Back in January, we warned you that BART would start coming down hard on those miscreants who think it's okay to pee, poop, and stab people on their way home. Four months should have given you plenty of time to potty train yourself.
Let's just hope, because today, no more. BART is cutting the cord and officially banning those of you who can't seem to hold it ... together. The transit agency's new anti-gross law goes into effect today: Assembly Bill 716, which passed last year, allows BART to issue a "prohibition order," meaning it can (and will) ban anyone who commits a criminal offense on BART property.
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In other words, if you are busted holding up trains, assaulting workers or commuters, being lewd and lascivious (masturbating), selling drugs, scrawling missives on BART property, or just bothering others, then you'll be walking home.
Sadly, people will still be able to pick their nose and get away with it.
The ban could last anywhere between 30 days and 1 year, depending on the crime.
However, there is some wiggle room to continue being kinda gross and still ride BART; for smaller infractions such as defacing property or pooping on the escalator, you'll have to accrue three citations within a period of 90 days before you're actually banned from the trains, BART says.
For those of you more advanced morons -- those who stab, shoot, or beat others -- you only get one chance before BART boots you from the train permanently.
What you probably don't know is that BART already has a "cumbersome" process of keeping bad people at bay, although it doesn't work that well. To date some 130 people are on the "stay-away" list. However, Kenton Rainey, BART police chief, told the Chronicle last week that he expects this list to grow longer under the new law.
So if you see someone squatting in the corner holding a knife, go ahead and call BART police at (510) 464-7000 and hope that your next BART ride home will be just a little more humane.
