BART operator is the train’s eyes and ears: ‘You have to be alert’

BART operator is the train’s eyes and ears: ‘You have to be alert’
http://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/BART-operator-is-the-train-s-...
By Tim Hussin
August 7, 2016 Updated: August 7, 2016 12:00pm

As the tunnels blur past the BART train windows, Curt Robinson admits he never dreamt of becoming a train operator. He’s now in his 17th year working for Bay Area Rapid Transit System and acts as the eyes and ears of the train.

Media: Tim Hussin
As the tunnels blur past the BART train windows, Curt Robinson admits he never dreamed of becoming a train operator.

“All kids like trains,” he says. “I took them for granted. ... I would’ve never thought in my life I’d been a train operator.”

Robinson, 62, is now in his 17th year working for the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, and is considered a model operator.

Even though the trains are automated, the operator’s duty is to notice irregularities. BART manager Paula Fraser compares them to firefighters, with the responsibility to respond to incidents.

“You guys become incident commander,” she says. “I don’t think the public knows that.”

One day, Robinson was headed to Montgomery Street Station and heard a thud.

“That’s unusual,” he says. “I stopped the train. A person comes up and says there’s a person that jumped in the front of your train.”

Everything that he learned came into play. He evacuated the train, contacted emergency personnel and located the person. The person survived but it’s an experience that sticks with him.

“You think about it, you know?”

But it’s the unfortunate part of the job. “It’s just like life. I just take it and the next day you keep going.”

“We challenge our knowledge everyday because the tracks change every day,” he said. “You have to be alert. That’s good for you. Keeps you healthy.”

See Curt Robinson operate the train at www.sfchronicle.com/theregulars. The Regulars is a weekly photo and video column by Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in the Bay Area, caught in routine activities of modern urban life. If you know a regular, email regulars@sfchronicle.com.