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BART directors divided over cell phone blackoutAug 16, 2011 (Contra Costa Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Blocking cellphone usage for thousands of people -- even to prevent mischief -- is not a decision to be made lightly, and it's something two BART directors now say needs to be aired publicly. Lynette Sweet and Tom Radulovich, both of San Francisco, want the BART board to schedule a public discussion and set a policy on whether and when the train system should be able to curtail cellphone service at stations. "The board was told by staff that this was being done, not asked. The board should air this publicly," Radulovich said. "BART has managed to make this into a big free-speech issue with national and possibly international implications." BART last week turned off equipment relaying cellphone calls to and from four underground stations in San Francisco to disrupt a planned protest over a police shooting. Since then, debate has raged whether the train system was trampling free speech or taking reasonable steps to prevent a public safety threat from protesters jostling people on crowded station platforms near moving trains powered by an electrified rail. Radulovich said he shares BART staff's concerns that protests should not interfere with BART service or jeopardize safety. But he thinks the cellphone blackout was an overreaction to a July 11 anti-police protest that delayed more than 90 BART trains and led to arrests at the Civic Center station. Demonstrators at that event climbed on top of trains and blocked doors. "I am cross with (protesters) horsing around on the platform," he said. "It's a danger, but I think BART's response was heavy-handed." Sweet, during a KQED radio show Tuesday, said she wants the board to adopt a cellphone blackout policy. She said she is trying to get the item on the board's agenda for its next meeting at 9 a.m. Aug. 25, but at least three directors must call for an agenda item unless the board president exercises his authority to do it. BART Board President Bob Franklin and director Robert Raburn, both of Oakland, said they haven't decided whether to support a public discussion and vote on a policy. Franklin defended the Aug. 11 blackout as a way to prevent protest organizers from using cellphones to plan their next move. "If public safety is at risk, BART has a responsibility to protect its riders," Franklin said. "This protest was poised to happen. If you allowed it to get going, it can take on a life of its own, and get a flash mob and that can disrupt BART service." BART allows protests outside its fare gates, he said, but has a zero-tolerance policy for disruptions on station platforms. Franklin said the cellphone decision perhaps should be left to higher levels of government such as the Federal Communications Commission, which on Monday announced it will review BART's blackout. The agency would not elaborate on the scope of the review or what it might do if it felt BART was in the wrong. Others said BART crossed the line. Michael Risher, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said BART's cellphone blackout threatens to set a dangerous precedent for government limiting free speech. Risher said his organization has not ruled out the possibility of suing BART if talks over the blackout do not produce a satisfactory agreement. BART officials have said they were within their rights to turn off their equipment. The agency did not jam cellphone signals in the air. During the evening rush hour Monday, an estimated 100 protesters angered by the blackout marched on four San Francisco stations, prompting BART to close them to keep the demonstrators outside. The agency did not turn off cell equipment during that protest, however. Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267. Follow him at Twitter.com/deniscuff. Read the Capricious Commuter at www.ibabuzz.com/transportation/. To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.contracostatimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |