Editing Bay Area Rapid Transit (section)

=== Early years and train control problems ===
Passenger service began on September 11, 1972, initially just between [[MacArthur station (BART)|MacArthur]] and [[Fremont station (BART)|Fremont]]. The rest of the system opened in stages, with the entire system opening in 1974 when the transbay service through the Transbay Tube began.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 13, 1972 |title=BART– Not a Moment Too Soon |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/684558862.html?dids=684558862:684558862&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+13%2C+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=BART---Not+a+Moment+Too+Soon&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107144601/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/684558862.html?dids=684558862:684558862&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+13%2C+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=BART---Not+a+Moment+Too+Soon&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2011}}</ref> The new BART system was hailed as a major step forward in subway technology,<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=BART First in Operation: 2nd great subway boom under way in many cities |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3qgSAAAAIBAJ&pg=3354,4929895 |magazine=[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]] |access-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> although questions were asked concerning the safety of the system<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gillam |first=Jerry |date=November 15, 1972 |title=Safe Automated BART Train Controls Doubted |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/660715472.html?dids=660715472:660715472&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+15%2C+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Safe+Automated+BART+Train+Controls+Doubted&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103144025/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/660715472.html?dids=660715472:660715472&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+15,+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Safe+Automated+BART+Train+Controls+Doubted&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2011}}</ref> and the huge expenditures necessary for the construction of the network.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lembke |first=Daryl |date=November 16, 1972 |title=BART Manager Denies System Was Overcharged by Designers |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/660721622.html?dids=660721622:660721622&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+16%2C+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=BART+Manager+Denies+System+Was+Overcharged+by+Designers&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103144039/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/660721622.html?dids=660721622:660721622&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+16,+1972&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=BART+Manager+Denies+System+Was+Overcharged+by+Designers&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2011}}</ref> Ridership remained well below projected levels throughout the 1970s, and direct service from Daly City to Richmond and Fremont was not phased in until several years after the system opened.

Some of the early safety concerns appeared to be well founded when the system experienced a number of train-control failures in its first few years of operation. As early as 1969, before revenue service began, several BART engineers identified safety problems with the Automatic Train Control (ATC) system. The BART Board of Directors was dismissive of their concerns and retaliated by firing them.<ref name="Ethics Center">{{Cite web |last=Stephen Unger |date=April 29, 2010 |title=The BART Case |url=http://www.onlineethics.org/Topics/ProfPractice/Exemplars/AwardWinners/BARTcase.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728224138/https://www.onlineethics.org/Topics/ProfPractice/Exemplars/AwardWinners/BARTcase.aspx |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=The Online Ethics Center for engineering and science}}</ref> Less than a month after the system's opening, on October 2, 1972, an ATC failure caused a train to run off the end of the elevated track at the terminal Fremont station and crash to the ground, injuring four people.<ref name="nytimes Dec1972">{{Cite news |date=December 9, 1972 |title=Troubles Beset Transit System in San Francisco Bay Area |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/10/archives/troubles-beset-transit-system-in-san-francisco-bay-area.html |access-date=March 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name="KPFA documentary">{{Cite web |last=Bill Northwood |date=November 29, 1972 |title=What is BART, and why are we saying such terrible things about it? |url=https://archive.org/details/pra-BC1167 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=KPFA Pacifica Radio |page=2 min : 00 sec}}</ref> The "Fremont Flyer" led to a comprehensive redesign of the train controls and also resulted in multiple investigations being opened by the California State Senate, California Public Utilities Commission, and National Transportation Safety Board.<ref name="US Congress OTA">{{Cite web |date=May 1, 1976 |title=Automatic Train Control in Rail Rapid Transit |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1976/7614/7614.PDF |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment |pages=45–49 |quote=Investigations of BART were undertaken by the California Senate, the California Legislative Analyst, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the National Transportation Safety Board. The cause of the accident was traced to a faulty crystal oscillator…}}</ref> Hearings by the state legislature in 1974 into financial mismanagement at BART forced the General Manager to resign in May 1974, and the entire Board of Directors was replaced the same year when the legislature passed legislation leading to the election of a new Board and the end of appointed members.<ref name="Dr. Wattenburg">{{Cite web |last=Peter Sheerin |date=October 1, 1990 |title=Bill Wattenburg's Background: BART—Bay Area Rapid Transit System |url=http://www.pushback.com/Wattenburg/bio/BART.html |access-date=March 15, 2017 |quote=Wattenburg challenged the credentials of three successive chief engineers at BART. All of them left or were fired.}}</ref><ref name="IEEE Spectrum2">{{Cite web |date=March 1, 1973 |title=Bigger bugs in BART? |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/ns/pdfs/03_73_bart.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203165037/http://spectrum.ieee.org/ns/pdfs/03_73_bart.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2014 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=IEEE Spectrum Magazine |page=36 |quote=David Hammond, BARTD's assistant general manager submitted his resignation…}}</ref><ref name="Legislative Analyst">{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2013 |title=Legislative Analyst's Office 75th anniversary |url=http://lao.ca.gov/lao75 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) of the State of California |quote=After the state legislature held a month-long series of hearings on the financial mismanagement at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Alan Post recommended the firing of BART's general manager.}}</ref><ref name="Stokes2">{{Cite news |date=May 25, 2013 |title=B.R. Stokes, ex-BART general manager, dies |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/B-R-Stokes-ex-BART-general-manager-dies-4548996.php |access-date=March 15, 2017 |quote=BART officials had to ask the Legislature for more money... but the price was high. Nearly all of the Bay Area's legislators said they would oppose giving BART money unless Mr. Stokes resigned. He quit May 24, 1974...}}</ref><ref name="Commonwealth Club">{{Cite web |last=Bill Wattenburg |date=February 15, 1974 |title=BART: Countdown to San Francisco |url=https://archive.org/details/csth_000013 |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=Commonwealth Club of California |page=28 min : 30 sec}}</ref><ref name="bart_history">{{Cite web |title=BART historical timeline |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/PosterTimeline_v2.pdf |access-date=March 15, 2017 |publisher=BART |quote=November 5, 1974, Nine-member Board of Directors elected to replace 12-member appointed board.}}</ref>