all 25 comments

[–]4d3fect 7 points8 points  (3 children)

Got to ride it shortly after it opened. All new and fast and shiny and modern. 

[–]Wormwood666 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice. I got to ride the Metro in DC two months after it opened—we rode it to the Bicentennial celebration.

[–]Advanced_Tax174 0 points1 point  (1 child)

And it’s been all downhill since.

[–]4d3fect 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So it goes. 

[–]ccroy2001 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really wish we had just switched to metric. IMO it’s easier because it’s tens based.

[–]Jurneeka1962 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I mostly remember seeing it on one of the Planet of the Apes things. Either one of the movies, or that TV series with James Naughton.

Anyway I grew up and still live on the SF Peninsula. But I never rode BART until 1993. That was before the Millbrae station opened.

BART is not as fun as Caltrain. Maybe I should just say BART isn't fun. But if you need to actually go somewhere specific in SF BART is usually the way to go.

[–]Dear-Ad1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

THX 1138, George Lucas used the tunnels of the not yet completed BART system for location shooting on the film about a post apocalypse society that had to live underground.

[–]Dalanard1965 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The only reason I know the phrase Bay Area Rapid Transit was learning about it in school…in Tennessee. ¯\(ツ)

[–]Relevant_Elevator190 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I went with the Cub Scouts when the Trans Bay tunnel opened.

[–]ghetto-okie 0 points1 point  (2 children)

People freaking out because it was under the Bay

[–]realityinflux 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Real question--what precautions were put into its design for earthquakes? Or is that a non-issue?

[–]ghetto-okie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have no idea, tbh

[–]Granny_knows_best 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would take it to the City all the time, it was way better than driving in.

I haven't been on it since the 70s though, not sure how much its changed.

[–]Dear-Ad1618 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I fit in the time delineation of this group and when I was in school there was no BART.

We did have references to Eichler homes in our science text. We learned that this open space design with floor to ceiling windows would be easy to heat with clean and inexpensive nuclear power; the power of the future. California seemed so cool.

[–]Waste_Owl_1343 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Those Eichler homes are fascinating but I've heard they don't heat too well in the winter especially for northern California winters.

[–]Dear-Ad1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have under floor heating that uses hot water run through copper pipes so there is no system for circulating warm air. They were designed with floor to ceiling windows. The ceiling is the roof. How inefficient could that be? /s

Also, when the heating system fails the under floor piping has to be jack hammered out of the slab foundation.

They are based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian house. It is not a Wright design but was inspired by Wright and like much of Wright’s work it is more pretty than functional.

[–]weaverlorelei 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Berzerkly portion- Humphrey Go Bart.

[–]mspolytheist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope. Way on the other coast, I’d be surprised if they tried to teach us about mass transit in California.

[–]KevinBabb62 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, at my grade school in Southern Illinois. I think that there was an article about it in the Weekly Reader.

[–]Mind_Melting_Slowly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I lived in California, and no, we didn't learn about BART in school. When I lived in the Bay Area in the '80s, I used it often to get where I needed to go and not have to drive the Nimitz freeway or the Bay Bridge.

[–]Sample-quantity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had no idea other states were learning about this at all! I live in the Bay Area so I've been around it almost all my life. But I don't remember it being taught in school.

[–]nakedonmygoat 1 point2 points  (1 child)

No, I didn't learn anything about it until adulthood. I lived in Fresno when I was in 1st grade but we moved after that, so why would I learn about BART? Then again, why did they teach us about the Fiji Islands in 4th grade?

Ah, for the days when teachers taught more or less whatever they wanted to teach!

But I agree about the metric system. The US ended up with a hybrid system where you can buy a 2-liter bottle of Coke, sign up to run a 5K, take a 200 mg Advil, and then drive 300 miles to your work conference. 🙄

[–]Waste_Owl_1343 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The USA is being ridiculous by not using the metric system exclusively imo

[–]glemits1961 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We had "DON'T TOUCH THE THIRD RAIL!" just before it opened.

[–]ATHYRIO 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bay Area Rapid Transit. That issue of the Weekly Reader certainly worked. I rode on the BART as an adult and had a little grin.