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obeygiant

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 14, 2002
4,167
4,082
totally cool
Poop Responsible For Breaking Feces-Clogged Equipment

For months, a lot of people have been wondering why so many escalators going down to the BART's Civic Center station have been out of service.

It's a reasonable question. But now that we know the answer, we're not so happy we asked.

Poop. The answer is poop. Lots and lots of human poop.

BART officials told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday that when a repair team opened up one broken escalator in June, they discovered such a large treasure trove of human feces they had to call in a hazardous materials team to handle the situation.

The area surrounding many San Francisco BART stations are popular camping spots for much of the city's homeless population. That group's lack of easy and regular access to restroom facilities is largely to blame for the excrement-clogged escalators.

Even though BART officials are aware of the problem, solving it may ultimately prove difficult.

"Nobody wants to be walking in urine and feces, I know that, [but] if we don't see it or the person doesn't admit to it, they can just say it was someone else," BART police spokesperson Era Jenkins explained to the Chronicle, noting that officers typically need to actually witness someone defecating in a station in order to issue a citation. "Certain crimes you don't see, you can't enforce."

Besides, as SFist notes, "bottom stairwell of the Civic Center station is a beat no cop would want."

Civic Center isn't the only BART station plagued by human waste. Last week, the Chronicle penned a scathing report about the 16th and Mission stop, which, according to many residents, has become an "easy-access urinal."

The escalators all around the transit agency's over 40 stations have been taking an especially hard beating lately. At the beginning of last month, 28 of the system's 179 escalators were out of service and officials embarked on a coordinated campaign to bring more of them back into working order.

"This is nothing less than a full court press to get these escalators back in service," BART Assistant General Manager of Operations Paul Oversier said in a statement to Bay City News. "We know the escalator outages are frustrating for many of our customers.

The majority of the broken escalators have since been repaired--for a price tag of about $200,000.

To quote Afro-beat pioneer Fela Kuti, that's some "Expensive *****."

What a nice time to be a san franciscan.
 

espiritujo

macrumors member
Sep 19, 2011
95
0
columbia, sc
With the removing of Medical Marijuana dispensaries in LA and now this Californian's are having to go through alot of ***** lately..
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
BART officials told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday that when a repair team opened up one broken escalator in June, they discovered such a large treasure trove of human feces they had to call in a hazardous materials team to handle the situation.

I'm a bit confused here, exactly where did they find the waste if they found it when they "opened it up?"

Loved the BART pictures. :rolleyes: :p
 

obeygiant

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 14, 2002
4,167
4,082
totally cool
I'm a bit confused here, exactly where did they find the waste if they found it when they "opened it up?"

Loved the BART pictures. :rolleyes: :p

Well all the escalators have a "return" area where the steps turn over and ride back in a closed loop. that area must have been full of ****.
 

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,971
CT
I'm a bit confused here, exactly where did they find the waste if they found it when they "opened it up?"

Loved the BART pictures. :rolleyes: :p
How can you not smell it, its not like the escalator is that enclosed. And wouldn't there be skid marks on the skids.
 

yukio

macrumors regular
Feb 8, 2008
145
5
i stop at the 16th St Station a few times every week.

the above ground area on the Walgreens side is an amazing little microcosm. you can buy almost anything there.

until the article in the Chronicle, i kept wondering where all of the pets were that were not getting curbed.

now, i know.
 

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,956
2,253
That's why I avoid public transportation. Until the general American public learns to treat public areas like the Japanese...
 

Nightarchaon

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2010
1,393
30
given that many Americans (and British, and Europeans) treat there own homes like this, i'm not surprised that public spaces, which are "someone else's Problem" are in a state, there is a "western" mentality, particularly prevalent in the english speaking world, that everything is disposable if you own it, or destoyable if you don't because the pixies will clean/replace/repair it.

Respect for each other, ones surroundings, and our fellow man has, for the most part, been ignored in the pursuit of the extra fast buck, or latest western convenience item you don't really need.

Wouldn't surprise me if the crap was from business men crapping on the escalator to save time in their busy day.:D
 

tech4all

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2004
3,399
489
NorCal
That's why I avoid public transportation. Until the general American public learns to treat public areas like the Japanese...

It would be better if they would use plastic seats and hard flooring for BART. Although from my experience my BART rides haven't been that bad.

But I will say, when walking in the city, be careful where you step. I've seen some "odd things" there. I swear Market Street is so freaking dirty it's making feel sick now...
 

nishioka

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2011
52
0
That's why I avoid public transportation. Until the general American public learns to treat public areas like the Japanese...

You might be waiting awhile on that one. I spent almost a year in Japan and it was remarkable to me how they view the public space outside their home as not theirs to do with as they please.

Of course the percentage of homeless in the US is much greater than in Japan (.2% vs. .02%, roughly), so there are fewer people there treating the city sidewalks as their "home".
 

obeygiant

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 14, 2002
4,167
4,082
totally cool
That's why I avoid public transportation. Until the general American public learns to treat public areas like the Japanese...

The San Francisco homeless ≠ American public. The bums in SF proper have a higher sense of entitlement-- i.e. they **** where the city has to clean it up because they like to let you know they're there. :)
 

Orange Crane

macrumors 6502
Jul 17, 2012
268
0
That's why I avoid public transportation. Until the general American public learns to treat public areas like the Japanese...
Yet to have a more thoughtful and egalitarian society doing things like eschewing public transit out of a misplaced sense of entitlement is as antisocial and selfish as sh/tting in the escalator.
 

0000757

macrumors 68040
Dec 16, 2011
3,894
850
Thank you for posting this on a site about computers. This exact CNN/FOX/ABC/BBC/NPR breaking news is exactly what us computer geeks need to read.


All sarcasm aside, this is actually a really interesting story. Just the headline made me scream in my head "WHERE IS THE POOP EVEN COMING FROM?!" and I had to read more. :)
 

Queso

Suspended
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
Shame they didn't leave it there. In 3 months time it would have made perfect compost. Each escalator could have become a moving garden :)
 

Queso

Suspended
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
The truly amazing thing about this article to me is that there's public transport in California.
 
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