Bay Area transit strike possible early Friday as talks continue

SAN FRANCISCO -- Negotiations to avert another Bay Area Rapid Transit strike this year continued Thursday as a court-imposed 60-day cooling-off period was close to ending.

BART warned riders to be prepared for a shutdown Friday and hired buses to shuttle a small fraction of commuters in and out of San Francisco in the event of a strike. A cooling-off period requested by Gov. Jerry Brown and approved by a judge will expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

A spokesman for the unions said both sides had been close to an agreement Wednesday night when management suddenly withdrew an offer. BART management denied it had reneged on a proposal and pledged to try to reach an agreement.

BART normally carries 400,000 passengers a week. The transit system has arranged for buses to ferry 6,000 passengers each way to and from San Francisco and urged commuters to work from home or to carpool.

BART workers went on strike for nearly five days in early July, triggering gridlock on freeways and bridges and long lines for buses and ferries.

The unions generally give notice before a strike, but none is required.

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