Ride The BART, Get A Bimmer
DesignworksUSA is a design consultancy and subsidiary of the BMW Group. Together with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Designworks will create “a new generation of train cars that will enter service by 2017 and deliver a premium ridership experience for its passengers,” says BMW in an emailed statement, and adds that BART “presently operates the oldest fleet of train cars in the USA.”
DesignworksUSA will create both the inside and the outside of the train cars, of which they promise that it “will convey a style and shape with unique signature expression to the exterior passenger information system.”
BART’s mission is to provide commuters with a viable alternative to driving, and they probably thought it’s good to hire someone who knows something about the competition.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Chicago's oldest revenue cars date to 1968. They and later orders were built by Budd with other series from Boeing and Morrison Knudsen. The newest series are finally switching to AC traction and are built by Bombardier, which should finally replace the oldest cars. I would bet there are bids from Japan as well as Europe and Canada for the new BART cars.
And another thing: “will convey a style and shape with unique signature expression to the exterior passenger information system.” Cut through the bafflegab, and you see they are re-inventing the wheel. There are similar transit systems all over the world. If we agree just for the sake of argument that there's something wrong with the current BART cars, then the question becomes "Why reinvent the wheel?" Wouldn't it be smart and cheap to use one of the better designs already in production? Oops, pardon me. I forgot BART is enjoying the delicious pleasure of spending other people's money.
There are probably a lot of BART riders who manage their time by reading TTAC since they're not driving.
The only reason BART cars are so old and haven't been replaced is because BART operates on a non-standard gauge of 5 feet 6 inches. All other American transit systems and railways operate on 4 feet 8 inches making replacing the BART cars a difficult task because of the customization that is required. As to why the BART commission chose to use the large gauge remains a mystery because it doesn't contribute a large difference to the actual interior width of the cars.