Dear BART: it’s not like society just invented escalators. This is a fairly well-understood technology, used world-wide.
How many dedicated escalator repair personnel do you have? How many spare parts do you hold onsite? Why does this escalator keep breaking?
As a completely unfair comparison, I present you the much bigger (and very deep) Moscow subway. Not only are the stations prettier, but they keep the escalators running:
How do you keep them running?
“People,” Likhachev says. His division has a staff of 3,000. It has workers posted at every station during operating hours. It has a 20-member emergency rapid response team. It also has its own factory churning out spare parts, “so we don’t have to rely on suppliers.”
This is not to say that all escalators work all the time, because they don’t. But let’s be clear about one thing: “We do not have escalators out of order,” Likhachev says. “We close some for repair.”
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Yeah, but they were designed for people to RIDE, and you insist on trying to CLIMB them.
you raised this point previously. are you implying that people walking up the escalator instead of standing still on it are the cause behind all of the malfunctions?
Sir, are you implying, sir, that I am flogging Burrito’s dead horse with MY dead horse? I am aghast, sir!
Actually, I’ve always been pretty clear about my belief that the escalators break so often because people break them through misuse. That doesn’t explain why BART has so much trouble getting them repaired, though, so Burrito has a good point.
Ha ha
Erm, nerr.
Riding is on the right. Climbing is on the left. That is how they were designed and, moreover, that is the etiquette. Yerr.
The left side is stronger? Who knew! Could be a design imbalance flaw!
Let’s design canopies for the BART portals, like other cities have over their subways, so the escalators don’t get rained on. Escalators don’t mix with water very well.
Is it the rain or the pigeon shit breaking these things?
The combination of rain and accumulated stuff (garbage, pigeon shit – whatever the wind blows in or gravity drops) breaks the escalators.
Pay more taxes and you’ll get more escalators.
Has anyone thought of the idea of Escalator Terrorism? or Just an escalator saboteur or possibly saboteurs?
Also why the fuck would you compare us with Russia? Oh, look they have a nice train station. However its extremely dangerous to be a civil liberties lawyer or a journalist….. yeah i’ll take a broken escalator.
It’s extremely dangerous without any more qualification needed.
The Moscow Subway is state owned and staffed by armies of poorly payed government workers.
The MUNI/BART are publicly-owned and staffed by armies of well-paid government workers.
Well paid lazy workers.
Its not just 24th street. Montgomery Station has a few that constantly break down, and the same escalator has been closed since may, collecting a variety of leaves, loose newspaper, and other garbage.
i wonder if the escalator repair folks went on strike?