BART Shutdown Strands U.S. Open Ticket Holders
COLMA (CBS SF) - It took many East Bay golf fans hours to get to the Olympic Club for the start of the U.S. Open Thursday because of the early morning fire that forced Bay Area Rapid Transit to shut down the Transbay Tube.
Some suffered through traffic or endured a crowded bus ride, while others coughed up cab fare or waived cash at strangers to get a ride into San Francisco to see Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and the others tee off on the Lake Course.
Rich Barboza woke up early to drive from Sacramento to Walnut Creek so he could catch BART to Colma Station, only to find himself in a ridiculously long queue in downtown Oakland waiting for an AC Transit bus into San Francisco.
"We grabbed a taxi," he said, straight to Market Street so they could hop back on BART, and then onto a shuttle bus to thetournament.
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:
Doug Trenker made it into Oakland from Alamo, but couldn't find a taxi to hail. But he did manage to flag down a car, "gave the guy fifty bucks and he got me to San Francisco."
For Aleisha Aghevli, the scramble began once she'd made it to Colma. A client decided to skip the event entirely because of the traffic problems.
"Now I'm trying to find people to take my tickets," she said, frantically texting to find someone who could jump on an unexpected opportunity.
Compared to the commute, the security tent at Colma Station ran like a well oiled machine, with golf fans checking in cell phones and other prohibited items before boarding shuttle buses to the Olympic Club.
Drew Hagan opted to drive, and took the San Mateo Bridge to beat the traffic. He spent two hours on the road, "about twice as long as it should have taken."
And was it worth it?
"Absolutely," he said.
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