Haisla people (Xa'islak'ala, X̄a'islak'ala, X̌à'islak'ala, X̣a'islak'ala, or Xai:sla) are a First Nation who reside in Kitimaat. The Haisla consist of two bands: the Kitamaat people, residing in upper Douglas Channel and Devastation Channel, and the Kitlope People, inhabiting upper Princess Royal Channel and Gardner Canal in British Columbia, Canada.

The Kitamaat people identify themselves as Haisla, meaning "dwellers downriver". The term Kitamaat originates from the Tsimshian people. In Tsimshian, Kitamaat signifies "people of the snow".

The Haisla language is officially named X̄a'islak̓ala. Historically, the Haisla, along with their neighboring Wuikinuxv and Heiltsuk peoples, were mistakenly identified as the Northern Kwakiutl.

Naming

The name Kitamaat became misrepresented in 1955 when Alcan Industries entered to build an aluminum smelter in their territory. Attempting to bring a new face to the territory, Alcan called it the "town of the future" and changed the spelling to Kitimat. The Haisla name for Kitamaat Village is Tsee-Motsa (C'imauc'a), meaning Snag Beach.

Location

Kitamaat Village, which serves as the Haisla reserve, is located a short 20-minute drive south of Kitimat town. Kitimat is known for housing the aluminum smelter of Alcan Incorporated and is situated at the head of the Douglas Channel, a fjord spanning 90 km (56 mi) that acts as a saltwater corridor connecting the community, the town, and the port of Kitimat to the Pacific Ocean. The name "Kitamaat" originated from the Tsimshian people, as European explorers sought the name of the place from their Tsimshian guides. It translates to "people of the snows" or "place of the snows". Throughout their territory, the Haisla people have occupied various village sites for centuries.

The governing body representing the Haisla people is the Haisla Nation, with its administrative offices located in Kitamaat Village.

A canoe crafted by Haisla members of the Kitimat Athlete club holds cultural significance. It was donated as a gift to the UBC Museum of Anthropology in 1948, where it remains on display to this day.

Ellis Ross, a notable elected Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation, played a prominent role in collaborating with major oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies. Serving as a full-time councillor from 2003 to 2016, he was succeeded by Crystal Smith, the current Acting Chief.

Haisla clan system

In the past, the Haisla people were organized into six clans, each named after an animal that held cultural significance for the tribe. It is believed that the Crow clan, the sixth clan, nearly disappeared and merged with the Raven clan. Within each clan, there was a principal chief, known as Xay'mas, who led their respective tribe. These chiefs would convene whenever necessary to discuss matters that impacted the entire tribe. They played an active role in the lives of their clan members, overseeing important aspects such as arranging beneficial marriages, distributing wealth, and fostering alliances between clans. Chiefs were allowed to have multiple wives, and widows of deceased chiefs could be inherited by the succeeding chief.

The Haisla people were among the few indigenous nations in northern North America that had a hierarchical class system, comprising noblemen, commoners, and slaves. Noblemen enjoyed privileges such as participating in secret rituals and having authority over commoners and slaves in labor activities. The nobility could be identified by their piercings, with boys wearing earlobe piercings and girls sporting lower lip piercings. Commoners had freedom in their way of life but did not partake in tribal governance. Slaves, typically captured during warfare, were expected to be entirely subservient and could be killed at the owner's discretion.

Clan membership followed a maternal inheritance system, with titles and inheritance passing from uncle to nephew rather than from father to son. This clan system is believed to have been inherited through the migration of Tsimshian women as they integrated with various northern tribes. Each clan possessed its own unique creation story alongside the overall tribe's creation narrative.

The Haisla clans were as follows:

 Eagle (ai 'ǐksdukuyinihu, also known as Owl Clan) Crests: eagle, sea otter, ermine, owl, shag, hawk, and halibut. Clan cry/call: hai hai (imitation of the eagle scream)
 Beaver (gĭtsǎ'k [Tsimshian], kaulu'n [Haisla equivalent], also known as Dogfish Clan) Crests: beaver, dorsal fin of a dogfish, fireweed, beavers' house, human figure holding its knees, k!yEk!a'n (giant beaver), posts or hat rings carved to look like beaver cuttings. Clan cry/call: t'am t'am (imitating a beaver hitting its tail on the water)
 Raven (giga'k!eni) Crests: raven, åsEwĕ'lgit (seated human figure with human faces carved or painted onto palms, ears, knees, and feet), head and beak of a raven, gosEmdela'h (figure of a man placed head down in the entranceway during a Raven feast, with added human hair touching the raven chief). Clan cry/call: Gax gax (sound of raven croaking)
 Blackfish (Killer Whale/Orca) (hå'låxaini, also known as Grizzly Bear Clan) Crests: blackfish, dorsal fin of a blackfish, grizzly bear, twilight (red sky of the evening), human figure with another human figure at its breast (walai'gĭtlah), giant deep-sea bear (sa'nis), kelp heads, bu'sbakah (type of sea plant), bŭgwi's and bŭgwå's (merman and mermaid resembling humans or monkeys), mountain goat with only one horn, fireweed. Clan cry/call: hŏc

G'psgolox totem pole

The G'psgolox totem pole is attached with a legend. It is told that, in 1872, a smallpox epidemic infected the people of the Haisla Nation (located in the north of what we now call British Columbia), killing the vast majority of inhabitants. The leader of the Eagle Clan of the Haisla tribe, named Chief G'psgolox, lost his whole family due to the epidemic, as well as many of his friends. The legend tells that the bereaved Chief G'spgolox travelled to the forest and attempted to find help there. There, he met with the spirits Tsooda and Zola, who told the Chief to go to the edge of a mountain at dawn, where he would see his deceased loved ones and learn to heal those still living. In the legend, this is how Chief G'psgolox complied and gained vital knowledge, learning the nature of the spirits, the Haisla spirit of continuance and transition. In appreciation of the spirits' help, Chief G'spgolox commissioned a nine-meter-tall totem pole with three figures. The bottom two figures commemorate the deceased and the top figure represents the Tsooda spirit. The pole, while commemorating the dead, told the tale of Haisla survival. It later became known as The G'psgolox Pole.

