This week, it became clear that, despite significant investments from the Biden administration, much of America’s transportation infrastructure still relies on outdated technology.
On Friday, tens of thousands of commuters in San Francisco found themselves stuck without a destination when the BART train system shut down just before dawn.
According to a live report from KPIX, people throughout the Bay Area scrambled for buses and rideshare services, while some simply decided not to go to work as services had not resumed by 9 a.m.
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“Due to networking issues, BART has suspended operations until further notice. Please seek alternative transportation,” was reported by Burt on X at 5:11 a.m. PT.
By 9:30 a.m., Burt tweeted again, noting that services were restored across the system, showing video of the first train resuming operations.
The outage was linked to computer networking problems. According to spokesperson Aliciatrost, the Control Center was unable to reboot the system after a scheduled overnight shutdown.
This rail network spans over 130 miles, linking San Francisco with the East Bay and other regions, serving more than 150,000 riders daily and exceeding 50 million annually.
Established in 1972, the system, much like various elements of U.S. infrastructure, is in desperate need of updates. There are reports that some of its systems still operate on Windows 98, using outdated hardware.
Trost mentioned in an interview with a local NBC affiliate, “This happens sometimes. Our system is over 50 years old. The positive aspect is that we are in the process of replacing it. But it’s unfortunate that the Bay Area cannot depend on BART right now.”
This week, issues related to outdated technology were evident both in the air and on the ground.
On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted a shortage of controllers and the need for significant upgrades to a computer system still reliant on floppy disks.
He pointed out that this matter has been overlooked despite the Biden administration’s recent $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.
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Lowell Corfielle, a bestselling author and former Bay Area resident, has written multiple crime novels, including Below the Line, along with nine other novels and non-fiction works. For more information, visit lowellcauffiel.com.
