BART Adds Crowd-O-Meter
Photo by Juicyrai
The BART website and mobile site just added a “crowd level” indicator that shows you how crowded your train might be. The indicator has three levels for light, moderate, and heavy crowds. The icon look like three little heads:
According to BART:
The crowding level estimates are based on historic data; BART’s web team worked closely with BART’s scheduling department to coordinate the new feature in an effort to give riders more choices.
Try it for yourself on the BART Quick Planner or mobile site. Would you find this useful?
Seems pretty lame to me. It’s just a prediction, not real data. Crowdedness often depends on how far behind the previous train the indicated train is running in real time.
BART’s in-station signage can’t even tell you accurately how many cars there are on trains that are actually running right now. Is it eight cars, nine or maybe a full 10?
I am STILL waiting for BART to just leave train arrival times up all the time, instead of cycling through ads for the Berkeley Repertoire or WTF.
That’s another good idea. And how about a lot of big ’16’ and ’24’ signs in the 16th Street Mission and 24th Street Mission stations? Current signage is too small, too sparse, and often obstructed by by bodies on crowded trains and platforms.