Take BART to Asian Heritage Street Celebration

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Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the 8th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration on Saturday, May 19th in San Francisco's Civic Center, in front of the Asian Art Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

The fair will feature a scrumptious collection of pan Asian delights and sweets, along with the Bay Area's favorite food trucks. You'll find spicy pork and bulgogi tacos from Seoul on Wheels, Filipino food like lumpia, BBQ, and more from Irma's, Koja Kitchen's Mochimisu (tiramisu layered with house-made chocolate mochi) and much more.

For the first time ever, the fair will feature celebrity cooking demonstrations, located at Eddy and Larkin Streets. Appearing throughout the day will be celebrity chef Martin Yan, The Slanted Door's owner and executive chef Charles Phan, co-owner of Nombe Restaurant Mari Takahashi, cookbook author Andrea Nguyen, chef Steve Cortez, and BBC America's Chef Kayne Raymond.

To start the day, Thai monks from Wat Buddhapradeep in San Bruno will perform a blessing at Fulton St. Stage at 10 a.m. Officially kicking off the fair at 11 a.m. will be the Faces of Asia Cultural Procession - a dazzling display of traditional ethnic attire with nearly 200 participants, organized by Au Co Vietnamese Cultural Center.

Popular returning fair features for include the Arts and Crafts World Market, the j-cars, the healthy living pavilion, cultural procession, free film screenings presented by the Center for Asian American Media, performances by Asian American artists, DJs, and martial arts experts as well as free admission to the Asian Art Museum, courtesy of Target.

A kids area will feature a FREE rock climbing wall and bouncy house, along with face painting and more.

For more info visit: www.asianfairsf.com.

Take BART to the Asian Heritage Street Celebration!
Closest BART station: Civic Center

BART to open early for Bay to Breakers race

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Image: jwelcher via Flickr

BART customers will be able to get to the world famous Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco on Sunday, May 20, 2012, because the transit agency will open early and run additional long trains. The race is celebrating its 101th anniversary this year. All BART stations will open early with service starting at approximately 5 am Sunday so racers can get to the race well before Bay to Breakers begins at the new, early start time of 7 am. Trains running before 8 am will run at 20-minute intervals.


Download the special schedule (.pdf) for Bay to Breakers service.


Embarcadero & Montgomery Street Both Convenient
Because the Bay to Breakers race attracts thousands of runners and spectators, BART encourages riders originating from Peninsula and San Francisco stations to get off at Montgomery Street Station. Riders coming from the East Bay should use the Embarcadero Station. Both stations are just a short distance from Howard and Spear Streets, the starting point of the race.

More Tips for Runners
Runners can save themselves time and trouble by getting a Clipper card in advance of race day to pay their  fare. Those who do are reminded to be sure to load enough cash on the card to pay for a round trip fare. Clipper cards are available at transit ticket offices, through ticket vending machines in SFMTA stations and at most Walgreens and other retail locations. BART Ticket Vending Machines will allow you to add cash value to your Clipper card, but do not vend the cards.

Wet or damaged BART tickets will not work in fare gates, so runners who keep a round-trip ticket in their pockets while running seven miles may be disappointed when they try to get home. BART suggests that runners who don’t have a Clipper card should buy two one-way tickets: one ticket before heading to the race and the other before catching the train home instead of buying a single round-trip ticket.

BART reminds runners that shoes and proper attire are required on BART despite the “anything goes” attitude of the famous race. A reminder that there is no eating or drinking in the stations or on the trains so BART officials ask that runners do their pre-race carbo-loading before arriving at the stations. BART will not permit bicycles on the early Bay to Breakers trains that run prior to 8 am.

BART unveils draft bike plan, seeks comment

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Photo by Nick Sherman via Flickr

Over the past year, BART has crafted a brand new bicycle plan that defines the strategies BART will pursue over the next 10 years to double the number of passengers who access stations by bike.  This is an update to BART’s first Bicycle Plan, published 10 years ago.

Approximately 4%, or about 14,000 passengers, currently reach BART stations each weekday by bicycle.  Building on the success of past BART bicycle access improvements, the growth in popularity of bicycle travel throughout the BART service area, and the significant improvements to bike travel recommended in this plan, this BART Bicycle Plan’s goal is to double this rate, to 8% by 2022, by transforming BART from a system that allows bikes to one that depends on them.

The plan focuses on five high-level issues each with multiple strategies:

  • Cyclist Circulation: Improve station circulation for passengers with bicycles
  •  Plentiful Parking: Create world-class bicycle parking facilities
  •  Beyond BART Boundaries: Help assure great bicycle access beyond BART’s boundaries
  •  Bikes on BART: Optimize bicycle accommodations aboard trains
  •  Persuasive Programs: Complement bicycle-supportive policies and facilities with support programs

“It’s been exciting to watch the popularity of bicycling to BART skyrocket” said Steve Beroldo, BART’s Bike Program Manager.  “We installed 65 bike rack spaces inside-the-station at 19th St/Oakland Station and within months they were full. We added 30 more spaces there plus 30 new inside-the-station spaces at 12th St/Oakland City Center just to keep up with demand.”

