On BART Trains, the Seats Are Taken (by Bacteria)

New York Times ^ | March 5, 2011 | By ZUSHA ELINSON

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[Hammer Tym]

I don’t touch anything on those trains; very gross

[G Larry]

I had a perfectly smart remark for the headline......

And now you’ve made me forget what it was!

[Cementjungle]

Reason number 3,276 not to live in San Francisco.

[Lorianne]

Although undoubtedly true that this bacteria is in the seats, it’s probably all over the train and all over things you touch everyday, like money.

[mac_truck]

Compounding the problem is that something like 47% of the BART cleaning crews are ‘absent’ from work on a given shift. These jobs have a starting pay around $40K plus benefits but managment is looking for new 'incentives' to get the crews to come to work.

Lol!

[dfwgator]

The problem is people who try to live in a plastic bubble just wind up more susceptible to germs in the end, because it is exposure to bacteria that allows the human body to build up defenses. The human body is not fragile.

[Venturer]

If she rides dressed like that I don’t blame her for not sitting down. She is practically exposed.

Maybe they should check out her bicycle seat.

[buccaneer81]

Not Guilty!

[dfwgator]

I prefer 'Amber Lamps'

[Ditter]

We stopped going to a movie theater in downtown Houston because the carpet and cloth seats were so filthy. Mr Ditter and I both caught something and I think that was the place. I had the forethought when we left the theater that night to find the manager and tell her it was filthy and that we were never coming back. My husband ended up in the hospital for 5 days with a serious complication.

[Persevero]

I’m getting worried about bedbugs as well! You can pick them up from upholstered things. Like in a movie theatre.

I think upholstered seating on public transit is stupid.

It is interesting that the article exposing the filthiness of California transit is written in bedbug infested New York.

[buccaneer81]

That chick is the dictionary definition of “Cool while utter chaos reigns in a confined space.”

[Carry_Okie]

The human body is not fragile.

Two words: "Weaponized Smallpox"

[dfwgator]

[buccaneer81]

I think upholstered seating on public transit is stupid.

At least the airlines are waking up and ordering faux leather seats for their planes. Those at least get a quick spray and wipe before boarding.

[Gaffer]

And, in a related story....bicycle seat sniffers throughout the world are going nuts at the moment.

[Carry_Okie]

Back when I was a young feller in the 70s, riding a bike 150 mi/week, you couldn't find a girl like that who would ride a bike with drop handlebars. Saddle technology changed everything.

Too late.

[Mears]

Ditto !

[kittymyrib]

After reading about the filthy fecal and E. coli contaminated shopping cart handles all over the country, I certainly wouldn’t trust train seats around San Francisco. Too many people who don’t use soap and water in this country.