Have you ever noticed or used one of the many white telephones dotting every BART station? Probably not and you're not alone. Many riders pay no attention to the phones.
I queried BART about this old-fashion method of communication, if we'd see intercoms installed should the $3.5 billion bond measure win approval in November and if the telephones are actually used these days. Here's the response:
"My name is Roy Aguilera and I am the Chief Transportation Officer. Your CPRA was forwarded to me for response. The white courtesy phones are intercoms directly to the agent booths for patrons to communicate with the agent. The bond measure unfortunately does not provide money to upgrade the phones to a more modern system. Agents frequently get calls on the white phone intercoms. The calls are not logged so I can’t provide specific numbers. I’m curious what type of intercoms you have in mind."
I've replied that if BART were to update how passengers can talk to the station agents from the platforms or areas away from the agents' booths, intercoms used on the SFMTA or other public transit systems would be a model to look at.
Every component of each station in BART's District 9 needs to be scrutinized and if needed, improved and updated. That's part of my campaign agenda.
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