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fady says...

Nov 23, 2009

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City Brights: Zennie Abraham : BART Officer breaks window with drunk's face - why? Take my poll.

I'm in Georgia as I write this having flown most of the day from San Francisco to Chicago to Atlanta. So just when I think I've only got to pay attention to my Cal Stanford Big Game videos and my Oakland sim, I have this CNN-and-SFGate-reported news of a BART officer smashing the face of a drunk man by the name of Michael Joseph Gibson into a window on the West Oakland BART Station platform.
So I immediately went to YouTube and found this video...

..and showed it to my mother who said "Why did he have to throw him into the window?"
Exactly. Why?
Here we go again. Another predictable argument between those who justify police' violent actions and those who question it. I am tired of the dichotomy, so I decided to create a poll to learn what others think.
While the officer's action is questionable, that his presence was desired is of no question. In the video as the officer hauls Michael Joseph Gibson off the train and before he reaches the window, we can hear people clapping, so BART riders wanted this guy off the train.
That happened.
But the other action of the head against the window is to me a case of putting too much super hot mustard on a really good hot dog: it makes it hard to consume, but one can still eat it.
To BART's credit, it's not sitting on this issue; it responded rapidly, issuing a press statement and holding a press conference within moments.
BART Spokeman Linton Johnson said to CNN's Don Lemon this evening that "We decided that we wanted to take appropriate steps and let people know about this video... We want to do a full investigation...We will look at all the facts."
Johnson went on to say that most of Michael Joseph Gibson's injuries came from his arm and not his head. It's hard to tell that from the video but I can't help but wonder if there's another video out there with another angle. There's got to be at least one more - even if it's the station video. It's out there. I know it.
BART's not releasing the officer's name. He's new to BART Police according to Linton Johnson, but Linton says he's not had any incidents while with BART Police.
But the way Linton made the statement does open a new question about the officer's past. In looking at the video it seems like the officer took a little too much action - again too much hot mustard - but overall Michael Joseph Gibson was out of line and what I go with is the people on the train were applauding the officer.
Again, whatever Michael Joseph Gibson was doing, it's obvious he didn't have a fan base on the train.
What do you think of the BART Officer's actions? Take my poll:

via sfgate.com

i love this city!

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desdemona says...

Oct 22, 2009

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BART Checks In on Foursquare for Mass Transit Promotion

The Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) in San Francisco has just made history as the first transit agency to partner with Foursquare, the location-based application and game that we think has the potential to be as important as Twitter (they also just launched 15 new cities).

We’ve already seen local businesses take the plunge, offering up special location-based deals that Foursquare () automatically serves up to users as they check-in, but now BART is getting in on the action to encourage more public transit use.

Regular BART commuters will now be able to unlock a BART-themed badge, and also become eligible for $25 in promotional tickets that will be awarded randomly to Foursquare users who check-in at stations during the months of November, December, and January.

From the official BART announcement of the deal, we also learned that this is just the beginning of the partnership. The transit agency is also looking for even more creative ways to tap into the location-based potential that Foursquare offers for promotions, and highlighting local businesses.

We think it’s genius and hope to see the idea get spread to other metropolitan areas. In fact, this biased writer, who just so happens to be the mayor of many local San Diego venues, would love to see the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System strike up a similar arrangement.

via mashable.com

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mark says...

Oct 22, 2009

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Appreciating the Inconvenient: Bombscare, Caltrain, and my nightly commute

Last night I hopped on the Caltrain with my bike to head home only to discover there was a bomb scare at the Milbrae station -- smack dab in the middle of my commute. Milbrae also just happens to be the only transfer point between Caltrain and BART. I heard later that BART was able to handle this OK, Milbrae being a terminal point on their line; they simply re-routed people to the SFO station by bus/shuttle.

