BART trains get new seats in April

Commuters and frequent BART riders should mark next year’s calendar for April. That’s when riders are less likely to be sitting on seats harboring “fecal and skin-borne bacteria resistant to antibiotics.”

The BART Board of Directors voted Thursday morning to spend $1.9 million to replace seats on 100 cars. The new seats will be padded, but a non-porous vinyl cover will make them easier for BART workers to clean.

The new seats will come a little more than a year after The Bay Citizen dispatched its scathing investigative report exposing the seats for what they really were — bacteria blossoming, uncomfortable, and unsightly cloth-covered cushions.