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Contingency Plans In The Works For Possible August BART Strike

OAKLAND (KCBS) - Bay Area transportation leaders have been drawing up contingency plans in case Bay Area Rapid Transit workers walk off the job again on August 4.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has promised better commute alternatives, despite the limited options.

In the event of another BART strike, the transit agency will add additional bus shuttles and add a fifth departure point at Concord Station. Bay Ferry Service has secured a second additional daily boat from Golden Gate Transit. And AC Transit may augment its transbay service.

Contingency Plans In The Works For Possible August BART Strike

The week-long walkout at the beginning of July put an estimated 60,000 additional cars on the roadways.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission acknowledged however that BART trains are irreplaceable, and money is scarce to cobble together a bus system that could carry the nearly 400,000 passengers BART moves on weekdays day.

A plan to hire privately-owned charter buses during the July strike was too expensive because it would have required non-refundable deposits, said Steve Hemminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

"We barely have the money to get the buses that are out there running," he said.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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