San Francisco BART – Upgrading indispensable infrastructure
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system is an essential part of public transportation in the Greater San Francisco area. In four high-traffic stations in the city center, we are modernizing 41 escalators – while commuters continue their daily lives undisturbed.
BART has been an integral part of the Bay Area since 1973, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with major cities in the East Bay and South Bay, including Oakland and San José. Spanning 211 kilometers, BART is an essential transit link for commuters going to work, tourists visiting landmarks, and students heading to world-renowned universities.
Going underground
Since 2020, Schindler teams in California have played a key role in this massive underground modernization project, retrofitting 41 escalators across four BART stations – Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Civic Center. Located beneath the legendary Market Street in downtown San Francisco, these are the busiest of all 48 BART stations in terms of passenger volume.
Virol Providence is one of the team leaders on the project. When he’s not working on the equipment, he oversees logistics and site organization. He’s been with Schindler since 1999 and offers a seasoned perspective:
The hardest part of modernizing the escalators is the tight space. We’re wiring everything in extremely confined areas. I enjoy working with electronics the most, but it’s challenging. What we’re doing here isn’t plug and play."
Mixed modernization methods
Twenty-three escalators lead from street level down to the concourse level. From there, passengers descend via another 18 escalators to the platforms. Of these 41 units, the teams are modernizing 23 using the proprietary Schindler INTRUSS® method, which retains the existing structural frame ("truss"), while replacing worn-out components with new, modern parts – steps, drives, controls, safety and comfort features. After the upgrade, which is expected to be completed by 2027, it would take a trained eye to distinguish these escalators from brand-new ones – thanks to their improved safety, performance and energy efficiency features, and modern appearance.
Another eight escalators have been fully replaced, and nine brand-new ones have been installed. The Schindler 9700 model selected for these upgrades was engineered for durability and long-term performance, and worldwide, it has proven itself in high-traffic public areas and even against vandalism.
A personal project
For Schindler’s technicians, the BART project feels deeply personal. They’re all from the Bay Area and have used the metro since childhood. "BART has always been here – it’s part of the Bay Area," Service Technician Matthew Wyder says enthusiastically: "I don’t have to explain to my family and friends what I’m working on. I just say ‘BART,’ and they get it."
His colleague Andrew Fowler has also forged a personal connection with the metro network: "As a child, I used to ride this exact escalator. Now I’m here making sure it works perfectly." Robert Johnson, Escalator Technician, adds: "BART is part of my life. I used it to go to school, and now I ride it to work every day."
Minimizing disruption
Matthew Goepel is Schindler Project Manager for BART. One of his key challenges is coordinating teams across modernization, new installations, service, and repairs in an environment that never sleeps. Metro passengers come and go all week long, including during weekends. "We try to be as invisible and quiet as possible. Fortunately, each of the four stations has four or five entrances, and of course, we don’t renovate all the escalators at once. And we aim to communicate as much as possible to minimize complaints."
Logistics have also proved challenging at times – given their sheer size and weight, the escalators and some of the replacement parts had to be hoisted underground from the street – a complex operation made more difficult by the high pedestrian traffic in the stations and the heavy vehicle traffic on Market Street above.
Resounding San Francisco success
But it’s all been worth the effort, according to Matthew Goepel who is confident in the value that the work brings: "Our product is the best on the market. For example, if no one is using the Schindler 9700 escalator, it automatically slows down to save energy. The escalators at BART didn’t have that capability before. We had to advocate for this sustainability upgrade, but now the client is happy with it."
Schindler’s San Francisco branch is located on the east side of the Bay, in San Leandro. Under the leadership of general manager Geoffrey Hussey, it services the entire Bay Area – a region stretching 650 kilometers to the north, 240 kilometers to the south, and 150 kilometers east and west.
In the Bay Area, Schindler is perceived as an innovative engineering company," says Geoffrey proudly.
This reputation stems from its widely adopted Schindler PORT destination management system and its OEO (Occupant Evacuation Operation) elevators. During fires or emergencies, these smart elevators safely evacuate residents from high-rise buildings – up to 50% faster than stairs alone, and in a far safer way for less-mobile occupants. An OEO elevator often eliminates the need for a separate emergency stairwell, freeing up space for more apartments in residential buildings or office space in commercial towers. Meta’s high-rise building on Howard Street in downtown San Francisco uses this technology.
The equipment at the city’s BART stations are continuing this legacy.