Busier Commute Thanks to BART Strike

By Bay City News and Patch Staff — 

The Bay Area's roads and ferries are filling Friday morning with commuters trying to get around the region after BART workers went on strike
starting today.

Golden Gate Transit and Golden Gate Ferry are on a regular schedule, officials said. (Strangely the Golden Gate Bridge experienced a problem with its fog horn overnight, with the horn blasting continually for some time.)
           
Meanwhile, drivers woke up earlier than usual to travel by car
this morning, with traffic filling up the westbound highways toward San
Francisco.

Westbound state Highway 24 was backed up all the way to the
Caldecott Tunnel, while westbound Interstate Highway 80 was backed up to
about San Pablo Dam Road, California Highway Patrol Officer James Evans said.
          
San Francisco Bay Ferry service began running earlier than normal
this morning with a 5 a.m. boat from Vallejo to San Francisco and one at 5:30
a.m. from Oakland to the city, ferry spokesman Ernest Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the ferries are seeing an increase of passengers but
"it's not as great as it was during the height of the July strike," when
BART's unions previously held a work stoppage earlier this year.

"It's heavier than normal but nothing extraordinary," he said.

Sanchez anticipated more crowds for the afternoon commute when
people who took casual carpools into San Francisco this morning may take
ferries back.

"We have good carrying capacity," he said. "We'll be fine."