BART invites members of blind and low-vision community to safety orientation on 1/31

BART is inviting members of the blind and low-vision community to a safety orientation on an out-of-service train at 19th Street Station in Oakland on Tuesday, January 31st. BART staff will demonstrate features such as Braille car identification numbers, inter-car barriers, and the location of train intercoms aboard the 10-car Fleet of the Future train.

“As we incorporate a greater percentage of new train cars into our operating fleet, it’s important that we offer this tour to blind and low-vision riders,” said BART Board President Janice Li. “We’ve offered similar orientations in the past with the legacy fleet, but this will be the first time with the Fleet of the Future train and the first orientation since the beginning of the pandemic.”

The orientation will be open to the public from 10:30am to noon on Tuesday, January 31st. on the upper platform at 19th Street/Oakland BART station. In addition to the out-of-service train, the orientation will include a mock-up representation of the trackway to demonstrate the crawl area underneath train platforms that may provide some protection in the event of an accidental fall onto the track.

Another focus of the event will be navigating the station and platforms with plenty of staff on hand to answer questions and provide information. BART has an online accessibility guide that provides a wide range of additional information.

BART is also in the process of organizing an online Town Hall for the blind and low vision community to gather input on upcoming projects and to hear directly about how we can improve accessibility services. The Town Hall is tentatively set for February 28th. Time and details are still in the process of being finalized. 

Similar Town Halls for the deaf and hard of hearing and for the wheelchair and mobility-limited communities will follow.