In 1928 Olof Hanson, the Swedish vice-president to British Columbia, submitted a request to the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs to acquire a pole, and in 1929, Olof was granted permission to cut down a totem pole and take it to Sweden. Olof Hanson chose the G'spgolox totem pole and cut it at the base. Olof Hanson took the pole while the Haisla were away due to seasonal living patterns, leaving the Haisla confused and wondering what had happened to the pole. The Norwegian emigrant named Iver Fougner (1870—1947) who chopped down the pole was employed as an Indian agent. He was a contact person between the authorities and Indigenous peoples in the vast district. Olof donated the G'psgolox Pole to the Swedish National Museum of Ethnography that same year. The museum had the pole in storage for many years until they had a proper building to display it in 1980. The pole was on display in this building for 25 years.

When some members of the Haisla Nation heard rumours that the pole may have been up for display in Sweden, it was decided that Louisa Smith and Gerald Amos should travel to Sweden to investigate the rumours. Once they had confirmed that the pole on display was the G'psgolox Pole, the Haisla nation asked for its repatriation. In 1992, a member of the Museum of Ethnography travelled to the Haisla village in British Columbia, where he was told by the Haisla people that the pole was stolen from them and that they had been avidly searching for it without success since the theft in 1929. He was also told that, since the pole was found, it had to be returned to its rightful owners. The Haisla people offered to carve an identical totem replica in exchange for the original. The museum agreed to the proposal by the Haisla people. This led to the Swedish government granting permission for the museum to gift the totem pole to the Haisla people in 1994, with the condition that the replica be an exact match to the original. In 2000, the Haisla community completed two replicas of the pole. One of the replicas were given to Sweden, while the other was placed where the G'psgolox Pole once stood. The poles were carved by Henry Robertson and his sisters sons Derek and Barry Wilson. The Haisla nation also build a historical preservation centre in the Kitimaat Village that would host the original pole.

In 2006, after 77 years at the museum, the pole arrived at the Kitimaat Village in British Columbia. In the shopping mall where it was placed, school children could listen to the elders telling the history of the pole. In 2012, the Kitlope Eagle clan chief decided to move the pole to an old graveyard close to the original location of the pole, where it was left to disintegrate.

Oolichan fishing
Oolichan is a smelt fish that is so oily that the oil can burn like a candle, hence they are also known as candlefish. For many West Coast Nations, the oolichan has been known as the saviour fish, representing fresh food after a long winter. Oolichan grease was one of the most valuable resources to the Haisla, a valuable commodity for trading with other tribes. The process of extracting the fat is to boil the oolichan in large cedar boxes until the grease separates from the meat and rises to the top. The fat is then skimmed off and poured into other containers for storage, to be traded later or eaten throughout the year. Making Oolican oil/grease is very labour-intensive, and would often involve the entire tribe. Women were in charge of making the nets for catching oolichan. Nets were made from harvesting stinging nettles and spinning the fiber into twine. Knitting the intricate nets usually took about three months; when finished, they measured 50 feet long, and 24 feet wide at the mouth, narrowing to 2 feet. When the oolichan nets were made with care, they could last more than 10 years.

Potlatch and feasting
The potlatch began with the introduction of the mass production of goods within indigenous settlements along the Canadian Pacific coast, mainly British Columbia as well as some parts of the United States such as Oregon and Washington. The potlach word comes from the Chinook jargon that was mainly used for trading purposes in the villages along the Pacific coast of Canada, and it means to "give". The increases in wealth during this period increased the wealth of many individuals within the indigenous communities. Many individuals that had accumulated large amounts of wealth felt that by giving away their wealth they could gain a higher social status within their community. The potlatch is a ceremony that marks a feast that celebrates a special event such as redressing family dishonor, funerals, births, and marriage. Indigenous people along the Canadian and US Pacific coast have been practicing these rites for hundreds of years and these ceremonies often last a few days. Historically, the potlatch was a very important social event for the Haisla people. The potlatch served to redistribute goods throughout the tribe. Giving away material wealth at a potlatch was the most significant way of maintaining and improving social standing. These type of ceremonies are an important part of the indigenous culture and is not uncommon for the host indigenous nation of the potlatch to secure a loan to accommodate for needs and necessities of their guests during the festivities. Some of the activities that take place during these ceremonies are dancing, singing, storytelling, and feasting. The purpose of these rituals is to get indigenous nations together and to build stronger social and cultural ties. For this reason, the hosts of the potlach usually give away most or all of their wealth as by doing so boosts their social status within their community and secures a place for them in their cultural social hierarchy. The potlatch requires so much material goods that often clans would need to work together in order to make and gather enough supplies to host a potlatch.

Dances

Dances are normally performed during wintertime at great feasts and potlatches. The Haisla have a series of dances that they perform, which are ranked from the lowest to highest. The lowest dances are usually performed by younger members and commoners, while the higher dances are reserved for nobles and chiefs. Participants in the dance are recognized by the "five vertical streaks on both sides of the face". The three highest dances are secret, called hai'likula (a word meaning magical or shamanistic) and commoners are not permitted to know the details. Jesters are used to entertain the crowd as dancers would make their preparations behind a screen. They also dance in select dances. The position of jester is hereditary via the matrilineal line. The preparation for the higher dances is reserved for nobleman and woman, as they are the only members of the tribe that are permitted to witness these preparations. Although noblewomen were not permitted to dance in the higher dances, they were involved in helping with the preparations. These highest three dances also include the use of whistles and rattles, and the tone of the whistle is distinctive to the dance being performed. Members of the two highest dances are thought to possess magical powers.

Series of Dances, starting with the lowest:

1) Mitla

This dance is usually performed by younger nobles and commoners into advanced years. Most adult nobleman would have long "graduated" from performing this dance, unless he is childless and/or unable to pass on the dance.

2) Glo'ala'ha ("came down a second time")

This dance, like the Mitla, is a common dance.

