Update: Good Idea? 'Seat Hogs' May Soon Be Fined on BART

Update:

The BART board of directors expressed concerns today about a proposal to impose fines for people taking up multiple seats on trains, saying they fear the regulations would be too broad and could lead to targeting homeless people and train delays.

The directors decided to try and improve the ordinance to take such concerns into account and planned to re-consider it at their next meeting in April.

Earlier:

To help as many people get a seat as possible on increasingly crowded BART trains, on Thursday BART's Board of Directors will consider fining passengers who take up more than one seat.

The proposed ordinance would make it a $100 fine for the first infraction, $200 for the second infraction and a $500 fine for any infractions after that, BART officials said.

Imposing the fines would deter people from placing their bags on seats or sleeping while on crowded trains, making more seats available for weary riders or people with disabilities. Anyone with a disability that necessitated using multiple seats would be allowed to do so.

BART trains have become increasingly crowded in recent years as ridership surges but the number of available train cars has remained static.

The BART directors will only make a first reading of the ordinance, proposed by Director Joel Keller, on Thursday and will need to vote at a future date for it to become law. Keller did not respond to a request for an interview Wednesday.

What do you think? Should so-called "seat hogs" be fined if a train is crowded? Tell us in the comments!

--Bay City News

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