{"id":8840,"date":"2025-02-08T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=8840"},"modified":"2025-02-14T00:06:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T00:06:23","slug":"bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/","title":{"rendered":"BART Drivers and the Importance of Being Human"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/50years\/photos\/13\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250124-1976_Embarcadero_1600px-658.JPG?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BART Bay Area Rapid Transportation photo: 'Embarcadero Station opens in Downtown San Francisco. This station, not part of the original plans, soon becomes one of BART's busiest'. (1976)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BART&#8217;s Embarcadero Station, San Francisco. (1976)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco&#8217;s BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system wasn&#8217;t the world&#8217;s first automated transit system, or even the first in this country. But it was among the first all-new American rapid transit systems designed in the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BART was also, I gather, among the first with trains that didn&#8217;t need drivers. Or, rather, didn&#8217;t need a human at the controls. An Automatic Train Control (ATC) system ran each train, and the network as a whole.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today I&#8217;ll be taking a quick look at how news media covered a BART accident that wasn&#8217;t particularly serious, and talk about what happened when a train and its driver didn&#8217;t communicate \u2014 plus whatever else comes to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#fleetingly\"><strong>The Fleetingly Famous Fremont Flyer<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#robot\">ROBOT TRAIN RUNS AMOK! CHAOS RIDES THE RAILS!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#train\"><strong>The Train That Left Its Human Behind<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#daft\">Daft Kids and Open Doors<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#wait\"><em>WAIT FOR ME!<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#seriously\"><strong>Seriously?<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#humans\">Humans: A Brief Meditation on Kids, Commuters, and Molten Ice Cream<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"fleetingly\"><\/a>The Fleetingly Famous Fremont Flyer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bartcars.weebly.com\/1972---1982.html\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250204-fremont-flyer-orig_orig-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"News photo from BARTchivees on Weebly.com: 'Fremont Flyer (10\/2\/1972) \/ ... [a train] overshot Fremont station and plowed into the parking lot, injuring four passengers and the train attendant. Fortunately, Washington Hospital is next door to Fremont station so the response was timely....\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The &#8220;Fremont Flyer&#8221; landed in a parking lot. (October 2, 1972)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>BART opened on September 11, 1972. Five days later, about 100,000 folks had used the system: and kept riding the trains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>October 2, 1972, 10:15 a.m. or so, a two-car BART train started speeding up as it approached Fremont station and the end of that line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The (human) driver took over, but the train was still going around 30 miles an hour when it reached the end of the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s the bad news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that only four folks were hurt, none of them seriously.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, the accident shouldn&#8217;t have happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I didn&#8217;t see it as proof that Automatic Train Control systems were a menace to life, liberty, and paid vacations. That&#8217;s partly because I remembered what can happen with humans at the controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recurring news item during my salad days involved a slightly injured truck driver and one or more dead families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That SNAFU got sorted out when shipping company bosses realized that letting their drivers sleep while they <strong>weren&#8217;t<\/strong> driving saved money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another recurring news item was the train operator who kept out of sight until he could pass a drug test. That got sorted out, too: eventually. These days, it&#8217;s only discussed in the context of what my country&#8217;s self-defined best and brightest feel is important.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#3\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, I didn&#8217;t have a problem with trusting a driver that <strong>can&#8217;t<\/strong> fall asleep at the wheel, or decide that this is a good day to get stoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"robot\"><\/a>ROBOT TRAIN RUNS AMOK! CHAOS RIDES THE RAILS!