Community Corner

No BART? No Problem, Marin Commuters Say

The feared spillover affect on North Bay freeways never materialized on the first day of the BART strike.

By Gideon Rubin and Jessica Mullins

Traffic slowed to a crawl on the Golden Gate Bridge?

Not quite.

Find out what's happening in San Rafaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commuters turned away from packed busses?

Didn't happen.

Find out what's happening in San Rafaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Flaring tempers on jammed North Bay freeways amid a wave?

So far, so good.

If the early returns are any indication, Marin County Patch users say none of the feared nightmarish scenarios have yet played out through the first part of Day 1 of the BART strike with no end in sight.

Both sides appear to be ratcheting up their rhetoric and digging in their heels for a protracted fight, according to published reports.

A BART official said “no talks are scheduled” to resolve the strike, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Not all Bay Area commuters, however, are so lucky, with massive traffic jams reported in nearly every Bay Area county except Marin.

On the San Rafael Patch Facebook page, several residents said commuting was smooth sailing. 

Jennifer Fogelman McConnell said she works in Berkeley and it was a “lighter commute than normal today. Very strange!”

Similarly, Diane Fischler said she had to be in Emeryville for a 7 a.m. meeting, but traffic wasn’t bad either way. “Not bad getting over there; 80 was sluggish but moving. Coming back, no problem at all; not even at the Richmond Bridge toll plaza, but looking at the traffic going toward Oakland from all directions? ADVISE STAYING HOME!”

Julie Beach said Larkspur ferry ridership was “lighter than normal today. Marin residents are out of town generally around July 4 holiday,” she wrote.

Kim Metzger wrote on the San Anselmo – Fairfax Patch Facebook page that her commute from Ross Valley was “totally fine.”

“I was quite surprised,” she wrote.

San Anselmo resident Steve Burdo tweeted to the San Anselmo – Fairfax Patch his morning commute to Mill Valley “was one of the easiest in a while” and was “much lighter than normal.”

Did the BART strike affect your commute or someone you know? Tell us about it below in the comments!

 

 


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