blue are standing around a giant gear.  

It looks like a bicycle gear with its interlocked steel circles rimmed with teeth. But this gear is big. Very big.  

Known as a bull gear, this 1,200-pound steel beast can be found in all of BART’s 175 escalators. Like its namesake, its job is to pull heavy loads, in this case, moving the belt of an escalator used by thousands of BART passengers each day.  

The bull gear in question belongs in an escalator that carries riders from the concourse at 12th St. Station to the platform. Many of the escalator’s components, including the bull gear, are nearly as old as the BART system.  

Recently, the gear’s bearings were starting to wear, meaning the ride was not as smooth as it should be. So BART’s Elevator/Escalators Maintenance team sprung into action, taking the escalator out of service so the gear could be removed, renovated, and reinstalled in a matter of weeks. Like the gear, it was a big job.  

Escalator techs Mehdi Nategh and Brian McMurtrie and escalator tech trainees Austin Eagleston and Luis Gonzalez separate the bull gear with a forklift and load it onto a cart at BART's Oakland Shops.

When this bull gear wore out, rather than ordering a new gear with a price tag in the tens of thousands, the maintenance team saw an opportunity to save money in BART’s operating budget by refurbishing it with new bearings and bolts. The renovated part should provide a smooth and safe ride for years to come.  

“We are mitigating problems as they arise,” said Eric Stockton, Section Manager of Elevator/Escalator Maintenance. “Customer service is our number one focus at BART, and escalators play a big role in that.” 

So how do you fix a bull gear? Unfortunately, you can’t tinker with it while it’s installed in an escalator. That means Eric’s team has to take the escalator apart, then use a chain fall (a gear system used to raise and lower loads) to lift the bull gear onto a flatbed cart.  

These gears are too large to fit in BART’s elevators, so the gear must be wrenched in half with a forklift to split it into two, more manageable pieces. Then up the escalator into the light of day, onto the back of a truck, and off to the parts repair shop for a makeover.  

 

 

 

 

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On this particular morning at the Oakland Shops, the four men standing over the refurbished 12th St. Bull gear were tasked with getting it back into its escalator home. That meant, repeating all the steps above but in reverse.  

By 8am, the men were off to 12th St., one truck carrying the cloven gear, another carrying their tools. You can watch some of the reinstallation process in the above video. 

It took about a month to get the bull gear in place and the parts attached to get the escalator back in service. It’s worth the hard work, said Mehdi Nategh, the team lead who’s been working on escalators for almost thirty years.  

“These bull gears can last more than twenty years,” he said.  

Carrying parts into the station.

While escalator tech Brian McMurtrie and escalator tech trainees Austin Eagleston and Luis Gonzalez prepped the gear from the top, Nategh went down in the machine room directly beneath the escalator. Here, the inner workings of an escalator come to light. As the escalator moves above, you can see the drive chain turning in an endless loop, powered by a drive machine with a gearbox and 480-volt AC motor.  

Being down there changes your perspective. When you step onto an escalator, you probably don’t stop to think about how it runs or the little mechanical world beneath it.  

Once the bull gear is in place there is much more work to be done.  

“We have to hook up the handrails, put the steps backs in, I'm sure there are some sensors we need to replace,” said Gonzalez.  

A few weeks later, once the work was complete, a joy ride of the escalator demonstrated the work paid off. The ride was smooth and quiet as the refreshed bull gear pulled us along. 

Mehdi Nategh in the machine room.

BART riders will benefit from faster train speeds through the downtown Oakland core service area following the repair of an essential power substation. Last summer, the substation located near 19th Street Station failed after experiencing a fault, requiring BART to realign power distributions from nearby redundant substations while repairs were being made. This configuration required BART to run trains at slower speeds in the track areas approaching MacArthur, 19th Street, and 12th Street stations. Trains were also metered into these stations, causing frequent but short train holds. This service plan caused delays of about three minutes, but those delays could compound when other incidents occurred in the system.

