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300 BART cars get new seats

Board Awards $2.7 Million Contract to Belmont Company; nearly half of BART's fleet of 669 rail cars will be getting a fresher, cleaner look

The BART Board of Directors unanimously approved a $2.7 million contract that will help the agency nearly double its efforts to replace worn out seats on up to 300 cars. Prior to this contract, workers replaced an average of 320 worn out seats per week.

The timing of this contract couldn't be more perfect," BART Board President Gail Murray said, "Last summer, we approved a plan to rip out the dirty carpet on 200 of our cars and replace the carpet with composite flooring. With this seat contract in place, our workers will now have enough fresh seats on hand to replace all the seats at the same time as they install the new floors."

These new seats are not new in design or color, they are simply brand new ones. "Nonetheless, this will mean the 360,000 riders who take BART each workday will be on train cars with a fresher, cleaner feel."

The winning bidder of the contract was National Transit Interiors, Inc from Belmont, CA.

QUICK FACTS

  • Seats need replacing once every 2.5 years, new contract cuts replacement rate nearly in half
  • Crews replace an average of 320 seats/week, this contract nearly doubles average
  • BART has 360,000 riders each workday

CLEANER, BRIGHTER BART
Last summer, the BART Board approved a budget that addressed a major concern of riders &emdash; cleanliness. The budget added 26 cleaning positions as well as approved money to rip out the carpet on 200 BART cars and replace it with composite flooring, which is easier to clean, costs much less and lasts much longer than carpet. Composite flooring is not carpet but rather a very attractive looking, hard rubberlike surface. You can watch how crews install the flooring on BARTtv News at www.BART.gov/BARTtv.

"Our 2006 Customer Satisfaction Survey showed us that overwhelmingly riders love BART &emdash; giving us an 85% satisfaction rating," Murray said. "While any public agency would envy this rating, riders did speak loudly and clearly on one thing &emdash; cleanliness. They want our trains to be tidier. This seat replacement contract goes along way to achieving that goal."