Transit riders in San Francisco were left at the mercy of the BART strike yet again Wednesday, which has effectively shutdown the nation's fifth-largest rail system for a third straight day.
During Wednesday morning's rush hour, San Francisco Bay Area commuters were forced to cram on ferries and sit in heavy traffic. People lined up early for charter buses set up by BART and endured heavy traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, reports CBS News.
Prosmisingly, talks between BART and its unions resumed on Tuesday and lasted until 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, said BART spokesman Jim Allison, reports the LA Times. The San Francisco Bay Area transit agency and its striking workers also agreed to meet again on Wednesday afternoon.
A letter from Democratic state officials said the strike has caused "widespread personal hardship and severe economic disruption," and it noted they were disappointed "about the lack of productive proposals and counterproposals in the days leading up to the strike."
Commutes in the region were thrown into chaos when the strike began early Monday after talks with management broke down. BART carries passengers from the farthest reaches of San Francisco's densely populated eastern suburbs to San Francisco International Airport across the bay.
BART, with 44 stations in four counties and 104 miles of lines, handles more than 40 percent of commuters coming from the East Bay to San Francisco, said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Freeways are in gridlock, lines for ferry service tripled and boats were crammed to standing-room only. However, rransit authorities have made accommodations to help during the strike, including longer carpool lane hours and additional ferries and buses.
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