Computer issue plagues BART commute for thousands of riders
The evening commute was a mess for BART riders as the system suffered a network computer outage meltdown on Thursday.
It forced several stations to close and thousands of riders to find alternate ways to get to their final destinations.
BART rider Michael Brazil got on at the 12th Street stop in Oakland and was supposed to go to Fremont. But his ride was cut short.
"I was shocked," said Brazil. "I had no idea what was going on."
Brazil, like everyone else on his train, was ushered off at the Bay Fair station in San Leandro.
"I just had my headphones on and they just kind of told me you need to get off the BART," he said. "I didn't really hear what was going on, but I saw everyone was leaving so I had to just go."
Brazil became one of many that had to find an alternate way home. Four BART stations were closed, and trains had to turn around here due to a computer issue. BART provided bus bridges as it dealt with the network computer outage. Many ended up calling friends and family for rides since Uber was in high demand.
"I was going to Uber, but it was really expensive because everyone was trying to Uber so fares were pretty high," said BART rider Sarah Izadi.
BART said the system went offline around 10 a.m. Thursday. It's still looking into what caused the network to fail.
"It's a computer networking issue that's impacted our train control system," said BART spokesperson Chris Filippi. "So what it practically means for us is if we can't sense train control on the trackway we can't safely run trains there. "
BART is in the very early stages of upgrading the system entirely to hopefully avoid issues like the one Thursday. It will also allow them to improve service by being able to run more trains.
"We actually are pursuing a train control replacement program," said Filippi. "We want to switch from our current system, which we've had since we started service 50 years ago to a new and advanced communications-based train control system."
Riders for the most part handled the delay in stride even though many say the outage added at least an hour to their commute.
BART said it will be years before the new system is in place, but it is a priority to replace the train control system.