People on Caltrain weren't so lucky -- their trains basically came to rest in limbo at whatever station was closest. My girlfriend split a cab ride from San Mateo with 3 other people ($20 each). A lot of others were scrambling for a bus to take instead, and I believe a number of others just ... waited... for the problem to resolve itself (proved to be a 3 hour wait just for the go ahead from police to resume service). Our conductor told us they had instructions to stop and wait at San Carlos station just 3 stops north of Palo Alto where I boarded. Pretty inconvenient.

It was at this point I decided to embrace the inconvenience -- I would simply bike to the nearest operating BART station. I assumed Milbrae BART would be closed (hadn't heard any official statement on the matter) but since it was on the way to other stations I set this as my initial destination.

At Redwood City (one stop sooner than San Carlos) I hopped off the train and onto my bike. From there I hammered my way up El Camino Real, small blinky bike safety lights pulsing away.

I rarely ride the bike with any purpose other than training in mind. As a result I rarely experience the thrill of utilizing my fitness for conventional purposes. The fact that, for me, at that moment, the bike was more convenient than the train made the inconvenience almost entirely pleasurable.

I say "almost entirely" because I covered the 14.5 miles in my jeans (lost a little skin on the inner thigh) with my laptop stowed away in my messenger bag and riding on the occasionally pitch dark stretches of El Camino which also at times lacked a proper should or bike path -- nothing like the uncertainty of not knowing whether your wheel is about to drop into a narrow crack in the asphalt and send you over your bars. If you're reading this, I don't suggest commuting this stretch -- there are other routes you can take that are much safer but I don't have them memorized and didn't want to deal with checking my iPhone every few miles.

In any case, long story short: I made it to Milbrae in 45 minutes, discovered police still on the scene and no operating trains and so
biked over to SFO where I found an elevator that dropped me off at the BART platform; 50 minutes total including the stops at lights of which there were a number.

PS -- if you've ever been to Milbrae you may recall smelling the most delicious chocolate aroma (from a nearby chocolate factory) that can permeate the air there; it was in full effect last night as I pedaled through -- almost worth the trip on its own.

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SFBART says...

Oct 22, 2009

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BART partners with Foursquare

Take one up-and-coming location-based mobile city guide for urban dwellers who like technology, exploring, good food, nightlife and fun....

Pair with a tech-savvy transit system (what other transpo has all the developer services, real-time info, mobile web, push advisories, pull advisories, Twitter, Facebook, blog) in one of America's great urban centers for culture, cuisine, natural beauty and environmental awareness supporting public transit...

Whaddya get? A Foursquare-BART partnership!

Bay Area Rapid Transit has become the first transit agency to partner with the location-based mobile network Foursquare, with the goal of encouraging public transit use.

Foursquare (profiled this week in the New York Times) combines social networking elements with game mechanics, urging users to explore neighborhoods and recommend places to others. You can check in from different venues and earn badges and points for doing different types of things – like a "gym rat" badge if you check in 10 times at a gym during a 30-day period. As part of the partnership with BART, Foursquare will offer a BART-themed badge that can be unlocked by regular riders of BART, which provides train service in the San Francisco Bay Area. BART will award $25 promotional tickets each month for the next three months to riders chosen at random from all the riders who have logged Foursquare check-ins at BART stations, starting in November.

One popular element of Foursquare is a competition to become "mayor" of different places. If you check in more than anyone else, you claim rights as "the mayor" of that place. Regular BART riders already are trading back and forth as "mayors" of the 43 stations. Foursquare updates are shared across other social networking and microblogging sites such as Facebook and Twitter, announcing who has ousted whom as mayor. BART also will look at other ways to coordinate promotions with new and existing venue partners, through www.mybart.org, its free service offering contests and discounts for entertainment, sports and other events. BART is listing tips for things to do near BART stations on its Foursquare profile page (www.foursquare.com/user/SFBART).

BART will also select tips for things to do near BART stations that other Foursquare users recommend, and include them in the "to-do" list on its Foursquare profile. If you want yours considered, be sure to mention that the venue is close to a BART station, and list the name of the station in your tip.

