Parade-Bound Giants Fans Overwhelm Caltrain, BART
SAN JOSE (KCBS) - One of the enduring memories from the San Francisco Giants victory parade for fans may well be the effort it took to arrive on mass transit, as both Caltrain and BART saw mass crowds at every turn.
More people boarded Caltrain Wednesday than ever before in a single day, almost every one of them headed for the Giants World Series victory parade.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
Very few actually paid their way, however, because the ticket vending machines weren't fast enough for the onslaught of riders, some of them lined up at Diridon Station before 7 a.m.
"I don't think anybody anticipated that people were going to be going up there as early as they did. And I don't think anyone anticipated the crowds," said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunne.
Photo Gallery: Giants World Series Victory Parade
By the time two extra trains were added later in the morning, the literal crush of riders—an estimated 19,000 for the entire day—left inspectors little choice but to let people on without checking tickets.
Caltrain tried to discourage word of the de facto free rides from getting out, lest the overcapacity crowds grow even larger. But the announcements were already blaring over station loudspeakers to riders frustrated that the agency had not planned better.
"This is ridiculous. They should have had a special train for these folks. This is going to make everybody late," said George Biaz, whose usual weekday commute suddenly involved navigating a sea of orange and black.
Caltrain's resources are finite, Dunne said. It had to slash service and increase fares in October to bridge a $2.3 million deficit.
"We only have so much equipment. So even with great planning, we're still going to be crowded," said Dunne.
Coming or going, morning or evening, all San Francisco public transit was packed on Wednesday.
BART started running extra trains and longer trains earlier in the morning. And it added 13 trains to its afternoon schedule.
There were an additional 72,000 riders in the system Wednesday, on top of the usual 300,000 or so it sees on a typical weekday, according to a spokesman. BART set its ridership record of 405,000 back in 2008, according to the East Bay Business Times.
Passengers at the Dublin/Pleasanton station reported waiting well over an hour to buy tickets.
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