Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit public transportation system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The heavy rail elevated and subway system connects San Francisco and Oakland with urban and suburban areas in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo counties. BART serves 48 stations along six routes on 112 miles of rapid transit lines, including a 10-mile spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which utilizes diesel multiple-unit trains and a 3.2-mile automated guideway transit line to the Oakland International Airport. With an average of 411,000 weekday passengers and 118 million annual passengers in fiscal year 2019, BART is the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States. BART is operated by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, formed in 1957; the initial system opened in stages from 1972 to 1974. The Silicon Valley BART Extension is scheduled to open in Milpitas and Berryessa in 2020, in partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Some of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's current coverage area was once served by an electrified streetcar and suburban train system called the Key System. This early 20th-century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, but the system was dismantled in the 1950s, with its last transbay crossing in 1958, was superseded by highway travel. A 1950s study of traffic problems in the Bay Area concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a new, high-speed rapid transit system linking the cities and suburbs. Marvin E. Lewis, a San Francisco trial attorney and member of the city's board of supervisors spearheaded a grassroots movement to advance the idea of an alternative bay crossing and the possibility of regional transit network. Formal planning for BART began with the setting up in 1957 of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a county-based special-purpose district body that governs the BART system.

The district began with five members, all of which were projected to receive BART lines: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County, Marin County. Although invited to participate, Santa Clara County supervisors elected not to join BART due to their dissatisfaction that the peninsula line only stopped at Palo Alto and that it interfered with suburban development in San Jose, preferring instead to concentrate on constructing freeways and expressways. Though the system will expand into Santa Clara County in 2019, it is still not a district member. In 1962, San Mateo County supervisors voted to leave BART, saying their voters would be paying taxes to carry Santa Clara County residents; the district-wide tax base was weakened by San Mateo's departure, forcing Marin County to withdraw a month later. Despite the fact that Marin had voted in favor of BART participation at the 88% level, its marginal tax base could not adequately absorb its share of BART's projected cost.

Another important factor in Marin's withdrawal was an engineering controversy over the feasibility of running trains on the lower deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, an extension forecast as late as three decades after the rest of the BART system. The withdrawals of Marin and San Mateo resulted in a downsizing of the original system plans, which would have had lines as far south as Palo Alto and northward past San Rafael. Voters in the three remaining participating counties approved the truncated system, with termini in Fremont, Richmond and Daly City, in 1962. Construction of the system began in 1964, included a number of major engineering challenges, including excavating subway tunnels in San Francisco and Berkeley. Passenger service began on September 11, 1972 just between MacArthur and Fremont; the rest of the system opened in stages, with the entire system opening in 1974 when the transbay service through the Transbay Tube began. The new BART system was hailed as a major step forward in subway technology, although questions were asked concerning the safety of the system and the huge expenditures necessary for the construction of the network.

Ridership remained well below projected levels throughout the 1970s, direct service from Daly City to Richmond and Fremont was not phased in until several years after the system opened. Some of the early safety concerns appeared to be well founded when the system experienced a number of train-control failures in its first few years of operation; as early as 1969, before revenue service began, several BART engineers identified safety problems with the Automatic Train Control system. The BART Board of Directors was retaliated by firing them. Less than a month after the system's opening, on October 2, 1972, an ATC failure caused a train to run off the end of the elevated track at the terminal Fremont station and crash to the ground, injuring four people; the “Fremont Flyer” led to a comprehensive redesign of the train controls and resulted in multiple investigations being opened by the California State Senate, California Public Utilities Commission, National Transportation Safety Board. Hearings by the state legislature in 1974 into financial mismanagement at BART forced the General Manager to resign in May 1974, the entire Board of Directors was replaced the same year when the legislature passed legislation lea

Ian Reid is an English businessman a talent manager known for his association with the rock band XTC. He was the owner of a Swindon club named The Affair. After becoming XTC's third manager in the mid 1970s, he brokered deals for the group to perform at more popular venues such as the Hammersmith Red Cow, The Nashville Rooms and Islington's Hope And Anchor, which led them to a major label contract with Virgin Records, he remained XTC's manager until 1982, when it was discovered that he had mishandled their revenue stream. Once it was apparent, a lawsuit was filed by the band, while he counter-sued for "unpaid commission on royalties." For the next decade, the entirety of the group's earnings would be invested in the continued litigation. Despite a gag order that restricts the group from speaking publicly on the alleged improprieties, Andy Partridge's 1984 song "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" was written about Reid. A court settlement was reached in 1989. Ian Reid - manager of XTC on Vimeo

The San Luis Obispo Mardi Gras controversy was a major town and gown conflict in San Luis Obispo, California. In late 2004, the city's leaders called for an end to public celebrations during Mardi Gras, hoping to end the event's reputation as a statewide party destination for college students. Prior to 2004, tensions had grown as the small street parade held by community organizers evolved into a large-scale celebration that attracted thousands of partygoers students, from California and the American West. In 2004, a riot involving partygoers and the local police was televised on American newscasts. Local business and community members worried about bad publicity, potential violence, the effect on local tourism. Many of the partygoers were not students from California Polytechnic State University. After the riots, concerns regarding restrictive rules spread beyond the Cal Poly community to other Californian universities and student organizations. In 2004, police officers shut down parties hosted at Mustang Village, an apartment complex near Cal Poly.