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bartcars.weebly.com\/1972---1982.html\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250204-preliner-1-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Clipping from Walnut Creek, California, newspaper: 'BART TRAIN PLOWS THROUGH BARRIER AT FREMONT'. (Tuesday, October 3, 1972)\"><\/a>Anyway, back in October of 1972, a two-car BART train overshot its last station, rolled into national headlines, and hung around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn&#8217;t keep clippings, and don&#8217;t remember the all the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I do remember the message: a computer-operated train had imperiled the lives of hapless passengers \u2014 who had been on a computer-operated train \u2014 which was run by computers, not regular <strong>human<\/strong> drivers the way trains <strong>should<\/strong> be run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, as the news was turning our attention to other matters \u2014 in the last paragraph of one of the last articles covering the Fremont Flyer \u2014 I read a single sentence: stating that a human had been at the controls when the train rolled into a parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was impressed: not favorably, but I was impressed. Particularly since news coverage had been focusing on fears of the newfangled technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t until I started researching this post that I learned why the accident happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it turns out, the ATC really had glitched.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#4\">4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;\u2026On October 2, failure of a tiny crystal in a train&#8217;s on-board control circuitry caused a two-car train to enter the Fremont Station too fast. Failing to stop completely, one of the cars passed through a safety sand barrier at the end of the platform, coming to rest on a soft dirt incline. A few passengers were bruised, but none was seriously injured. Engineers judged recurrence of the accident to be extremely remote; however, circuitry was designed in all control cars (A-cars) to eliminate any possibility of a repeat failure\u2026.&#8221; <br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/BART%20History%2C%20Justin%20Roberts.pdf\">BART HISTORY<\/a>&#8221; , as written by Justin Roberts of the Contra Costa Times, compiled anonymously (ca. 1972))<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/materialism-robots-and-attitudes\/#fear\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/robot_apocalypse_comparison-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"><\/a>Okay: discussing &#8220;a tiny crystal&#8221; wouldn&#8217;t have been as dramatic as presenting the potential perils of a runaway robot train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think journalists <strong>can<\/strong> write clear, coherent, and accurate reports of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When they haven&#8217;t been tasked with inflaming the proletariat, raising consciousness, calling patriots to action, or otherwise snookering their readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What I see in &#8220;BART HISTORY&#8221;, as compiled from articles in the Contra Costa Times, is useful knowledge: not dramatic, but useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, in a way, reassuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The odds of that crystal glitch happening again were &#8220;extremely remote&#8221;. But, even though it might never happen again, the circuits were redesigned: changing the odds from barely nonzero to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether that glitch could have been spotted before October 2, 1972: that&#8217;s another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"train\"><\/a>The Train That Left Its Human Behind<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20260124-1973_Powell_1600px-658.JPG?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BART.gov photo: 'Powell Street \/ 1973: Service expands to Richmond and Concord in the East Bay and begins from Daly City to Montgomery St in San Francisco. (1973)\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">BART Powell Street Station. (1973)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As I said last month, I liked San Francisco&#8217;s public transportation system, and used BART fairly often. That was in 1978 and 1979, when the self-driving trains were still fairly new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/kids-a-subway-station-and-offhand-advice\/#notreally\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250115-BART-40TH-ANNIVERSARY_1000px-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BART.gov's photo: a BART train with passengers boarding. (1972)\"><\/a>Besides the passengers, each train had a token human up front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s how I saw it, at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was in my late 20s, and saw the driver\/operator as essentially window dressing: someone whose job was mainly reassuring the passengers. Or maybe humoring BART&#8217;s executives, or the city&#8217;s lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s why a news item I saw in July of 1979 struck me as funny. It still does, although now I take the tale of the train that left its human behind a bit more seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;\u2026[BART General Manager Keith] Bernard said that <strong>in terms of safety there are cases, where an employee may take an action,<\/strong> or fail to take an action that could have direct catastrophic affect to BART passengers, other employees, or the system at large such as the Concord shop takeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He said <strong>a recent example is an incident<\/strong> that occurred on July 20 [1979] in which <strong>a train operator left the cab of his train<\/strong> without authorization or proper precautions, <strong>to address a problem on the platform.<\/strong> While on the platform <strong>the train<\/strong> was automatically dispatched, <strong>with passengers,<\/strong> and <strong>proceeded to the next station unattended.<\/strong> The operator was given a hearing and immediately suspended for 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;<strong>Luckily nothing happened<\/strong>, but such an action on the part of an employee could have had serious consequences and BART&#8217;s ability to impose discipline in an expedient manner becomes paramount to effective management,&#8217; Bernard said\u2026.