SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- BART service is restored after a computer outage shut down the entire system for commuters Friday morning. Riders experienced major delays to all destinations as services came back online, but BART says this should not carry over into Saturday.
RELATED: Systemwide BART shutdown due to computer networking problem, agency says
It was a tough Friday morning across the Bay Area if you rely on BART. With no trains rolling, commuters had to pivot to their cars or buses to get into San Francisco from the East Bay and Peninsula.
BART officials say Friday morning's outage impacted 40,000 commuters. A typical Friday morning serves about 160,000 passengers.
Having no transbay BART service sent thousands of riders jumping into their cars and crowding the Bay Bridge toll plaza. There was no Friday light commute here.
MAP: Live Bay Area traffic updates
For many, the ferry was the fastest option in the morning with traffic on the bridge.
Hundreds waited in line to cross from the East Bay into San Francisco at the Jack London Square ferry station -- people with suitcases, laptops in hand, taking work meetings while standing waiting for the next ferry to arrive.
There has been a lot of concerns about BART's outdated train control system. But BART officials say that wasn't the problem Friday morning, saying the root cause had to do with network devices not communicating properly with each other.
A chaotic Friday morning commute, BART trains were down for nearly four hours forcing riders to turn to ferries, buses and automobiles. BART said upgrades will prevent this from happening again. But it did. What happened? Here's the full story.
It was a tough Friday morning across the Bay Area if you rely on BART. With no trains rolling, commuters had to pivot to their cars or buses to get into San Francisco from the East Bay and Peninsula.
"Today was a bit of a surprise. You get to the BART station, delay after delay, then you find out no trains are coming," said Justin Summers.
It was a Friday morning surprise Justin Summers from Richmond didn't ask for: BART trains not running due to a computer glitch. He was late for work in San Francisco.
"A little frustrated. It's not the first time BART has gone down for various reasons," Summers said.
Having no transbay BART service sent thousands of riders jumping into their cars and crowding the Bay Bridge toll plaza. There was no Friday light commute here.
Others pivoted to buses, making for a super busy day at the Sales Force Transit Center, which had packed AC Transit buses arriving.
"It could have been worse. We made it we're here," said Artemis Giatanos from Alameda.
Vandor Hill owns Whack Donuts on Embarcadero Plaza. He said no BART service was a bummer for his Friday morning business.
"A little slower than normal. I can only imagine my customers and friends who commute into city, probably going crazy," Hill said.
Hundreds of people waited in line to cross from the East Bay into San Francisco at the Jack London Square ferry station after BART's systemwide shutdown.
"Today, the line was crazy long," said Shazia Tariq, East Bay resident.
People with suitcases, laptops in hand, taking work meetings while standing waiting for the next ferry to arrive.
"This is actually my first time. I have been thinking about taking the ferry," said Jannie, an East Bay resident headed to work in the city.
On Friday, the ferry was the only option for many who woke up to the news that BART was down systemwide.
"I said, 'All of BART?' because I was willing to drive to a BART, and they said, 'No, all of BART,' so, it was crazy," said Victoria Massey, Union City resident.
San Francisco Bay Ferry workers gave passengers a little extra time to make it to the gates before the ferry doors were closed.
"We are taking a lot of extra people in the boat today, which is great. We love new riders. Love to have to have people out on the Bay with us, and this is the best way to commute," said Todd a San Francisco Bay Ferry worker.
San Francisco Bay Ferry uses a fleet of 17 high-speed passenger ferries, carrying between 225 and 445 passengers each. On Friday, it deployed its big ones.
"It's probably four times as much riders as we usually get on a Friday. We are pretty light on Fridays. Today is the opposite," said a San Francisco Bay Ferry worker as he let people though the gate.
BART's unexpected issue with its computer system made thousands of people weigh their options. We met Salem Butler in line. The ferry was the fastest option in the morning with traffic on the bridge.
"BART was down and I was going to take the bus, but then I saw how bad the traffic was, and I would have been stuck on the bridge for about an hour, so now I'm having to take the ferry," Butler said. "It's my first time, but I'm excited. Very grateful that this is another way that I can get to work, but I am supposed to be at work at 7:30, and it's about to be 9 'o clock."
As some made it to the city, others were hoping for enough space on the ferry to cross back into the East Bay.
"I feel like it's going to take three hours just to get back home," said William Yoc, Concord resident. "A little frustrated, tired, you know, getting off from work. I do the graveyard shift, so I have never experienced this before, but it's an adventure too."
Despite the setbacks, the ferry gained some fans today.
"I just didn't want to get stuck in the mess of all the problems," said Judy Wolff, an East Bay resident.
In a statement BART said:
"Regular BART service resumed at around 9am this morning, Friday, May 9, following an earlier problem that prevented trains from being safely dispatched for passenger service, which typically takes place at 5am on weekdays.
"The root cause of the disruption was related to network devices having intermittent connectivity. Staff in the Operations Control Center lacked the visibility of the track circuits and the train positions necessary for safe operations. Visibility of this system in the Operations Control Center is required to run service.
"BART issued its first service advisory at 4:30am, alerting the public that BART service was suspended systemwide until further notice.
"BART's Network Engineering team identified and isolated a redundant sector of the network that was causing intermittent visibility and disconnected it. This allowed service to begin. The East Bay section of the BART system began running passenger trains first, shortly before 9am, and systemwide service began just before 9:30am.
"During the period when there was no BART service, BART's leadership sent extra staff who usually work at headquarters to stations across the system to alert people as they arrived that there was no BART service. Calls were made to bus agencies asking them to scale up their service as much as possible and to offer free rides from our stations. The San Francisco Bay Ferry deployed their larger vessels to help. BART General Manager Robert Powers was inside the Operations Control Center to receive rapid updates and monitor performance.
"We apologize for the disruptive morning and not having train service to get people where they need to go," said Powers. "Reliability is our brand, and we understand the impact when the system isn't working. This came down to the fact our control room did not have visibility of our system, and we will not run service if we can't guarantee safety. We will learn from this incident and are committed to continuous improvement. We are grateful to our partner transit agencies who were able to help our riders this morning.
"BART does not anticipate this issue further impacting service today. Crews will continue to investigate all related equipment and if equipment replacement or repairs are necessary."
BART officials say Friday morning's outage impacted 40,000 commuters. A typical Friday morning serves about 160,000 passengers.
There has been a lot of concerns about BART's outdated train control system. But BART officials say that wasn't the problem Friday morning.
BART Spokesperson Alicia Trost says BART wasn't able to power up its control system to get the trains running early Friday morning. The system is run by a computer network made up of thousands of devices like routers and switches, which keep the trains on track.
She says the root cause has to do with network devices not communicating properly with each other. More specifically, the backup system interfering with the main system.
"The crew isolated the exact devices that were not properly communicating, and they disconnected them, and that is what allowed everything to work as normal," Trost said.
BART officials say they are still investigating what happened. However, they do not anticipate that any of Friday's issues will impact service over the weekend.
