BART Joins 20th Century in Vendor Plan

BART board puts out welcome mat to vendors.

If you have ever traveled outside the United  States on public transit you no doubt noticed that subway and train stations are a hot bed of store fronts that offer everything from a hot meal to laundry service.

Except for a coffee stand or two, no such thing exists at BART stations here, which are basically empty caverns of concrete.

Now, it looks like BART will be able to join the 20th Century and bring in vendors to its Bay Area stations.

This week BART directors approved a plan to enter into exclusive negotiations with San Francisco-based TransMart vendor to bring in more shops at the transit agency's 43 stations.  TransMart would manage businesses such as take-away food and convenience stores, newspaper stands and even beauty shops.

One issue that wasn't addressed was the fact that you can't take food on BART.

Like everything in California, the approval simply puts the plan on the slow track. Bay City News points out the plan first has to go through two different studies. The first will analyze station capacity and passenger flow. The second study will look at utilities, patron access, signage and transit equipment. 

We are still early into the 21st Century so there is hope that BART will be able to catch up with the last century before the 22nd Century begins.

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