&#8221; <br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/1979%20News%20Releases.pdf\">1979 News Releases<\/a>, &#8220;V-104 BART To Appeal Court Order&#8221;; Mike Healy, Public Affairs Director, BART (August 6, 1979)) (emphasis mine)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Good news, nobody got hurt. Except for the driver. Whether or not being suspended for 30 days meant losing a month&#8217;s pay, it wouldn&#8217;t have looked good on his record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which reminds me: that &#8220;Concord shop takeover&#8221; involved disagreements between folks working in a BART maintenance shop and others who were higher up in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A BART press release called the disagreements &#8220;an outrage&#8221;, and said that complaining about working conditions revealed &#8220;a public-be-damned attitude&#8221;.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/#5\">5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe so. But I&#8217;ve spent my life in the lower half of the pay scale. Some of my bosses \u2014 and associates \u2014 were reasonable, considerate, and not clueless. Some weren&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;d need far more information than I&#8217;ve got, before I&#8217;d try deciding how &#8220;outrageous&#8221; those workers and\/or bosses were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"daft\"><\/a>Daft Kids and Open Doors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/urbanrailnoisea0600unse_0\/page\/9\/mode\/1up\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250205-Noise_study_microphone_in_a_BART_station_1981_or_earlier-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Uncredited photograph from 'Urban Rail Noise Abatement - Program Digest', page 9; Report no. UMTA-MA-06-0099-80-03; Urban Mass Transportation Administration; United States Department of Transportation: 'Microphones placed in stations measure sounds of arriving and departing trains as part of the assessment program.' (July 1981)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Folks in a BART station, a microphone measuring the sounds of trains coming and going. (1981 or earlier)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/news\/articles\/2017\/news20170508\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250205-jack1-329.JPG?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"BART photo: train operator Bob Malito \/ Captain Jack. (ca. 2017)\"><\/a>I&#8217;ll let train operator Bob &#8216;Captain Jack&#8217; Malito and shop superintendent Harold Engle explain what can happen when daft kids or cranky commuters run into a high-tech transit system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;What is most disconcerting is when people play with the train. <strong>I&#8217;ve had people come and act like they&#8217;re going to jump in front of my train and they jump up and down and laugh and think it&#8217;s really funny.<\/strong> They don&#8217;t realize what it does to me. The idea of running over people doesn&#8217;t sit well. A lot of people have never had that experience, I have and it doesn&#8217;t make you feel very good at all and it ruins the rest of your day. <strong>I&#8217;d really like people to respect trains because they&#8217;re nothing to play with.<\/strong>&#8216; &#8230;&#8221; <br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/news\/articles\/2017\/news20170508\">BART train operator brings a sense of humor to the afternoon commute<\/a>&#8221; , interview with train operator Bob Malito \/ &#8216;Captain Jack&#8217;; News Article, BART (May 8, 2017)) (emphasis mine)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;&#8217;&#8230;Someone holding a door open, and <strong>it&#8217;s not malicious though some of the problems are obviously malicious<\/strong>, but a patron trying to get through, going to the airport and having his bag caught in the doors because the door was closing. So they pull it, that might misalign a seal, which <strong>all of a sudden then makes the &#8216;no doors closed&#8217; indication so the operator can&#8217;t move the train without having all the doors closed.<\/strong>&#8230;&#8217; &#8230;.&#8221; <br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/news\/articles\/2017\/news20170928\">The details on doors: How forcing your way into a BART car can harm service for thousands<\/a>&#8221; , interview with shop superintendent Harold Engle; News Article, BART (September 28, 2017)) (emphasis mine)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So there you have it: folks riding BART depend on the trains, the drivers, the folks in maintenance, and others, to get them where they&#8217;re going. <strong>And<\/strong> they depend on their fellow-passengers to not mess with the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, finally: the story of a train and its human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"wait\"><\/a><em>WAIT FOR ME!<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/walkingsf\/8149300608\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250205-BART24thStMissionStation1978-658-corr.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of BART train and operator in Daly Street station, from 'From BART Impact Program: Environmental Impacts of BART: The User's Perspective' (ca. 1978) Uploaded to Flickr.com by Erica Fischer.