A police helicopter patrolled over Cedar Creek, an apartment complex that police had been called to during past celebrations. After the Mustang Village parties were closed down, an estimated 5000 people rioted, causing extensive property damage in neighborhoods along California Boulevard. Police officers arrested nearly 200 partygoers and used crowd control weapons to break up the rioting crowds. In response to the riot, the city council and community members created "SLOMardiGras", a website and publicity campaign that called for an end to public Mardi Gras parties. "As a career emergency physician, I dread Mardi Gras like no other event," Dr. Steve Sainbury posted on the website, which carried letters from the heads of Cuesta College and Cal Poly. Then-mayor Dave Romero noted the event's positive history but observed that it had grown in size, with the post-riot cleanup in 2004 costing half a million dollars, he wrote, "This is not what San Luis Obispo is about, as much as we like special events, our City Council concluded that Mardi Gras in San Luis Obispo must stop—completely...

As your Mayor, I ask that those of you who live in San Luis Obispo help us protect our community from such destructive behavior. Please don't invite out-of-town guests to San Luis Obispo to party over Mardi Gras weekend... Encourage your friends who live here to enjoy the weekend in a safe and helpful way. If you don't live in San Luis Obispo, please don't visit us for Mardi Gras. MARDI GRAS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO IS OVER." While the administration of Cal Poly supported the city's desire to quell the Mardi Gras celebrations, members of the student community were angered and concerned over new local ordinances that tripled fines for municipal code violations during Mardi Gras. According to the city's website, the San Luis Obispo Police Department, city officials, alcohol-related offenses would be monitored including underage drinking and public nudity. Cal Poly's Student Community Liaison Committee noted concerns regarding a smaller "safety zone" that would have tripled fines only in specific areas, including downtown and on Foothill and California Boulevards.

The committee publicly endorsed the new safety zone, which comprised San Luis Obispo's entire city limits. In February 2005, then-Senator Abel Maldonado introduced California Senate Bill 337, calling for the immediate dismissal of "any student convicted, pleading guilty to, or being adjudicated a delinquent minor with respect to specified rioting provisions of the Penal Code." Under the bill, students found guilty of rioting would be prevented from attending or being admitted to any Californian community college or college in the California State University system for at least one year. The Associated Students of the University of California created a bill opposing SB 337, noting that it altered the Donahoe Higher Education Act and eligibility for Cal Grants, a form of financial aid. External Affairs Vice President Liz Hall, who wrote the opposition bill on behalf of ASUC, stated that the "UC Student Association opposes SB 337 as a threat to the rights of free speech and assembly of students."

In preparation for the 2005 Mardi Gras, some students attempted to circumvent the new ordinances by creating an underground event called Polygras, discussed online from late 2004 to early 2005. To avoid fines and the large police presence planned for Mardi Gras, organizers planned for Polygras to take place after the traditional Mardi Gras period. In response, the city of San Luis Obispo designated a city-wide safety enhancement zone effective through March 2, 2005. In February 2005, sobriety checkpoints were set up throughout the city, police officers sought to disperse medium-sized gatherings during Mardi Gras. Arrests decreased by 58% from the previous year; the costs of keeping the 2005 celebration under control totaled $1 million, including $385,200 in police department staffing and control costs. 16 other law enforcement organizations, such as the California Highway Patrol, billed an approximate $700,000 in additional staffing and crowd control costs. In February 2004, city councilwoman Christine Mulholland told a New Times reporter that the cost for law enforcement was $100,000 in 2003.

Some students congregated at traditional crowd spots during Polygras, but it was not an ongoing concern for the police. 1. "SLO Mardi Gras Celebration Provokes Riot", Matt Dozier, Daily Nexus Online, February 23, 2004, retrieved February 5, 2006. 2. "SCALED-DOWN MARDI GRAS SEASON KICKS OFF", San Luis Obispo Tribune, January 7, 2006, retrieved February 5, 2006. "Voices", from the "SLOMardiGras" website, retrieved Februa