Talk:Bay Area Rapid Transit/Archive 4

BART Purple Line Addition
Hello. It is apparent from BART system maps that starting February 11th, 2019, BART will designate a new purple line that acts as a shuttle between the SFO Airport and Millbrae Stations. This shuttle line will operate on all days except Saturdays. (see ) Do we want to add this as a discrete service line under the "Lines and Services" section of the page, or is this too minor of a change to be worth describing there? It's unclear to me how long BART intends to use this concept of a purple line. Thoughts? Electromechanick (talk) 01:54, 11 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, it appears that the purple service is intended to be permanent, as it will run even during times that service is not affected by construction. I have plans to add the relevant text and templates tomorrow afternoon. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 06:04, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

Line names
Was there any discussion about moving the articles about the individual lines to "Yellow Line," "Orange Line," etc.? Much as the previous names are long and unwieldy, they are the official names, and the color names are not widely used. --Jfruh (talk) 05:06, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
 * There is no evidence that the official names have changed. I would expect a major press release from BART when they do so (likely in a few years when new platform signs are fully installed and more of the new fleet is in service). I asked User:DReifGalaxyM31 to undo the moves and file a move request (as is required for disputed moves); instead, they have continued to change articles without replying. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 20:32, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

Remove BART to Livermore
Hi all, I'm new to Wikipedia editing so please be kind if I've done something wrong. I just made a small edit to the page indicating that BART is not moving forward with an extension to Livermore. The corridor is now planned to be served by another rail agency. I think the planned Livermore station should be removed from the map in the article - do others agree?Aspevack (talk) 22:36, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

Hitachi Rail STS to supply CBTC (once legacy fleet has been retired)
Your sources: (dates will change automatically once inserted into the article, be sure to also write down the access date) Edgar Searle (talk) 05:30, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

Alleged racially biased design
The section in the article says that stations are farther apart in nonwhite neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods, citing San Antonio, Oakland at 2.75 mi vs. eastern Contra Costa County at 1.75 mi. I believe that this example is cherry-picked. Here is a list of stations by distance: Numberguy6 (talk) 19:00, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Nonwhite neighborhoods:
 * San Leandro–Coliseum: 3.0 mi
 * Coliseum–Fruitvale: 2.1 mi
 * Fruitvale–Lake Merritt: 2.7 mi
 * Lake Merritt–West Oakland: 1.75 mi
 * Lake Merritt–12th St: 0.55 mi
 * 12th St–19th St: 0.4 mi
 * White neighborhoods:
 * Orinda–Lafayette: 3.4 mi
 * Lafayette–Walnut Creek: 3.25 mi
 * Walnut Creek–Pleasant Hill: 1.65 mi
 * Pleasant Hill–Concord: 3.45 mi
 * Concord–North Concord: 2.1 mi
 * North Concord–Pittsburgh/Bay Point: 4.45 mi
 * I added it. This may be true. The source that includes this may be slightly biased. However, I will add the context they provided that San Antonio is the most diverse part in Oakland (not just in terms of black population but also Latino and Asian), is very dense, and presumably has high demand for public transit. However, the other source seems to suggest BART was designed primarily for whites at its inception. Of course, in the 21st century, ridership is majority-minority according to sources. Just curious, how did you define nonwhite and white neighborhoods? Fastfoodfanatic (talk) 19:51, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I would just add that it isn't necessarily a matter of how far apart individual stations are, but how dense the neighborhoods they pass through are. The Yellow Line stations east of the Oakland Hills in Contra Costa County are a bit further apart, but the communities there are also significantly less dense. So the predominantly white/higher income communities are getting more service per potential rider. --Jfruh (talk) 18:34, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
 * @Fastfoodfanatic You say this source is slightly biased, I would go furher. This is clearly an opinion piece (labeled "perspective"), and therefore not a reliable source for such a controversial claim. Unless we can find reliable, unbiased, published sources, this should be removed. -- RickyCourtney (talk) 18:56, 10 February 2023 (UTC)
 * @RickyCourtney True, but there is also another source. Fastfoodfanatic (talk) 15:02, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Fair point. We do now have two published sources that make that claim. It’s still making me a bit uncomfortable because it’s such a bold claim. RickyCourtney (talk) 16:41, 11 February 2023 (UTC)


 * I would back this, and I think it would probably be best if we phrase this as "some people wrote". I'd also encourage y'all to see if you can find a rebuttal to this.  Invading Invader  (userpage, talk) 21:37, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
 * This is a perfect example of why WP:EXTRAORDINARY exists. "BART was intentionally designed for white riders and to ignore black riders" is an exceptional claim that requires exceptional sources. A single unsourced claim in an opinion piece (that, as Numberguy6 shows above, is cherry-picked and not statistically valid) and a single sentence which does not mention intentional discrimination do not qualify as exceptional sourcing. "The decisions made during the planning of BART have racially biased effects" is very likely true, and a potential less exceptional claim, but even that requires better sourcing.
 * To digress a bit, some other reasons why that Rice piece isn't great analysis:
 * It doesn't actually look at the planning process, just measures the distance between stations.
 * It looks at current population density, not density or trends at the time of BART planning.
 * It only looks at population density. No measure of jobs and commercial activity, in which several of the suburban stations (in particular the two highlighted in the piece) would rank higher. Unsurprisingly, both are above the median station ridership on the system.
 * It ignores decisions that were consciously made during the planning process:
 * BART was always intended to be a regional system, primarily because the Bay Area was expanding outward at a rapid rate. It was never intended as a metro system with dense stop spacing (like, say, the NYC Subway); buses were to continue carrying local riders. Because of that, stations were designed as hubs with numerous connecting bus routes.
 * Stations were placed primarily at locations that either were, or were planned to be, hubs like town centers or existing bus transfers. San Antonio is/was a primarily residential/industrial area with no plans to be a hub.
 * There are numerous factors considered when locating stations. Half of the station catchment for San Antonio would be highway, rail line, and water.
 * There were in fact changes in station locations - mainly on the San Francisco line after it was no longer planned to serve as a regional line to Palo Alto. (A single station at 22nd Street was originally planned; around 1962, it was replaced with 16th, 24th, and Glen Park.) The Fremont line was the longest line in the initial system and thus has the widest stop spacing.
 * It doesn't mention that BART has in fact studied several infill stations, including San Antonio, as part of a desire to serve more like a metro system.
 * Until better sourcing is found that actually looks at the decision-making process, I don't see this as worthy of anything more than maybe a single sentence in the history section. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 22:20, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I am actually surprised there are not more sources I can find that make the claim. Even my local system, the DC Metro (which is probably the US transit system that most resembles BART), has had many articles written about it and its impact on race (or in some cases, racism caused it to move away from an area - like University of Maryland). Fastfoodfanatic (talk) 03:28, 12 February 2023 (UTC)