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watching the doors in BART&#8217;s 24th Street Mission Station. (ca. 1978)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I want it clearly understood that I don&#8217;t blame the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BART trains assumed that their human drivers were in the cab, unless their human told the train otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I sympathize with the driver, too, and I&#8217;m getting ahead of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was just another day on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The train had pulled into a station, opened its doors to let folks on or off, and would have closed its doors. If some kids hadn&#8217;t decided that blocking doorways was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BART trains run on strict schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I gather that these schedules allow for short delays at any given station. But keeping folks waiting while a few kids play with the doors isn&#8217;t a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the train&#8217;s human left the cab and got on the station platform. He talked with the kids, who let the doors close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just one problem. The driver hadn&#8217;t told the train that he was leaving the cab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, as soon as the train noticed that the doorways were clear, it shut its doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And rolled off to its next stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leaving its human: who was running down the platform after it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My guess is that most of the train&#8217;s passengers didn&#8217;t know that their human driver had left the train. And maybe still don&#8217;t, unless they happened to read about it in the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"seriously\"><\/a>Seriously?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-5eBK5-DVtc?si=z46G9PhWJGdEcoJw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I like technology, particularly new tech, the new consumer robots don&#8217;t terrify me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And since I&#8217;ve worked with information technology for decades, I sincerely do not fear a Coming Robot Apocalypse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-attorney-at-law-or-trust-but-verify\/#robots\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/phantom02-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind, George Plympton and Basil Dickeyvia's malevolent marauding mechanical monster from 'The Phantom Creeps'. (1939) via David S. Zondy's 'Tales of Future Past' http:\/\/davidszondy.com\/futurepast\/ \"><\/a>On the other hand, someone <strong>could<\/strong> weave a yarn about the rise of the Roombas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or the insidious threat of LOOI Robots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And how Eilik robots are even now conspiring with one another when we&#8217;re away from our desks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I could also, more reasonably, think that someone might get overly-attached to a desktop robot, a steam iron, or a doorstop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scrambling our priorities, putting something other than love of God and neighbor in top place, is a bad idea and we shouldn&#8217;t do it. It&#8217;s also profoundly <strong>not<\/strong> a new problem. (Catechism of the Catholic church, 1849) And that&#8217;s another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A moral of &#8220;The Train That Left Its Human Behind&#8221;, if it has one, is that paying attention to what we&#8217;re doing matters. That includes paying attention to details that may not feel important. Like telling the train when you won&#8217;t be in the cab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ideally, the train could have noticed that its human wasn&#8217;t in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But give the BART system a break: this was 1979, and artificial intelligence was still far more artificial than intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About the train operator being a &#8220;token human&#8221;: decades later, I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s the way it was, or is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"humans\"><\/a>Humans: A Brief Meditation on Kids, Commuters, and Molten Ice Cream<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20241028ff\/20250206-e22c9a05b424b761efce11f17726fdd7-detail-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Energize Lab's Eilik: 'A Little Companion Bot with Endless Fun.'\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Meet Eilik, Energize Lab&#8217;s desktop robot: complete with personality!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/coming-robots\/#curious\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20180212ff\/20180313-_100246937_bwi-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Peter Stone's photo: 'Robot office assistants need to be self-learning to cope with the unpredictable environment'. (2018) via BBC News\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Computers, robots, AI, whatever, are good at some things. Like running a train exactly on schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think humans are, and will remain, better at handling situations that aren&#8217;t quite so cut and dried. Like dealing with daft kids, cranky commuters, or restaurant owners who find molten goo where a ton of ice cream had been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Saga of the Soggy Store is a customer service call I took while in San Francisco: and yet another story, for another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How I see kids, computers, crosswords; and why I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re doomed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/kids-a-subway-station-and-offhand-advice\/\">Kids, a Subway Station, and Offhand Advice<\/a>&#8221; <br>(January 18, 2025)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/truth-beauty-and-the-evening-news\/\">Truth, Beauty, and the Evening News<\/a>&#8221; <br>(June 15, 2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/choices-change-technology-and-using-our-brains\/\">Choices, Change, Technology, and Using Our Brains<\/a>&#8221; <br>(November 4, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chatgpt-and-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/\">ChatGPT and the End of Civilization as We Know It<\/a>&#8221; <br>(April 15, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/crosswords-or-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it\/\">Crosswords! Or, the End of Civilization As We Know It<\/a>&#8221; <br>(March 26, 2022)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> More than you need or maybe want to know about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Automatic_train_operation\">Automatic train operation<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Automatic_train_operation#Grades_of_automation\">Grades of automation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit\">History of Bay Area Rapid Transit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_train_automation\">History of train automation<\/a> (&#8220;This article needs additional citations for verification&#8230;.