Crews have been diligently working to get the substation back to full operations, and late last week, the substation was successfully brought online. Over the weekend, normal speeds were restored. Trains no longer need to run at 27 mph through the area and are now travelling up to 70 mph.

2025 will be an important year for fortifying and expanding BART’s power substations. Another substation located east of the Transbay Tube is being fully renovated, and two new power substations located near Civic Center and Montgomery stations will also be coming online this year. This work plays a key role in ensuring that BART’s power system infrastructure is robust, reliable, and ready for the future. 

BART Directors have extended the highly successful restroom and attendant programs for another two years. The Board voted to award new contracts to provide attendants at the stations where they are already working through June 30, 2027. 

“The service these attendants provide are a vivid example of the type experience we need to offer the public,” said BART Board President Mark Foley. “A smile, a pleasant greeting and a professional attitude make a big difference – and these attendants keep our elevators and restrooms in the safe and clean condition our riders deserve.” 

The elevator attendant program began in 2018 at downtown San Francisco stations, with attendants in the elevators at all times trains were running, making sure users were following the rules, getting to where they needed to go and contacting BART staff with any issues.  

The program later expanded to all four downtown San Francisco stations: Embarcadero, Montgomery St., Powell St. and Civic Center. 

The restroom attendant program began in 2022 when BART reopened remodeled restrooms at Powell St. and 19th Street in Oakland. The restroom attendants make sure the restrooms are being used for their intended purpose and provide a friendly, safe presence.  

Restroom attendants are on duty while trains are in service at all four downtown San Francisco stations, 19th Street and Lake Merritt in Oakland and Downtown Berkeley Station. 

The attendants are one reason restroom availability survey results increased six percent in BART’s most recent Customer Satisfaction Survey compared to the previous survey.   

BART is making more progress with its effort to replace aging fare gates at all 50 stations by the end of this year. This week BART will begin installing Next Generation Fare Gates at Concord, Glen Park, and San Leandro stations. Work is also scheduled to begin next week at El Cerrito Plaza Station. The latest work comes after BART has successfully installed Next Generation Fare Gates at 22 stations across the system.

The work will not impact train service, but riders may experience a few extra minutes wait to pass through the fare gates during peak travel hours.

You can learn more about BART’s Next Generation Fare Gates project here

Update 4/15/24: The final bus bridge that had been scheduled between Richmond and El Cerrito del Norte the weekend of April 27-28 has been cancelled. Instead, our team will do trackway replacement work on the Yellow Line between Rockridge and Lafayette stations the weekend of 4/27-28. Get more details on this project here: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2024/news20240313

BART’s next major track improvement project will focus on replacing track equipment near Richmond Station. On four non-consecutive weekends in February, March, and April workers will replace an interlocking near Richmond Station. Interlockings allow BART to safely move trains from line to line and are an essential part of the system. Work will also be done to address vegetation that could impact service.

The weekend dates for this project are February 17-19 (Presidents’ Day Weekend), 3/16-17, 4/13-14, and 4/27-28.

• Free buses will replace train service between Richmond and El Cerrito del Norte stations on all four weekends. 
• The Red Line (Richmond-Millbrae) will be cancelled thus reducing service frequency and transbay options during these weekends. Transbay riders in the East Bay who would normally take the Red Line should instead board an Orange Line (Richmond-Berryessa) train and transfer to a Yellow Line train to San Francisco at MacArthur Station. This is scheduled to be a timed transfer to reduce wait times.
• Millbrae riders will be served by a shuttle train between SFO and Millbrae that is timed with the Yellow line train for an easy transfer at SFO. 
• Riders can expect delays of up to 20 minutes in the work area on shutdown weekends. 
• Richmond Station will not have train service but will still be open for Amtrak passengers and passengers traveling through the station. Riders will be able to board the bus bridge at Richmond.

Cyclists might find it faster to ride their bike along Nevin Ave in Richmond and the Ohlone Greenway to avoid the bus bridge and reduced frequency on the Richmond line. 

You can keep up with the latest updates for trackway repair projects that impact service by going to our Alerts and Advisories page. BART’s Trip Planner has been improved to show the full customer journey including bus bridges.

BART wants to thank AC Transit for providing buses for BART riders during this track closure. Bay Area transit agencies are improving regional coordination to keep the Bay Area moving.

The equipment being replaced is decades old and has outlived its design life. Riders will enjoy a smoother, safer, more reliable, and quieter ride once the projects are complete. 

This upcoming work is part of BART’s overall effort to improve the safety and reliability of the 131-mile, 50 station system. You can learn more about the progress of this work by reading the 2023 Measure RR Annual Report published by the independent Measure RR Bond Oversight Committee.

This article was originally posted on January 22, 2024.

The Millbrae parking garage will be reconfigured over the next few weeks to accommodate for more reserved parking and the growing demand for single/multi-day reserved parking. The top floor of the garage and a portion of the 4th floor will be converted from Daily Fee to Reserved parking in preparation for the holiday season.

Millbrae is a popular and convenient station for BART riders to park and access the San Francisco International Airport, just a quick 4-minute BART ride away. This change supports customers purchasing single/multi-day reserved parking when they are headed to the airport. Customers may purchase single/multi-day reserved parking at Millbrae on the BART Official App or on BART’s website.

There is still ample parking for Daily Fee parking on the first three floors of the garage. In the next few months, additional Daily Fee parking will become available at the nearby surface parking lot.

Sept 22 Update:

In celebration of Transit Month the Bay Area transit agencies and the MTC hosted All Aboard Transit Day last Saturday, September 16th. 

We challenged the region to break the Saturday September 2022 ridership record of 500,000+ trips across all modes of transit. 

We are thrilled to announce, riders came together across the Bay Area and took a stupendous 600,000+ trips across all local transit agencies! 

Thank you for taking transit and let's continue to momentum this weekend!

On Saturday, September 16, 2023, take as many transit trips your heart desires and help us beat the Saturday September 2022 ridership record!

All Aboard Transit Day is in celebration of Transit Month and to encourage the Bay Area to try transit.

We will add up the total ridership for the day and report out to the public and news media if we exceeded the Saturday, September 17, 2022 ridership, which was the highest ridership of a Saturday in September during Transit Month 2022.

On September 16, 2023, BART will also host "Meet the BART Anime Mascots" event at Powell Street Station from 2pm to 6pm. Take photos with the mascots, make buttons with staff, grab a prize from the BART capsule ball machine, and more! Come in cosplay and get a rare BART anime charm. The Link21 outreach team will also be there to talk about our project to build a second train crossing connecting Oakland and San Francisco. 

BART will also have special late-night service for the Ed Sheeran concert at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday, September 16, 2023. 

Effective September 1, 2023, parking fees at North Concord and South Hayward stations will be changing.  All transactions made on or after September 1 will reflect the new prices shown in the table below. Any reservations (Single/Multi-Day or Monthly Reserved) made before September 1, 2023, regardless of reservation dates, will reflect the price at time of purchase.  Current monthly parking holders’ reservations will be renewed on September 15 for October and will be charged the new lower price.

Parking prices are being updated to create a consistent price floor of $3/day (plus any applicable taxes) at all stations per recently approved policy by the BART Board of Directors. Prices may increase above this floor if lots begin to fill up.  For details on how rate adjustments are made, see BART’s Parking Pricing Policy.

BART offers discounted fares to qualifying low-income riders. Please visit clipperstartcard.com to learn more. Parking discounts/commuter benefits may also be available through your employer.

Pay for parking on the official BART app or at machines inside stations with debit, credit, or cash.

Questions? Visit BART’s Parking Overview Page or our FAQs.