Traffic is a mess in San Francisco after the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers went on strike, according to NBC News. The striking workers are part of two of San Francisco's largest unions, and the strike has caused the train service to stop running for the first time in 16 years.
No trains were running on Monday, causing a huge problem for the more than 400,000 people who use them to commute to work every day. The BART system is the country's fifth-largest rail system and the walkout is affecting every mode of transportation.
The lack of running trains could result in an additional 60,000 vehicles on the roads, stopping highways and bridges with gridlocked traffic. The westbound Interstate Highway 580 was affected Monday.
Union workers marched around the BART station near Lake Merritt in Oakland before sunrise. Ron Smith, one of the picketers, called the strike "unsettling."
The only upside is that AC Transit workers, who had a possible strike planned, didn't follow through and those employees reported to work Monday morning.
In Fremont, charter buses are taking commuters from the BART station 10 miles north of San Jose, to Oakland, where passengers that had a different final destination had to board yet another bus.
Prachi Bora, a commuter, told NBC that she didn't mind that the BART workers were striking for better pay, but she wished she had known about it earlier.
BART is operating at "one percent capacity," according to Jim Allison, the spokesman for BART. He said that the union and the management would try to "work things out."
The union called for the strike on Sunday after an 11th hour effort to resume negotiations failed to result in a new contract by the midnight deadline. Union members and management could agree, however, that they were far apart on salary, pensions, health care and safety.
"A strike is always the last resort and we have done everything in our power to avoid it," Josie Mooney, a negotiator for Service Employees International Union Local 1021, said.
Jerry Brown, the governor of California, had urged both sides to resume discussions on Sunday, with the knowledge of the impending rush hour looming.
"I'm deeply disappointed it has come to this," Antonette Bryant, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, said in a midnight news conference. She said the union members "aren't interested in disrupting the Bay Area, but management has put us in a position where we have no choice."
Transit agencies in the Bay area have encouraged commuters to carpool, take buses or ferries or work from home. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said the city would offer increased transportation options and increase staff for traffic management.
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