BART recently announced that it has chosen eight finalists to transform some of their decommissioned cars into bars, beer gardens, arcades, and much more. As BART begins replacing its current cars with their Fleet of the Future, the old cars will be either recycled or repurposed in fun new ways for Bay Area residents.
Several cars will be integrated into restaurants. They include Arthur Mac’s Tap & Snack, a pizza & hot wings spot in Oakland that plans to use the car as an arcade; Oakland Athletics, which plans to install a BART car in the Coliseum as a local museum and beer garden hybrid; and Hospitality in Transit, which will turn their car into a coworking space and cafe.
A variety of other projects are also in the works. The Bay Area Electric Railroad Association will transform multiple cars into a Rapid Transit History Center with BART artifacts, a small theater, and more. The Original Scraper Bike Team plans to create a bike shop and clubhouse for children, and Hernandez-Eli Architecture plans to make an eco-friendly residence and short-term rental. Both the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and the Hayward Fire Department will use their cars as training props for rescue simulations.
BART explains none of the proposals included plans for affordable housing projects, and the cars can’t be used as artificial reefs in the ocean due to their aluminum composition. They also cannot be sold to other transportation agencies due to the nonstandard width of the tracks. Approximately 531 cars are still in service, but as they’re replaced most of them will be recycled by Schnitzer Steel in Oakland.
BART’s legacy cars are certain to be showstoppers in their own right as they’re transformed into these exciting projects. You can learn more about the legacy car project at BART.gov.
Featured image: Hernandez-Eli Architecture via BART