Transit news you can use: New fare gates at BART Civic Center station, Caltrain electrifies, BARTmobile comes to Orinda

Fair payment: To keep BART fare evaders from jumping the fare gates, the transit agency last week began replacing existing fare gates with new ones on the concourse level of Civic Center station. The new gates are closest to the Seventh Street entrance on the north end of the concourse level. The project is expected to take several weeks to complete, but the agency says they are evasion-proof. The station’s two other sets of fare gates will remain open during the installation work. Once the new gates are installed, BART will replace all remaining old fare gates at the station. In April, crews successfully installed a new fare gate at the elevator entrance on the Civic Center station platform.

Help is in tow: Drivers stranded on freeways in the Bay Area can get help from the Freeway Service Patrol, a free service offered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. More than 100 drivers from 11 tow companies cover 25 beats in the Bay Area. Crews help drivers who have mechanical problems, flat tires, vehicles that are out of gas, and those with overheated engines and dead batteries. They also assist law enforcement with clearing the scene following a crash. Crews are out and about on the freeways during peak travel times every weekday morning and evening, and on the weekends in select areas with a lot of traffic. Crews provided service to upwards of 65,000 people last year, with an average response time of less than 12 minutes.

Cleantech collaboration: EV Maritime, a New Zealand electric ferry design and technology company, has been commissioned by the Angel Island/Tiburon Ferry to electrify two existing vessels and build a third new plug-in hybrid vessel. The hybrid vessel will be designed and engineered by EV Maritime with electrical integration provided by ZeroMar, a Bay Area company. The ferries provide service between Tiburon and Angel Island, as well as private charters, whale watching and sunset cruises. Angel Island State Park is the largest natural island in the San Francisco Bay and a popular destination for hiking, biking and picnics.

Rolling in fun: The BARTmobile, the 700-pound, eight-seat fiberglass car with a smiling face on its front, is having a birthday and the agency is inviting the Bay Area to come celebrate between 1 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the Orinda BART station. For two decades, the BARTmobile has been a fixture at local events and parades. To mark the occasion, BART will have a DJ on hand, carnival games, face painting, free cupcakes and kettle corn, as well as free rides on the BARTmobile. BART will be hosting more events throughout the year, including Sound Tracks – free live music by local artists in non-paid areas of stations.

Electrification excitement: Caltrain will run limited weekend service on its new electric trains beginning Aug. 11. On Sept. 21, Caltrain will launch a new schedule and have all electric service north of the San Jose Diridon station seven days a week. The plan is to gradually replace diesel trains with electric ones in the roughly six weeks between the two dates. With backing from state and federal funds, the Caltrain Electrification Project replaces the entire aging diesel fleet with state-of-the-art electric trains, making it the first diesel-to-electric conversion in the nation in a generation. Express service will allow commuters to travel between San Francisco and San Jose in under an hour while providing reliable Wi-Fi, bathrooms, climate control, and power sources. Caltrain says the new trains will also increase service by 20% because they can accelerate and decelerate much faster than diesel trains.