BART Warns of More Protests and Transit Nightmares This Month

Caroline Chen

Commuter crush times 10

​After last month's commute from hell, where protesters closed down stations and stopped BART trains, the transit agency was kind enough to give its riders a heads up about possible service disruption again this month.

BART officials sent out an e-mail warning of protests throughout August, starting as soon as today. The protesting is in response to the July 3 fatal shooting of 45-year-old Charles Hill.

"BART may need to close some stations temporarily or make other service adjustments on short notice. BART will use its website, mobile website, text alerts, e-mail alerts, and its Customer Services phone line to update you on any changes we may make to BART service," the agency wrote on its website.

So BART is encouraging you to go ahead and plan for the worst. Find other means of getting to work this month, because you never know when you might get stuck at a station, waiting for a train to arrive or depart.

On July 3, police received reports of a "wobbly" man at the Civic Center station. Officers responded, and said they found Hill, armed with knives and an alcohol bottle, which he used as a weapon. Police shot and killed him. A video was later released, showing an officer drawing his gun, but it gave no details of what Hill had done to allegedly provoke the shooting.

On July 11, protesters stormed the Civic Center station, creating enough mayhem that BART was forced to stop trains and shut down the station. Protesters walked to Powell Street station, causing the same chaos there. They eventually took to the streets, chanting "pigs" and "murderers." San Francisco police spent several hours attempting to shoo protesters from the streets.

Happy commuting!

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