
You're Really, Really Curious About BART
01/30/20 • 18 min
We get a lot of BART questions from our listeners, so this week we're answering a slew of them with long-time transit reporter Dan Brekke.
- How did they build the underwater tunnels for BART?
- In its nearly 50 years of existence, why has BART taken so long to extend into Santa Clara County? And only normally protruded into San Mateo County and never expanded into any of the North Bay counties?
- Why are there news kiosks in the BART station that are closed? Why doesn't BART let people run these news kiosks? What is the history?
- At the West Oakland BART Station there are ads right next to the third rail. How on earth do they change those out without getting electrocuted?
- Why does it seem like the escalators are constantly broken?
- Why does BART announce elevator status all the time?
Our question askers this week were Briana, Brad Meyer, Jay Quigley, Mark, Dan and Eric.
Additional Goodies
- Why are BART trains so loud? (Apple Podcasts)
- Sign up for the Bay Curious newsletter
- The Bay: An Unspoken Guide to Riding BART (Apple Podcasts)
- Why are BART Escalators Nearly Always Broken? And How Did They Build Those Tunnels?
Credits
Produced by Jessica Placzek and Olivia Allen-Price. Featuring KQED's transit editor Dan Brekke. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Patricia Yollin, Carly Severn, Christopher Cox, Bianca Hernandez, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Holly Kernan.
We get a lot of BART questions from our listeners, so this week we're answering a slew of them with long-time transit reporter Dan Brekke.
- How did they build the underwater tunnels for BART?
- In its nearly 50 years of existence, why has BART taken so long to extend into Santa Clara County? And only normally protruded into San Mateo County and never expanded into any of the North Bay counties?
- Why are there news kiosks in the BART station that are closed? Why doesn't BART let people run these news kiosks? What is the history?
- At the West Oakland BART Station there are ads right next to the third rail. How on earth do they change those out without getting electrocuted?
- Why does it seem like the escalators are constantly broken?
- Why does BART announce elevator status all the time?
Our question askers this week were Briana, Brad Meyer, Jay Quigley, Mark, Dan and Eric.
Additional Goodies
- Why are BART trains so loud? (Apple Podcasts)
- Sign up for the Bay Curious newsletter
- The Bay: An Unspoken Guide to Riding BART (Apple Podcasts)
- Why are BART Escalators Nearly Always Broken? And How Did They Build Those Tunnels?
Credits
Produced by Jessica Placzek and Olivia Allen-Price. Featuring KQED's transit editor Dan Brekke. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Patricia Yollin, Carly Severn, Christopher Cox, Bianca Hernandez, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Holly Kernan.
Previous Episode

Jerry Brown’s Impact on Oakland May Surprise You
Jerry Brown has been a dominant force in California politics for decades. He spent 16 years as governor of California, ran for Senate twice, ran for president three times, and spent eight years as Mayor of Oakland. In this episode, we explore how Brown's legacy in Oakland is playing out today with Devin Katayama of The Bay, and Guy Marzorati, producer of new podcast The Political Mind of Jerry Brown. You can subscribe to both in the same place you get Bay Curious.
Produced by Devin Katayama, Marisol Medina-Cadena, Alan Montecillo, Jessica Placzek and Olivia Allen-Price. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong, Holly Kernan and Patricia Yollin.
Next Episode

We Built This City on ... Water and Marsh?
When Nicole was growing up, her grandmother always told her: Don't live anywhere built on fill. Her uncle also had strong memories of watching the Marina burn after the 1989 earthquake — when parts of the ground liquefied, causing buildings to collapse and gas lines to break.
Nicole wants to follow her grandmother's advice, but she needs to know a few things: "What neighborhoods and cities in the Bay Area are built on filled land? And what are those cities and neighborhoods doing to mitigate the risk of liquefaction?"
Additional Reading
- Large Parts of the Bay Area Are Built on Fill. Why and Where?
- MAP: Where We "Created" Dry Land
- The Precarious Future of Treasure Island: Rising Seas and Sinking Land
- How Treasure Island Got Made and Why
Credits
Reported by Kelly O'Mara. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Don Clyde, Carly Severn, Christopher Cox, Bianca Hernandez, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Holly Kernan.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/bay-curious-36002/youre-really-really-curious-about-bart-1393415"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to you're really, really curious about bart on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy