SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Two months ago, ABC7 News reported on widespread vandalism at BART stations in San Francisco. About a dozen panes of glass at BART canopies were damaged. Upon revisiting the area, we found many of those broken panes are still unfixed, and there appear to be new signs of vandalism.
Dana Fields, a BART rider, commutes daily from Concord and says the broken glass has become part of the scenery. “You just get numb to it almost,” he said.
That sense of numbness is echoed by others. A young man who regularly rides BART said, “It’s actually been pretty normal. It’s always been like this.”
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Anna Hu, who works near the Market and Embarcadero station, expressed frustration about the inaction. “There has been no assessment in fixing this particular one, which probably looks the worst out of all the ones up and down Market Street,” she said. She continued to say the eyesore did not affect her company’s business, but it was frustrating to see.
The canopies are part of a seven-year, $64 million project aimed at improving the rider experience. During our visit Monday afternoon, we saw a new canopy being installed.
“We just notice whenever any canopy goes up, something happens to it – graffiti or someone hits it,” Hu said.
While some riders believe there has been new vandalism since October – as damage to a door at Davis and Market streets, and etched in graffiti on some glass – a BART spokesperson said there is “no evidence of new vandalism recently.” The spokesperson did not respond to questions about why many of the broken panes remain unfixed.
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“It does seem like nothing’s being done about it. It continues to happen,” Fields said.
Hu questioned the long-term viability of repairs. “Is there a resolution for it? If they put money into it, is it going to get shattered again? Is this just a waste of money?”
The cost of replacing broken glass may be a significant hurdle. In an interview last year, Joshua Pratchard, the general manager of East Bay Glass explained that the price of glass, particularly bulletproof can vary widely, from $100 to $350 per square foot, not including installation. He said for most instances it did not make financial sense.
In BART’s case, replacing a single piece of safety glass, which the agency said was installed at the canopies, could cost tens of thousands of dollars according to Pratchard. For a recent commercial project East Bay Glass worked on, involving a 10-by-5-foot piece of glass, the costs added up quickly. “The glass alone was $9,000, plus shipping from Southern California. Installation required a forklift and a six-person crew.”
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Until more information is provided by BART, some riders are left wondering what solutions might work.
“I’m not sure,” said Joyce Liu, a BART rider. “I don’t think there’s an easy answer.”
One rider offered a more creative perspective. Kathleen Kane-Murrell suggested using durable materials like plexiglass and turning the damage into art. “I would take a piece of plexi, or something that wouldn’t break, paint it on the reverse, and install it on top,” she said. “That way, you take something broken and make something great out of it.”
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