Howdy All,
I just thought I'd share a little bit of information with
everyone relating to Photography on BART. According to the BART
permits page ( http://www.bart.gov/about/business/permits/photopermits.aspx
): "If you are a paying passenger making your way from point A to point
B, then there is no specific prohibition to taking photographs in areas
that are accessible to the public provided you do not appear to be a
security threat, involved in a commercial activity or harassing other
riders." So as a member of the transit riding public - you can take
pictures without a permit. Though I suggest if you plan on taking any
amount of photos around BART - keep a printed out copy of this page
handy.
The reason I share this is because I had not previously been aware
of the rules, after all it is PUBLIC transit so I treated it as any
PUBLIC location. While I've taken hundreds of pictures on, around and
of the BART system today I had an interesting run in with a station
agent. The agent asked me what I was doing (after I had taken a
picture of the ticket gates). I explained to her that I was taking a
picture for my own personal use (me being artsy and all). She informed
me that it was against the rules (possibly law, I don't remember) to
take pictures on any mass transit system and then threatened to have me
arrested, demanded to see my ID... and all that fun stuff. I managed
to escape the cops or arrest (barely), but that isn't the point here.
Anyways, I just wanted to let everyone know, since I know I've
emailed about the lack of pictures on Commons of Bay Area topics, and
specifically BART stations. So just be careful if you do take pictures
around BART - you might end up in jail. (Hey, it's a free country,
they can arrest you for no good reason).
-Jon
[[Commons:User:ShakataGaNai]]