"A lot of BART riders are already having fun with this game," said Timothy Moore, BART website manager. "We hope this partnership will encourage them to check out different stations and neighborhoods, and will show people who aren't already BART riders some of the great things to do that are easy to get to on transit."

"We're excited about the potential for Foursquare to influence people's actions and decisions beyond things like entertainment, into broader areas, like taking public transit or getting involved in their communities," said Dennis Crowley, Foursquare's co-founder. Crowley announced the partnership at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco on Thursday.

For more information on Foursquare go to www.foursquare.com.

Image: Icons for four different Foursquare badges. BART-themed badge design adapted with permission from iBART.

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godfreydigiorgi says...

Oct 21, 2009

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Passing Through

Going to San Francisco, I often prefer to leave my car at the BART station in Millbrae and ride the train in. Both for reasons of cost ... it's cheaper to pay the train fare than most parking garages nowadays ... and just for the photo opportunities that riding the train might provide: street work in and around the platforms, through the window landscape work, etc.

Going to SF on Sunday the Millbrae trains always detour to San Francisco Airport now and for a moment I had this beautiful view of the parking garage as we passed through. Luckily, I had the camera ready to shoot in my bag, with the 25mm lens fitted, and set to Manual focus. A quick twist of the ring and a snap ... and the view was gone.

I like the way the train passageway frames the parking structure, the glow of the lights reflecting in the window but not overpowering it. The structure soars massive and modern, constrained behind the beams and railings.

An "over the couch" architectural shot, well maybe for the office wall.

I have to make a print...

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mark says...

Oct 03, 2009

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Love Fest?

Never heard of it but apparently it's today in SF. This is the least crowded car heading to the city. I tried catching an earlier train but couldn't find a car with space for me and my bike -- I normally do a ride with my coach in the east bay on Saturdays.

Sent from my iPhone

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primatage says...

Sep 05, 2009

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SF Bay Area: Fix Your Shit.

This is how BART stations normally look overnight.

Seriously? You close down the highest traffic-volume bridge in the entire Bay Area and you only run BART on a half-ass 24hr schedule?

This place constantly manages to forget itself. There are only a handful of major metropolitan areas in this country, and even fewer of them fit the bill of a bay-spanning sprawl with major urban center playing mom to the rest. This is one of them, and yet the public transportation system is still about as effective as a bag full of assholes.

BART should be running 24/7, regardless of the circumstances, because that’s what a real subway system does. I shouldn’t have to pass out in some nasty tube with a dead phone while hundreds of people crowd into the same small space waiting for the hourly train to show up at 3:30 in the morning, so that we can all cram into the same train to over three times its capacity and cruise the transbay tube in probably the most dangerous way possible. /breathe

It’s a fucking joke.

And it’s no secret, either. There are countless foreign visitors in the city every day, and they notice these things. We had a group of Germans start serenading the station gothic-choir style, using the tube’s acoustics. The station employees on hand even thought the whole thing was such a joke that they started beat-boxing on the intercom system. While this sort of thing shows that the people of San Francisco and its surrounding areas are just as friendly as ever, it doesn’t say a thing about the city itself.

This state is falling apart, and one of its absolute beacons isn’t doing anything to pull ahead and show initiative. What does that say for the rest of California? Some people still think the whole place is going to fall into the ocean because of an earthquake. I think it might just happen because of the sheer weight of all the cars.

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witzige-t-shirts says...

Aug 31, 2009

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Walkman vs iPod - I am your father

Dem beiß’ ich ‘ne Beule in den Bart, dass dem die Hose wegfliegt.

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tuyenvo says...

Aug 27, 2009

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Back in Oaktown

At the BART station waiting for the train. Good to be back.

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tuyenvo says...

Jun 23, 2009

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Another iPhone 3GS sample video - BART (updated)

UPDATE: I uploaded the .mov file earlier for this post and noticed that there were some artifacts in the video when watching it on Posterous versus in QuickTime. To see the .mov click the download link below the Posterous video player. I've also uploaded the same video to YouTube to see if there were any artifacts. What do you think?

Get the Flash Playerto see this player.