3) Ula'la

This is the highest of the common dances, and you must be a potential noble to dance. These participants are permitted to witness preparations for the higher dances. The dancers are usually sons of nobleman, who wish to begin preparing them for the higher dances.

4) Nutlåm

The Hisla people believe that this dance originated at Kemano with the (Kitlope) tribe. This is referred to the dog-eater dance, and participants adorn dog skulls when dancing. The number of skulls worn is determined by the number of dogs that the individual has killed and devoured. Historically, the Haisla people believed eating dog meat or human flesh was poisonous. Those who were able to ingest the meat and survive were seen as special.

5) Nu'ntlsista (meaning dizzy or crazy)

This dance is also referred to as the fire dance. It is considered the second most important dance to the Haisla people. In this dance, the dancers wear their hair matted and act crazy. If anyone in the audience smiles, laughs or speaks they are set upon by the dancers. To demonstrate their might, dancers will walk on hot coals. You must be a nobleman to participate in this dance.

6) Tanish

A Haihais word meaning cannibal or man-eater. The right to participate in the Tanish dance is by inheritance only, with a few exceptions such as a dowry gift. Women are not allowed to dance, but they help with preparations for this dance and act as attendants.

Language

The Haisla language is spoken by the descendants of the Gitamaat and Kitlope bands from the Kitimat area of the northern coast of British Columbia. It is a Northern Wakashan language spoken by several hundred people, and is geographically the northernmost Wakashan language. Its nearest Wakashan neighbour is Oowekyala. Haisla is related to the other North Wakashan languages of Wuikyala, Heiltsuk, and Kwak'wala. It consists of two dialects, sometimes defined as sublanguages: Kitamaat and Kitlope (also known as X̣enaksialak'ala). Haisla names are written in a phonemic alphabet that allows the language's sounds to be distinguished from that of other indigenous people. Several scientific alphabets have been used for writing Haisla, and a transcription system devised by Emmon Bach is used to be able to read the Haisla inscriptions.

In popular culture
 The novel Monkey Beach, by Canadian author Eden Robinson, follows the lives of a Haisla teenager and her family.
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson was released in 2017. This novel follows Jared through his grade 10 years in Kitimat and his first encounters with magic. The Canadian television series Trickster, based on the novel, premiered in 2020.
The Snotty Nose Rez Kids, a Hip Hop duo from the Haisla Nation, won the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year in 2019.

Notable people

 Barry Wilson (born 1952), artist

References

External links

 www.haisla.ca Haisla Nation website

North Coast of British Columbia
First Nations
Ethnic groups in Canada
Indigenous peoples in British Columbia
Indigenous peoples of North America

Haisla people


Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and  of track, including a  spur line running to Antioch, which uses diesel multiple unit vehicles, and a  automated guideway transit line serving Oakland International Airport. With an average of  weekday passengers as of  and  annual passengers in , BART is the seventh-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States.

BART is operated by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District which formed in 1957. The initial system opened in stages from 1972 to 1974. The system has been extended several times, most recently in 2020, when Milpitas and Berryessa/North San José stations opened as part of the under construction Silicon Valley BART extension in partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).

Services
BART serves large portions of its three member counties – San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa – as well as smaller portions of San Mateo County and Santa Clara counties. The system has 50 stations: 22 in Alameda County, 12 in Contra Costa County, 8 in San Francisco, 6 in San Mateo County, and 2 in Santa Clara County. BART operates five named heavy rail services plus one separate automated guideway line. All of the heavy rail services run through Oakland, and all but the Orange Line cross the bay through the Transbay Tube to San Francisco. All five services run every day until 9 pm; only three services operate evenings after 9 pm. All stations are served during all service hours. The eastern segment of the  (between Antioch and the transfer platform east of Pittsburg/Bay Point) uses different rolling stock and is separated from the rest of the line.

Hours and frequencies
BART has elements of both traditional rapid transit (high-frequency urban service with close station spacing) and commuter rail/regional rail (lower-frequency suburban service with wider station spacing). Trains on each primary service run every 20 minutes, except the busy Yellow Line, which operates every 10 minutes on weekdays. Segments served by multiple lines have higher frequencies, the busiest of which is the section between Daly City and West Oakland, which has around 15 trains per hour (one train about every four minutes), per direction at peak hours. The Oakland Airport Connector runs "on demand", typically on headways of 10 minutes or less.

Timed cross-platform transfers are available between the Orange Line, which operates only in the East Bay, and the Yellow Line, which operates through the Transbay Tube to the San Francisco Peninsula. This service complements the Red Line during daytime hours and replaces that line when it stops operating after 9pm.

The first inbound trains leave outer terminals around 5:00 am on weekdays, 6:00 am on Saturdays, and 8:00 am on Sundays and most holidays. The last trains of the service day leave their terminals around midnight; the final Yellow and Orange Line trains in both directions meet at MacArthur station, and the final Orange and Blue Line trains in the southbound direction meet at Bay Fair station, for guaranteed transfers.

Late night bus services
Two different bus networks operated by regional transit agencies run during the overnight hours when BART is not operating.

The All Nighter network provides basic overnight service to much of the Bay Area. Most BART stations are served (directly or within several blocks) by the All Nighter system except for the Antioch–Rockridge and Bay Fair–Dublin/Pleasanton segments plus Warm Springs/South Fremont station.

The Early Bird Express network provides service to major BART stations between 3:50 am and 5:30 am. Two San Francisco/Peninsula routes and seven Transbay routes run between a limited number of major BART stations, with the San Francisco/Peninsula and Transbay routes meeting at the Transbay Transit Center. The original Early Bird Express network introduced in February 2019 had fifteen routes, but some were eliminated later that year due to low ridership.

Connecting services

Intermodal connections to local, regional, and intercity transit – including bus, light rail, commuter rail, and intercity rail – are available across the BART system. Three Amtrak intercity rail services – the California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, and San Joaquins – stop at Richmond station; the Capitol Corridor also stops at Oakland Coliseum station. Transfer between BART and the Caltrain commuter rail service is available at Millbrae station.

BART and most lines of San Francisco's Muni Metro light rail system share four stations (Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Civic Center/UN Plaza) in the Market Street subway; connections are also available to three lines at Balboa Park station and one line at Glen Park station. A tunnel at the Powell Street station connects to the Union Square/Market Street station on the Muni Metro T Third Street line. In the South Bay, Milpitas station provides a connection to the Orange Line of VTA Light Rail.

BART is served by bus connections from regional and local transit agencies at all stations, most of which have dedicated off-street bus transfer areas. Many connecting routes (particularly in suburban areas) serve primarily as feeder routes to BART. Larger bus systems connecting to BART include Muni in San Francisco, AC Transit in the East Bay, SamTrans in San Mateo County, County Connection and Tri Delta Transit in eastern Contra Costa County, WestCAT in western Contra Costa County, WHEELS in the Tri-Valley, VTA in the Santa Clara Valley, and Golden Gate Transit. Smaller systems include Emery Go-Round in Emeryville, Commute.org on the Peninsula, San Leandro LINKS, Dumbarton Express, and Union City Transit. The Transbay Transit Center regional bus hub is located one block from Embarcadero and Montgomery stations.

Several transit agencies offer limited commuter-oriented bus service from more distant cities to outlying BART stations; these include VINE from Napa County, Solano Express from Solano County, Rio Vista Delta Breeze, Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority from Stanislaus County, and San Joaquin RTD from Stockton. Many BART stations are also served by privately run employer and hospital shuttles, and privately run intercity buses stop at several stations.

Airport connections

BART also runs directly to two of the three major Bay Area airports (San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport) with service to San Jose International Airport provided by a VTA bus route available at Milpitas station.

History

Origins, planning, and geographical coverage
Some of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's current coverage area was once served by an electrified streetcar and suburban train system called the Key System. This early 20th-century system once had regular transbay traffic across the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, but the system was dismantled in the 1950s, with its last transbay crossing in 1958, and was superseded by highway travel. A 1950s study of traffic problems in the Bay Area concluded the most cost-effective solution for the Bay Area's traffic woes would be to form a transit district charged with the construction and operation of a new, high-speed rapid transit system linking the cities and suburbs. Marvin E. Lewis, a San Francisco trial attorney and member of the city's board of supervisors spearheaded a grassroots movement to advance the idea of an alternative bay crossing and the possibility of regional transit network.

Formal planning for BART began with the setting up in 1957 of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, a county-based special-purpose district body that governs the BART system. The district initially began with five members, all of which were projected to receive BART lines: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County, and Marin County. Although invited to participate, Santa Clara County supervisors elected not to join BART due to their dissatisfaction that the peninsula line only stopped at Palo Alto initially, and that it interfered with suburban development in San Jose, preferring instead to concentrate on constructing freeways and expressways. Though the system expanded into Santa Clara County in 2020, it is still not a district member.

In 1962, San Mateo County supervisors voted to leave BART, saying their voters would be paying taxes to carry mainly Santa Clara County residents (presumably along I-280, SR 92, and SR 85). The district-wide tax base was weakened by San Mateo's departure, forcing Marin County to withdraw a month later. Despite the fact that Marin had originally voted in favor of BART participation at the 88% level, its marginal tax base could not adequately absorb its share of BART's projected cost. Another important factor in Marin's withdrawal was an engineering controversy over the feasibility of running trains on the lower deck of the Golden Gate Bridge, an extension forecast as late as three decades after the rest of the BART system. The withdrawals of Marin and San Mateo resulted in a downsizing of the original system plans, which would have had lines as far south as Palo Alto and northward past San Rafael. Voters in the three remaining participating counties approved the truncated system, with termini in Fremont, Richmond, Concord, and Daly City, in 1962.

Construction of the system began in 1964, and included a number of major engineering challenges, including excavating subway tunnels in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley; constructing aerial structures throughout the Bay Area, particularly in Alameda and Contra Costa counties; tunneling through the Berkeley Hills on the Concord line; and lowering the system's centerpiece, the Transbay Tube connecting Oakland and San Francisco, into a trench dredged onto the floor of San Francisco Bay. Like other transit systems of the same era, BART endeavored to connect outlying suburbs with job centers in Oakland and San Francisco by building lines that paralleled established commuting routes of the region's freeway system. BART envisioned frequent local service, with headways as short as two minutes between trains through the Transbay Tube and six minutes on each individual line.

Early years and train control problems
Passenger service began on September 11, 1972, initially just between MacArthur and Fremont. The rest of the system opened in stages, with the entire system opening in 1974 when the transbay service through the Transbay Tube began. The new BART system was hailed as a major step forward in subway technology, although questions were asked concerning the safety of the system and the huge expenditures necessary for the construction of the network. Ridership remained well below projected levels throughout the 1970s, and direct service from Daly City to Richmond and Fremont was not phased in until several years after the system opened.

Some of the early safety concerns appeared to be well founded when the system experienced a number of train-control failures in its first few years of operation. As early as 1969, before revenue service began, several BART engineers identified safety problems with the Automatic Train Control (ATC) system. The BART Board of Directors was dismissive of their concerns and retaliated by firing them. Less than a month after the system's opening, on October 2, 1972, an ATC failure caused a train to run off the end of the elevated track at the terminal Fremont station and crash to the ground, injuring four people. The "Fremont Flyer" led to a comprehensive redesign of the train controls and also resulted in multiple investigations being opened by the California State Senate, California Public Utilities Commission, and National Transportation Safety Board. Hearings by the state legislature in 1974 into financial mismanagement at BART forced the General Manager to resign in May 1974, and the entire Board of Directors was replaced the same year when the legislature passed legislation leading to the election of a new Board and the end of appointed members.

Extensions

Even before the BART system opened, planners projected several possible extensions. Although Marin County was left out of the original system, the 1970 Golden Gate Transportation Facilities Plan considered a tunnel under the Golden Gate or second deck on the bridge, but neither of these plans was pursued. Over twenty years would pass before the first extensions to the BART system were completed to Colma and Pittsburg/Bay Point in 1996. An extension to Dublin/Pleasanton in 1997 added a fifth line to the system for the first time in BART's history. The system was expanded to San Francisco International Airport in 2003 and to Oakland International Airport via an automated guideway transit spur line in 2014. eBART, an extension using diesel multiple units along conventional railroad infrastructure between Pittsburg/Bay Point and Antioch, opened on May 26, 2018. BART's most significant current extension project is the Silicon Valley BART extension. The first phase extended the Fremont line to Warm Springs/South Fremont in early 2017, and the second phase to Berryessa/North San José began service on June 13, 2020. The third phase to Santa Clara is contingent upon the allocation of funding , but is planned to be completed by 2036.

Plans had long been floated for an extension from Dublin to Livermore, but the most recent proposal was rejected by the BART board in 2018. Other plans have included an extension to Hercules, a line along the Interstate Highway 680 corridor, and a fourth set of rail tracks through Oakland. At least four infill stations such as Irvington and Calaveras on existing lines have been proposed. With the Transbay Tube nearing capacity, long-range plans included a new four-bore Transbay Tube beneath San Francisco Bay that would run parallel and south of the existing tunnel and emerge at the Transbay Transit Terminal to connect to Caltrain and the future California High-Speed Rail system. The four-bore tunnel would provide two tunnels for BART and two tunnels for conventional/high-speed rail. The BART system and conventional U.S. rail use different and incompatible rail gauges and different loading gauges. In 2018, BART announced that a feasibility study for installing a second transbay crossing would commence the following year. By 2019, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) had joined with BART to study a multi-modal crossing, which could also allow Capitol Corridor and San Joaquins routes to serve San Francisco directly.

System modernization
In 2007, BART stated its intention to improve non-peak (night and weekend) headways for each line to 15 minutes. The 20-minute headways at these times is a barrier to ridership. In mid-2007, BART temporarily reversed its position, stating that the shortened wait times would likely not happen due to a $900,000 state revenue budget shortfall. Nevertheless, BART eventually confirmed the implementation of the plan by January 2008. Continued budgetary problems halted the expanded non-peak service and returned off-peak headways to 20 minutes in 2009.

In 2008, BART announced that it would install solar panels at two yards, maintenance facilities, and Orinda station (the only station that receives sufficient sunlight to justify installation cost).

In 2012, the California Transportation Commission announced that they would provide funding for expanding BART facilities, through the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, in anticipation of the opening of the Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension. $50 million would go in part to improvements to the Hayward Maintenance Complex.

In March 2019, BART announced that they would begin updating ticket add-fare machines inside the paid area to accept debit and credit cards for payment (for Clipper cards only). In December 2020, BART completed the changeover to Clipper and stopped issuing magstripe paper tickets. Existing paper tickets remained valid. In April 2021, BART began accepting Clipper cards on Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the Clipper app at all BART stations.

During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the BART equipment was mostly undamaged. A 2010 study concluded that along with some Bay Area freeways, some of BART's overhead structures could collapse in a major earthquake, which has a significant probability of occurring within three decades. Seismic retrofitting has been carried out since 2004 upon voter approval to address these deficiencies, especially in the Transbay Tube. BART projects that Transbay Tube retrofits are expected to be completed in 2023.

Rolling stock

Car types

The mainline BART network primarily operates two types of electric powered, self-propelled railcars. For most lines, six cars are coupled together in a train, except the Yellow Line, which uses eight-car trains. BART trains have gangway connections, and passengers can move freely between cars.

The new cars have three doors on each side (increased from two on the prior fleet, to speed station stops), bike racks, 54 seats per car, and interior and exterior displays giving information. The new cars, branded by BART as its "Fleet of the Future", were unveiled in April 2016. The first cars were expected to be in service in December 2016, however, glitches and a failed CPUC inspection delayed introduction to January 19, 2018. A total of 775 cars were ordered from Bombardier (which merged with Alstom during production): 310 cab cars (D-cars) and 465 non-cab cars (E-cars). , BART has received 623 D and E cars, of which 611 have been certified for service. To run its peak service, BART requires 411 cars. Of those, 384 are scheduled to be in active service; the others are used to build up spare trains (used to maintain on-time service).

BART maintains a fleet of older trains, built between 1968 and 1996, to run on days with major events or during a service disruption. BART plans to retire the remaining legacy fleet in late 2024. The newer and older car types are technologically incompatible and cannot operate together in a train.

The Oakland Airport Connector uses a completely separate and independently operated fleet of cable car-based automated guideway transit vehicles. It uses four Cable Liner trains built by DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car, arranged as three-car sets, but the system can accommodate four-car trains in the future.

The eBART extension uses eight Stadler GTW diesel railcars. The Stadler GTW vehicles are diesel multiple units, which operate over standard gauge tracks (as opposed to BART's broad gauge).

Depots
The initial BART system included car storage and maintenance yards in Concord, Hayward, and Richmond, with an additional maintenance only (no car storage) yard in Oakland. The Daly City car storage and maintenance yard opened in December 1988. The Oakland Airport Connector uses the Doolittle Maintenance and Storage Facility. eBART vehicles use a facility in Antioch.

Fares

Fare schedule
BART has distance-based fares, which requires riders to use faregates to both enter and exit, with a flat fare of $2.15 for trips under . A surcharge is added for trips traveling through the Transbay Tube ($1.40), to/from Oakland International Airport ($6.70) or San Francisco International Airport ($4.95), and to/from San Mateo County ($1.45, except $1.25 for Daly City). The maximum fare, including both airport surcharges and the Transbay surcharge, is $17.60; the maximum without surcharges (–) is $10.30. , the average fare paid is $3.93.

Because of the varied fares, it is possible to enter the system with enough stored value for a shorter trip, but not a longer trip. Passengers without sufficient fare to complete their journey must use an add-fare machine to add value in order to exit the station. , entering and exiting at the same station incurs an "excursion fare" of $6.40 – significantly higher than many station-to-station fares. This was originally introduced to allow people to tour the then-futuristic system; it was kept to discourage undesired behaviors such as tech bus riders using BART parking lots. The excursion fare has been criticized for negatively impacting riders who leave stations during service disruptions (although station agents can allow riders to exit without fare payment). As of December 2022, BART is working to implement a 30-minute "grace period" before the fare is charged.

Unlike many other rapid transit systems, BART does not have weekly or monthly passes with unlimited rides. The only discount provided to the general public is a 6.25% reduction when "high value tickets" (only available on Clipper cards with autoload) are purchased with fare values of $48 and $64. 50% discount is available to youth aged 5–18 (children age 4 and under ride free), and a 62.5% discount is provided to seniors and the disabled. The Clipper START program for low-income adults provides a 20% discount. The San Francisco Muni and BART offer a combined monthly "A" Fast Pass, which allows unlimited rides on Muni services plus BART service within San Francisco.

In August 2022, BART launched Clipper BayPass, a two-year pilot program to examine the viability of a transit pass that is compatible with all the public transit agencies in the Bay Area. The program was initially made available to around 50,000 college students and affordable housing residents.

Fare media
The primary fare media for BART is the Clipper card, which is used by most Bay Area transit agencies. Clipper is a contactless smart card; passengers tap in and out at card readers on faregates. Clipper cards in Apple Pay and Google Wallet electronic wallets can also be used.

BART's original fare system used tickets made of a paper-plastic composite with a magnetic stripe. The tickets were sold by fare vending machines. When exiting, faregates read the magnetically stored value on the card, encoded the new value with the fare subtracted, and printed the new value on the card. Tickets with no remaining value were retained by the machine rather than being returned. The entire fare system was designed and built by IBM under a $7 million contract (equivalent to $ million in ). It was the third system in the US to use encoded-value magnetic stripe tickets, following the Illinois Central Gulf commuter line in 1964 and the PATCO Speedline in 1968.

Although tickets could be refilled at fare machines, riders often discarded tickets with small values remaining. BART formerly relied on unused ticket values on such discarded cards for additional revenue – as much as $9.9 million annually in 1999 (equivalent to $ million in ). Tickets stopped being sold in December 2020 in favor of Clipper cards, but can still be used. A 50-cent surcharge per trip (25 cents for discounted fares) is applied to all journeys made on paper tickets. However, due to supply chain shortages resulting in a lack of plastic Clipper cards, BART started issuing tickets again at the SFO station in October 2022. Sales of paper tickets will again end on September 30, 2023, and they will no longer be usable after November 30.

BART first piloted a smart card for fare payment called EZ Rider in 2006; this program was abandoned in 2010 in favor of a regional farecard. In 2009, BART became one of the first five transit agencies to accept TransLink (later renamed Clipper) cards for fare payment and began phasing out tickets. By December 2020, all BART ticket machines, except for add-fare machines inside of paid areas, were converted to Clipper use only.

Ridership levels
For most of its history, BART's ridership has reflected the U.S. economy, growing modestly during periods of economic expansion and dropping slightly during recessions. A major exception occurred in 1989 in the aftermath of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which severely damaged the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, causing its closure for a month. BART became the only direct route between the East Bay and San Francisco, resulting in a nearly 17% ridership jump for the 1990 fiscal year. Ridership would not drop back to previous levels after the repair of the bridge until the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect the Bay Area in March 2020.

Between 2010 and 2015, BART ridership grew rapidly, mirroring strong economic growth in the Bay Area. In 2015, the system was carrying approximately 100,000 more passengers each day than it had five years earlier. High gasoline prices also contributed to growth, pushing ridership to record levels during 2012, with the system recording five record ridership days in September and October 2012.

After six straight years of expansion, ridership growth began to slow in late 2016, dropping by 1.7% in October 2016 from the prior year. Although the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, showed an average weekday ridership of 423,395, the second-highest in BART's history, this was a 2.3% drop from FY 2016. Ridership continued to decline by approximately 3% per year between 2016 and 2019, mirroring a nationwide decline in mass transit ridership in the second half of the decade. Some see this decline as linked to changes in commute patterns, the fall in gasoline prices since 2014, and competition from the private sector in the form of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft. Ride-hailing has especially affected ridership on the lines to the San Francisco International Airport and the Oakland International Airport. At SFO, ride-hailing services grew by a factor of almost six or nearly 500% at the airport between 2014 and 2016. BART planners believe that competition from Uber and Lyft is reducing overall ridership growth and BART's share of airport transit.

Stations in the urban cores of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley have the highest ridership, while suburban stations record lower rider numbers. During fiscal year 2017, the busiest station was Embarcadero with 48,526 average weekday exits, followed by Montgomery Street with 45,386. The busiest station outside of San Francisco was 12th Street Oakland City Center with 13,965 riders, followed by 19th Street Oakland with 13,456. The least busy station was Oakland International Airport with 1,517 riders, while the least busy standard BART station was North Concord / Martinez with 2,702 weekday exits.

BART's one-day ridership record was set on Halloween of 2012 with 568,061 passengers attending the San Francisco Giants' victory parade for their World Series championship. This surpassed the record set two years earlier of 522,198 riders in 2010 for the Giants' 2010 World Series victory parade. Before that, the record was 442,100 riders in October 2009, following an emergency closure of the Bay Bridge. During a planned closure of the Bay Bridge, there were 475,015 daily riders on August 30, 2013, making that the third highest ridership. On June 19, 2015, BART recorded 548,078 riders for the Golden State Warriors championship parade, placing second on the all-time ridership list.

BART set a Saturday record of 419,162 riders on February 6, 2016, coinciding with Super Bowl 50 events and a Golden State Warriors game. That easily surpassed the previous Saturday record of 319,484 riders, which occurred in October 2012, coinciding with several sporting events and Fleet Week. BART set a Sunday ridership record of 292,957 riders in June 2013, in connection with the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, surpassing Sunday records set the previous two years when the Pride Parade was held.

