24th St. BART Escalator—Out For More than 150 Days

I got off BART last night, strode through the gates and looked to see the wonders of the 24th Street BART escalator working. I don’t even generally take the escalator, but the site of the moving stairs made me giddy. It works, I thought.

And then, I realized that I was simply at the wrong station—I had gotten off at 16th Street.

Back on the platform the wait was a full 10 minutes. At 24th Street, the escalator was still encased.

A sign posted on the plywood encasement has been warning us all that it will be out until May 2015. A rider’s black humor.

BART said in early July that it would be out “at least until the first week of August.” We noted then the “at least.”

Now a date has been set. “The escalator is expected to reopen September 17,” wrote James K. Allison from BART. Yes, we note the hedge.