BART looks to restore rider confidence in age of COVID-19

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - To increase rider safety and acceptance of transit, BART is testing a double whammy of technologies to punch back at the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The transit agency plans to install cleaning systems in its cars so riders feel confident and safe. 

BART is testing two tried and true technologies to purify the air circulating in cars. First, it's replacing its already dense filtration filters with the most intense and least porous filters that will work in its pressurized filtering and air exchange systems. 

"You're talking a 90% reduction in the size of the particle that that filer is going to catch," said the agency's lead vehicle engineer Ben Holland. With this system, all of the air in BART cars will be replaced every minute and ten seconds.

This is a simple, slightly more expensive, but immediate air quality improvement that should be installed on all BART trains by early spring. 

"The air that's going through that filter is gonna be much improved," said Holland.

BART is also adding a high powered form of psychedelic black lighting: 
ultraviolet (UV-C) lighting that's highly effective against COVID-19 and other viruses.

 "A class III  envelope virus. It's actually very susceptible to UV and to other cleaners," said Holland.

Intense UV light can harm the eyes and skin, but BART is putting the lights inside the air filtering system so that passengers and staff can stay protected. 

The New York transit system already uses it to clean empty cars at night.
Some restaurants and other facilities use it for cleaning before opening and after closing. It's even used to disinfect water cheaply and effectively. 

 "It's going to be an absolute dramatic, practical, and very cost-effective improvement to the car," said Holland. In fact, BART, like airliners, may be one of the best places to be as we begin to move around again en masse.