Ridership dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns beginning in March 2020, during which BART was forced to drastically cut service. Ridership in the weeks immediately following the start of the Bay Area's lockdown (on March 17, 2020) fell by as much as 93%. , weekday ridership was about 37% of pre-pandemic levels and weekend ridership is about 60% of pre-pandemic levels.
If ridership does not recover and additional revenue is not obtained, in the worst case the agency projected it would only be able to sustain trains on three lines running once an hour from 5am to 9pm weekdays, and would have to close nine stations.

In a 2020 survey, 51% of riders report household income below $50,000 (up from 26% in 2018), and 53% did not own a vehicle (up from 31% in 2018). Compared to the region, BART riders are more likely to be Black or Latino, and less likely to be White or Asian.

Infrastructure

The entirety of the system runs in exclusive, grade-separated right-of-way. BART's rapid transit revenue routes cover about  with 50 stations. On the main lines, approximately  of lines run through underground sections with  on elevated tracks.

The main system uses an unusual  broad gauge (mostly seen in India and Pakistan) and mostly ballastless track. Originally using flat-edge rail and wheelsets with cylindrical treads, in 2016 BART started switching to conical treads to reduce the noise caused by flange/rail contact and loss of adhesion of one of the wheels on curves. 1,000 volts DC is delivered to the trains over a third rail. An automated guideway transit line and an additional station were opened in 2014, using off-the-shelf cable car technology developed by DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car: the Cable Liner. The section of the Antioch-SFO/Millbrae line east of the Pittsburg/Bay Point station runs on conventional unelectrified  rail.

Schedules call for trains to operate at up to , but certain segments (in particular, the Transbay Tube) are designed for  operation when making up delays.

, rapid transit trains are typically six cars long, except on the Yellow Line, which uses eight-car trains. The minimum train length is four cars, and the maximum length is ten cars. A ten-car train is , the longest of any metro system in the United States, and extending slightly beyond the  platforms. Cars are  wide, the maximum gradient is four percent, and the minimum curve radius is . The combination of unique loading gauges and unusual rail technologies has complicated maintenance and increased cost of the system, as rolling stock requires custom wheelsets, brake systems, and power systems.

Many of the original 1970s-era stations, especially the aerial stations, feature simple Brutalist architecture, but newer stations are a mix of Neomodern and Postmodern architecture. The additional double-tracked  upper deck of the Market Street subway and its four underground stations were built by BART for Muni Metro.

Lines
The routes run on track segments ("lines"), which are internally but not commonly known by letters.

Automation
BART was one of the first U.S. rail transit systems of any size to be substantially automated. Routing and dispatching of trains, and adjustments for schedule recovery are controlled by a combination of computer and human supervision at BART's Operations Control Center (OCC) and headquarters at the Kaiser Center in Downtown Oakland. Station-to-station train movement, including speed control and maintenance of separation between successive trains, is entirely automatic under normal operation, the operator's routine responsibilities being issuing announcements, closing the doors after station stops, and monitoring the track ahead for hazards. In unusual circumstances the operator controls the train manually at reduced speed.

Parking
Many BART stations offer parking; however, underpricing causes station parking lots to overflow in the morning. Pervasive congestion and underpricing forces some to drive to distant stations in search of parking. BART operates Parking Lots at 36 stations and offers parking passes for designated spots at many stations.

BART hosts car sharing locations at many stations, a program introduced by City CarShare. Riders can transfer from BART and complete their journeys by car. BART offers long-term airport parking through a third-party vendor at most East Bay stations. Travelers must make an online reservation in advance and pay the daily fee of $5 before they can leave their cars at the BART parking lot.

Parking at stations in Santa Clara County (Milpitas and Berryessa/North San José) is managed by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rather than BART.

Accessibility
All BART trains have dedicated spaces for wheelchair users and every station has accessible elevators. Estimated train arrival times and service announcements are both displayed on platform-level screens and announced audibly over the public address system. Station platforms are equipped with tactile paving to aid those with visual impairments, and Braille/tactile signs are present throughout stations.

Platform elevators

At some stations, the elevator to the platform (which is inside the paid area) is accessed from an unpaid area of the station. To enter the BART system at one of these stations, passengers using the elevator must first pass through a faregate into the paid area and then exit back through the swing gate adjacent to the station agent booth before taking the elevator to the platform. To exit the system from one of these stations, passengers must do the reverse: take the elevator from the platform to the concourse level, enter the paid area through the swing gate, and then process their ticket at a faregate to exit the paid area once again. Station agents may be able to assist upon request. The configuration of these stations enables fare evasion and causes confusion for passengers.

As of 2020, eighteen stations had a platform elevator outside of the paid area. Of these, three stations had ticket processing machines near the elevators that allowed elevator users to avoid having to enter, then exit, then re-enter the paid area; however, these did nothing to deter fare evasion. BART has begun to correct this issue at stations either by expanding the paid area on the concourse level or by installing a single accessible faregate in front of the elevator doors. By December 2021, the number of stations with elevators outside the paid area had been reduced to eight. Five of these stations had elevator faregates installed by January 2023, while the paid area on the concourse level at  was expanded to include a new elevator as part of a larger renovation. As of March 2023, only Orinda and Powell Street stations have a platform elevator outside the paid area. New elevator faregates are expected to be installed at these two remaining stations by April 2023.

Cell phone and Wi-Fi
In 2004, BART became the first transit system in the United States to offer cellular telephone communication to passengers of all major wireless carriers on its trains underground. Service was made available for customers of Verizon Wireless, Sprint/Nextel, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile in and between the four San Francisco Market Street stations from Civic Center to Embarcadero. In 2009, service was expanded to include the Transbay Tube, thus providing continuous cellular coverage between West Oakland and Balboa Park. In 2010, service was expanded to all underground stations in Oakland (19th Street, 12th Street/Oakland City Center, and Lake Merritt).

In 2007, BART ran a beta test of Wi-Fi Internet access for travelers. It initially included the four San Francisco downtown stations: Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center. It included above ground testing to trains at BART's Hayward Test Track. The testing and deployment was extended into the underground interconnecting tubes between the four downtown stations and further. The successful demonstration provided for a ten-year contract with WiFi Rail, Inc. for the services throughout the BART right of way. In 2008, the Wi-Fi service was expanded to include the Transbay Tube. BART terminated the relationship with Wi-Fi Rail in December 2014, citing that WiFi Rail had not submitted an adequate financial or technical plan for completing the network throughout the BART system.