&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Port_Island_Line\">Port Island Line<\/a> (&#8220;&#8230;an urban automated guideway transit (AGT) system in Kobe, Japan, operated by Kobe New Transit&#8230;.&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Punktf%C3%B6rmige_Zugbeeinflussung\">Punktf\u00f6rmige Zugbeeinflussung<\/a> (&#8220;&#8230;an intermittent cab signalling system and train protection system&#8230;.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BART.gov\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/BART%20History%2C%20Justin%20Roberts.pdf\">BART HISTORY<\/a>&#8221; , as written by Justin Roberts of the Contra Costa Times, compiled anonymously (ca. 1972)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/about\/history\">A History of BART: The Concept is Born<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> An accident, and lessons learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit\">Bay Area Rapid Transit<\/a> (BART)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fremont_station_(BART)\">Fremont station (BART)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit\">History of Bay Area Rapid Transit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BART.gov\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/BART%20History%2C%20Justin%20Roberts.pdf\">BART HISTORY<\/a>&#8221; , as written by Justin Roberts of the Contra Costa Times, compiled anonymously (ca. 1972)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/50years\/photos\/8\">Fremont Flyer<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/bartcars.weebly.com\/1972---1982.html\">We&#8217;re Off and Running: BART&#8217;s First Decade in Operation 1972 &#8211; 1982<\/a>&#8220;<br>BARTchives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"3\"><\/a>3<\/sup> Parts of my past, seen through a current cultural kaleidoscope:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.iq.harvard.edu\/files\/historyopioidepidemic\/files\/okwandu_hs249_final_paper-1.pdf\">Invisible (Black) Epidemiologies: The Function of White Hegemony in Drug Epidemics<\/a>&#8221; <br>Udodiri Okwandu, Projects at Harvard (2018) cited in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.usf.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=10816&amp;context=etd\">Reframing the Gothic: Race, Gender, &amp; Disability in Multiethnic Literature<\/a>&#8221; , Ashely B. Tisdale, University of South Florida (March 2021)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supremecourt\/text\/489\/602\">Samuel K. SKINNER, Secretary of Transportation, et al., Petitioners v. RAILWAY LABOR EXECUTIVES&#8217; ASSOCIATION et al.<\/a><br>Supreme Court (Argued November 2, 1988; Decided March 21, 1989) via LII (Legal Information Institute), Cornell Law School<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/rmc.library.cornell.edu\/EAD\/htmldocs\/KCL05481av.html\">Railroad Industrial Relations Project Oral History Interviews Audiorecordings, Collection Number: 5481 AV<\/a><br>Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation &amp; Archives, Cornell University Library (1973)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"4\"><\/a>4<\/sup> A tiny crystal, a train, and a little history:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit\">Bay Area Rapid Transit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fremont_station_(BART)\">Fremont station (BART)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>BART.gov\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/BART%20History%2C%20Justin%20Roberts.pdf\">BART HISTORY<\/a>&#8221; , as written by Justin Roberts of the Contra Costa Times, compiled anonymously (ca. 1972)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/50years\/photos\/8\">Fremont Flyer<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/bartcars.weebly.com\/1972---1982.html\">We&#8217;re Off and Running: BART&#8217;s First Decade in Operation 1972 \u2014 1982<\/a>&#8221; <br>BARTchives<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.princeton.edu\/~ota\/disk3\/1976\/7614\/7614.PDF\">Automatic Train Control in Rail Rapid Transit<\/a>&#8221; <br>United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment (May 1976) via Princeton University<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"5\"><\/a>5<\/sup> Perceived, and expressed, attitudes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bart.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/50-years\/1979%20News%20Releases.pdf\">1979 News Releases<\/a>, &#8220;V-103 BART Labels Concord Shop Takeover an Outrage&#8221;; Mike Healy, Public Affairs Director, BART (July 30, 1979)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco&#8217;s BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system wasn&#8217;t the world&#8217;s first automated transit system, or even the first in this country. But it was among the first all-new American rapid transit systems designed in the 20th century. BART was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bart-drivers-and-the-importance-of-being-human\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"The train that left its human behind: an embarrassing failure to communicate. 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