BART Commuters Help Pick A Seat

You would think the last thing BART commuters would want to do after finishing their ride home is sit on transit seats outside the station.

But that's what dozens of transit users did Monday afternoon at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station.

The transit agency set up its mobile seat lab at the East Bay station from 2 to 6 p.m. as part of its tour of all nine BART districts. By 4 p.m., more than 50 people had visited.

The commuters sampled seats of differing widths, heights and materials, then filled out a survey. Some were interviewed on video by BART personnel.

Ray Barraza rode BART from Berkeley to test the mobile seat lab.

"I really wanted to see this," he said. "I'm retired. This is an afternoon outing."

Barraza rode BART daily when he was working and he still rides it often.

Barraza said he likes the current 22-inch seats but can accept the 20-inch seats, the widest of the ones at the seat lab.  He said he would prefer a softer seat, even if it's got a vinyl cover.

Overall, he thinks the mobile lab tour is a good idea.

"It's really mandatory for BART to get this input if they are to maintain credibility," he said.

Nearby, Larissa Seto was filling out a survey while her 5-year-old son, Logan, tested seats.

Seto, an assistant city attorney for the city of Pleasanton, favors the harder plastic covering for the seats. She said it's easier to clean and less inviting for people to sleep on.

She said she didn't mind the slightly narrower seats and she, too, praised BART for bringing in the lab.

"I think they really do need input." 

The new seats are part of BART's $3.4 billion plan to purchase a fleet of 1,000 cars. Those initial cars would start rolling on the tracks in 2016. The cars as well as the seats will be designed from scratch.

Ritch Hollingsworth, a mechanical engineer from LTK Engineering's Sacramento office, attended Monday afternoon's seat testing.

He will be one of the people helping BART design the new cars. He said he is impressed with the transit agency customers' willingness to take the time to provide input.

"I'm impressed and blown away," he said. "BART has some passionate ridership."

So far, the surveyed passengers are emphasizing cleanliness over comfort. BART's current seats are a soft fabric. It's easy on the back but difficult to clean.

Hollingsworth said the commuters also are price conscious. Even if they like a certain material, they still want to know how much it costs and if using it would raise ticket prices.

The BART seat lab will be at the Pleasant Hill station on Tuesday and at the Antioch station on Saturday. It'll be in South San Francisco and San Francisco next week.