With BART ridership ever-growing and trains getting more crowded, BART Director Joel Keller has proposed a fine for riders who take up more than one seat: whether that’s with your reclining, stretched-out, chillaxing body or your stuff. (Though, people would be exempt “whose size or medical condition requires them to occupy more than a single space.”)
The proposed fine is $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second and $500 for repeat offenders. So maybe that picnic you set up on the seat next to you won’t be so worth it after all. Unless you're alone: the man-spreading and nap police won’t be enforcing the ordinance if there are plenty of empty seats on the train.
Keller says this ordinance isn’t designed to target or harass the homeless—there are plenty of riders who are more than happy to take up an extra seat with their groceries, say, or carry-on bag as they head to the airport, which prevents other riders from sitting down. But the ordinance would give police the ability to enforce no seat hogging by making it illegal—and could help run interference for riders who are too wary of provoking a fellow rider by asking them to move over.
The ordinance would need to be approved twice: the BART Board of Directors may vote on it today, which would be the first round. In the meantime, how long until we get our own "Courtesy Counts" campaign like the one on New York subways? Any sign that says, "Dude…Stop The Spread, Please" is welcome.
