Some folks are reveling in the Bay Bridge closure (last night I heard a woman say “why can’t they keep it closed forever?” Which? A bit too The Village for me. Wait, is that a spoiler? Whatever, you’ve had since 2004 to figure that one out), but most folks seem to agree that the sky has continued not to fall, and that they’re dealing.
In fact, BART says: that yesterday, the first full day of the Bay Bridge closure gave BART “its second-highest ridership day ever” with 395,300 exits recorded from 3 a.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday. 215,200 of those were were transbay trips.*
BART, showing that they’re pretty godamned 2.0, notes some “comments from riders posting about their experiences on social networks” quoting some as remarking “business as usual” while others noted things were “tumbleweedy” or a “ghost town.” Remember that the next time you’re all drunk and tweeting from 16th and Mission station — you could end up in a BART press release!
Wanna take a look at how everyone else seemed to be covering the closure last night/this morning? OK.
Chron: Snag slows Bay Bridge demolition work Reading this story you’re reminded of what an epic fucking task this whole bridge construction thing is. “The bridge has been a little stubborn,” says a CalTrans spokesperson after demolition issues delayed arial construction for 5 hours. But they got it done, and soon they’ll start sliding in the new bridge segments, using Teflon and dish soap (you know some PR person is all FIND OUT WHAT BRAND right now) as lube.
CBS5: Old Bay Bridge Section Removed An old section of the Bay Bridge was successfully removed by this morning, things seem to be on track, car traffic was a little congested Friday night.
Laughing Squid: Bay Bridge Closure, Featuring Live Web Cams ABC7’s livecam was doing crazy stuff to my browser, so I’m happy to discover the the Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project cams are a far superior alternative. It’s no puppycam (my god I miss the puppycam, don’t you?) but it’ll do, pig. It’ll do.
Streetsblog: Bay Bridge Closure Temporarily Tames Some of SF’s Worst Traffic Sewers Sadly, this is not a story about incompetent commuting tailors. Or poop. It’s about how the businesses that reporter spoke to seemed “unfazed” by the closure, and how SoMa was nice and quiet.
*What’s ridership day #1? September 8, 2008, with 405,400 exits. “The surge that day was attributed to sports fans attending Monday night games of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Giants, in addition to regular weekday commuter trips.”