The draft plan is available for review and comment at www.bart.gov/bikes through May 12, 2012.  Comments and suggestions related to the draft Bike Plan can be sent to bikes@bart.gov.

 

Last week to vote in Blue Sky contest

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BART partnered with some great local organizations who are working hard to make a difference here in the Bay Area. This contest features non-profits that participated in our BART Blue Sky Festival, and are promoting some great initiatives that are making a difference locally.

Which of our BART Blue Sky Non-Profit partners' current initiatives do you like best? Log in to Facebook and vote for your favorite! The organizations you can vote for are:

Bay Area Green Tours 
City Care Share 
Coalition to Fight Factory Farming
CUESA
Earth Justice 
Earth Share 
Green Festivals 
Sierra Club 
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society -
TMASF Connects

The top three non-profits that get the most votes will win valuable exposure in front of BART's 360,000+ daily weekday riders for their organization, and YOU have a chance to win a $500 Clipper Card just for voting. You can only vote one time, so make it count.  

You have until Friday, May 4, 2012 to vote. 

Fleet of the Future: Bombardier build bid backed

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A Bombardier employee puts the finishing touches on a new Metro-North car in Plattsburgh, NY. New BART cars could be in service in 2017. (Source: BART)

BART staff is recommending that the Fleet of the Future next generation of rail cars be built by North American-based Bombardier because the company’s bid represents the best combination of low price, high technology and proven reliability.

Bombardier’s bid came in about 12 percent less than a French manufacturer, Alstom, while also earning the highest technical score. Bombardier has committed to go above the federal requirement that 60 percent of the parts for the cars be built in America and to assemble the cars in the U.S.

“BART understands the importance of the ‘Build in America’ movement and the urgency of putting Americans back to work,” BART General Manager Grace Crunican said. “It’s why our Board adopted the nation’s first Buy America Bid Preference Policy. Bombardier took that policy to heart and responded while never losing sight of the importance of price, quality and reliability.”

THE EVALUATION PROCESS
BART’s 31-month-long procurement process evaluated bidders on eight criteria, with price receiving the greatest weight. BART’s Buy America Bid Preference policy weighted the bidders’ prices based on the degree to which they exceeded the federal mandate for American-made components. Compared to the French company, Bombardier’s price was about $184 million less, the equivalent of 104 rail cars.

GETTING TECHNICAL
Bombardier also earned the highest technical score of the three bidders. The technology score is the result of painstaking evaluations by two independent teams of 29 BART and industry experts that drilled down into the details of the proposals, appraising criteria such as brake configuration, brake calipers and hydraulic fluid type. The evaluation process included checks and balances to reduce the possibility that any one criteria or evaluator could have any controlling effect on the overall scoring process. The technical score and the price score were added together to arrive at the combined score, with Bombardier earning the highest combination.

NEXT STEPS
The next step occurs on Thursday, April 26th, when BART staff will officially recommend to the Board of Directors that Bombardier be awarded the new rail car contract. Because the Bombardier bid represents such a good value, staff will recommend that the company be approved to build not just the base order of 260 rail cars but to also build an additional 150 for a total of 410 new cars at an average cost of about $2.2 million per car.

The BART Board is expected to vote on the contract recommendation at its May 10, 2012 meeting. The first new cars could be in service in 2017 and all 410 cars of the initial order could be carrying passengers within eight years. BART must replace its oldest- in- the-nation fleet of cars with at least 775 new cars in order to maintain safe, reliable service for an ever increasing ridership that will include an extension to San Jose by 2018. Learn more and read the complete staff recommendation at www.bart.gov/board.

Meet Mark P. Smith, BART's 1st Police Auditor

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By Melissa Jordan 
BART Senior Web Producer

As a young law student, Mark P. Smith interned with the civilian oversight agency for the Los Angeles Police Department. 

At that time, the LAPD was still reeling from the Rampart scandal, one of the most notorious cases of documented police misconduct in U.S. history. The oversight agency had to make sure LAPD lived up to the mandates of a consent decree so the besieged department could be turned around. The experience convinced Smith to stay in the field of law enforcement oversight after graduating from law school and passing the California Bar Examination. 

"I am driven by a sense of fairness and equality," says Smith, now BART's first-ever Independent Police Auditor. "It troubles me when I see that missing. I thought this would be the most effective way for me to use my law degree."

COMMUNITY FORUM APRIL 24

The public will have an opportunity to meet Smith and learn what his office does when he hosts a community forum on Tuesday, April 24, from 6:30 pm – 8 pm at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland. 


Since those early days after law school at UCLA, Smith has worked in police oversight agencies for two of America's largest cities -- first in Los Angeles, then in Chicago.

During those years, he had a hand in hundreds of investigations of all different types including officer-involved shootings, complaints alleging excess force, racial profiling, or matters as seemingly simple as citizens reporting that they felt disrespected by police. All citizen complaints deserve investigation, because public trust is the cornerstone of our system of justice, Smith says. 

"The mission is to provide a service to anyone who feels they've been mistreated by police, or have witnessed police commit misconduct," Smith says about the role of law enforcement oversight in general. "Any law enforcement agency can benefit from oversight. It doesn't mean the agency is bad. Oversight can make a good agency better than it already is. We must hold our police to high standards."

OVERSIGHT TAKES MANY FORMS

Oversight can take many forms. Most forces, including BART Police, have their own Internal Affairs departments; BART also has a Citizen Review Board that operates in conjunction with Smith's office. 

Most recently Smith was second-in-command of Chicago's police oversight agency, leading an office with around 50 investigators and 12 supervising investigators. On average, an individual is struck by an officer’s bullet once per week in that city, so there was plenty to investigate. There are more than 13,000 sworn officers. 

Why, then, would he leave such a powerful position to become police auditor for a transit agency with only about 200 officers? When he arrived in July 2011, Smith had a staff of precisely one (himself), although now he has hired one investigator, and has an opening (currently unfilled) for an executive assistant.

While BART has had a comparatively low number of officer-involved shootings, Smith was aware when being hired of a particularly high-profile one: the Jan. 1, 2009, shooting death of Oscar Grant by a BART officer who subsequently resigned and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Smith says that because so many in the public were aggrieved by that case, it presented an important opportunity for rebuilding trust with the community. He did not shy away from the challenge.

BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP AT BART

"In my other jobs I came into well-established agencies," he says. "This was an opportunity to shape and build from the ground up. I could use my knowledge from the larger agencies and tailor it to the needs here." A California native, Smith also had spent his undergraduate years at UC-Berkeley and was eager to get back to the Bay Area.  When not at work, some of Smith’s favorite pastimes are taking in documentary films and enjoying the panoramic views from the Berkeley Hills, two pursuits especially well suited to the culture and environment of the Bay Area. 

Smith says one of the unique qualities of BART's police force is dealing with such a wide geographic area with so many different jurisdictions. "Officers must be familiar with the different rules and procedures for multiple counties, as well as with BART PD's own policies and procedures," Smith says. He is a strong advocate for training, and for recruiting and retention to keep the force fully staffed with quality officers. Understaffing of any force puts not only the public but also police officers at risk, he says. 

Smith notes the importance of the fact that he does not report to BART Chief of Police Kenton Rainey; he was hired by and reports to the Board of Directors. That's where the "independent" in the title of his office comes in.

"I am independent from the BART Police," Smith says. "Not from BART as a whole. I work for BART. But if I need records, or request interviews, from the police, they are obligated to provide them."  He describes a good working relationship where he has been able to get information, and notes that BART Police have made many strides towardimplementing the recommendations in a report from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), that was undertaken after the Grant case. 

INDEPENDENT BUT COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP

Chief Rainey speaks equally positively of the oversight relationship.

“We have a duty and responsibility to establish and maintain a cooperative working relationship with the Office of the Independent Auditor,” Rainey said.  “We believe in transparency and will continue to welcome the positive changes that oversight is bringing.”

In his first year at the Office of the Independent Police Auditor, Smith has been getting up to speed, hiring staff, promoting the existence of the office. There has not been a glut of cases so far.  Perhaps the most dramatic was that of Charles Hill, who died in an officer-involved shooting at Civic Center Station on July 3, 2011, one week after Smith started his job. That case was more complicated than most, since the agency with lead jurisdiction was the San Francisco Police Department.  Smith gave a news conference one week after the shooting to assure the public he would provide thorough and independent oversight of the BART PD’s internal investigation. That investigation has not yet concluded. 

The Hill case prompted much discussion about police contacts with homeless or mentally ill individuals; Smith says he is encouraged to see that Chief Rainey has made it one of his priorities to increase officer training in this area.

WHY OVERSIGHT MATTERS

A former colleague of Smith’s says BART is lucky to have an auditor with his level of skill and determination. “Mark was one of the most thorough and thoughtful investigators I’ve ever come across,” says Brian Buchner, a special investigator with the LAPD oversight agency. Buchner, who is on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), stressed the importance of offices such as Smith’s. “More publicly accountable policing ultimately benefits a community because it has a view into what its police department is doing,” he said. “And it benefits the police department because with oversight it is able to police more effectively, which ultimately leads to a safer community.”

Smith will tell the community at the April 24 forum that his office provides just that kind of objective, independent, dogged service to the public. He has been visiting neighborhood groups, doing outreach meetings and trying to spread the word. It's not easy, on most subjects, to get people to give up an evening to come out to a public meeting. But for anyone interested in police oversight, or who has questions on how it works, this will be a perfect opportunity to engage one-on-one with the person in charge. 

If you can't attend the meeting but want to learn more, go to www.bart.gov/policeauditor for more information or email oipa@bart.gov.