In 2011, during the Charles Hill killing and aftermath BART disabled cell phone service to hamper demonstrators. The ensuing controversy drew widespread coverage that raised legal questions about free speech rights of protesters and the federal telecommunications laws that relate to passengers. In response, BART released an official policy on cutting off cell phone service.

Organization and management

Governance
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is a special district consisting of Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City and County of San Francisco. San Mateo County, which hosts six BART stations, and Santa Clara County, which hosts two, are not part of the BART District. A nine-member elected Board of Directors represents nine districts. BART has its own police force.

While the district includes all of the cities and communities in its jurisdiction, some of these cities do not have stations on the BART system. This has caused tensions among property owners in cities like Livermore who pay BART taxes but must travel outside the city to receive BART service. In areas like Fremont, the majority of commuters do not commute in the direction that BART would take them (many Fremonters commute to San Jose). This would be remedied with the completion of the Silicon Valley BART extension. Phase I of the extension opened on June 13, 2020, giving San Jose its first BART station, Berryessa/North San José station.

Budget
In 2005, BART required nearly $300 million in funds after fares. About 37% of the costs went to maintenance, 29% to actual transportation operations, 24% to general administration, 8% to police services, and 4% to construction and engineering. In 2005, 53% of the budget was derived from fares, 32% from taxes, and 15% from other sources, including advertising, station retail space leasing, and parking fees. BART reported a farebox recovery ratio of 75.67% in February 2016, up from 2012's 68.2%. BART train operators and station agents have a maximum salary of $62,000 per year with an average of $17,000 in overtime pay. (BART management claimed that in 2013, union train operators and station agents averaged about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime, and pay a $92 monthly fee from that for health insurance.)

Incidents and controversies

BART Police shootings

Oscar Grant III

On January 1, 2009, a BART Police officer, Johannes Mehserle, fatally shot Oscar Grant III. Eyewitnesses gathered direct evidence of the shooting with video cameras, which were later submitted to and disseminated by media outlets and watched hundreds of thousands of times in the days following the shooting. Both peaceful and violent demonstrations occurred protesting the shooting.

BART held multiple public meetings to ease tensions led by BART Director Carole Ward Allen who called on the BART Board to hire two independent auditors to investigate the shooting, and to provide recommendations to the board regarding BART Police misconduct. Director Ward Allen established BART's first Police Department Review Committee and worked with Assemblyman Sandre Swanson to pass AB 1586 in the California State Legislature, which enforced civilian oversight of the BART Police Department. BART Director Lynette Sweet said that "BART has not handled this [situation] correctly," and called for the BART police chief and general manager to step down, but only one other BART Director, Tom Radulovich, supported such action.

Mehserle was arrested and charged with murder, to which he pleaded not guilty. Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris filed a US$25 million wrongful death claim against the district on behalf of Grant's daughter and girlfriend. Mehserle's trial was subsequently moved to Los Angeles following concerns that he would be unable to get a fair trial in Alameda County. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was found guilty on a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was released on parole on June 13, 2011.

Charles Hill
On July 3, 2011, an officer of the BART Police shot and killed Charles Hill at Civic Center Station in San Francisco. Hill had thrown a bottle at the officers and was in the process of throwing a knife at them from a distance of about 15 feet when the first shot was fired.

On August 12, 2011, BART shut down cellphone services on the network for three hours in an effort to hamper possible protests against the shooting and to keep communications away from protesters at the Civic Center station in San Francisco. The shutdown caught the attention of state senator Leland Yee and international media, as well as drawing comparisons to the internet shutdowns during the Egyptian revolution earlier that year. Antonette Bryant, the union president for BART, stated that "BART have lost our confidence and are putting rider and employee safety at risk."

Members of Anonymous broke into BART's website and posted names, phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail information on the Anonymous website.

On August 15, 2011, there was more disruption in service at BART stations in downtown San Francisco. The San Francisco Examiner reported that the protests were a result of the shootings, including that of Oscar Grant.

On August 29, 2011, a coalition of nine public interest groups led by Public Knowledge filed an Emergency Petition asking the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to declare "that the actions taken by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District ("BART") on August 11, 2011, violated the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, when it deliberately interfered with access to Commercial Mobile Radio Service ("CMRS") by the public" and "that local law enforcement has no authority to suspend or deny CMRS, or to order CMRS providers to suspend or deny service, absent a properly obtained order from the Commission, a state commission of appropriate jurisdiction, or a court of law with appropriate jurisdiction".

In December 2011 BART adopted a new "Cell Service Interruption Policy" that only allows shutdowns of cell phone services within BART facilities "in the most extraordinary circumstances that threaten the safety of District passengers, employees and other members of public, the destruction of District property, or the substantial disruption of public transit service". According to a spokesperson for BART, under the new policy the wireless phone system would not be turned off under circumstances similar to those in August 2011. Instead police officers would arrest individuals who break the law.

In February 2012, the San Francisco District Attorney concluded that the BART Police Officer that shot and killed Charles Hill at the Civic Center BART station the previous July "acted lawfully in self defense" and would not face charges for the incident.

In March 2012, the FCC requested public comment on the question of whether or when the police and other government officials can intentionally interrupt cellphone and Internet service to protect public safety.

A federal lawsuit filed against BART by Charles Hill's brother was dismissed in 2013. The federal judge concluded that "a reasonable officer in that situation could believe that he was in danger of being hit by a knife after having had a bottle thrown at him." The lawyers of Hill's family did not dispute that he had thrown a knife at the officer, but argued that both officers should have done more to deescalate the situation.

Worker fatalities

1979 fatal electrical fire

In January 1979, an electrical fire occurred on a train as it was passing through the Transbay Tube. One firefighter (Lt. William Elliott, 50, of the Oakland Fire Department) was killed in the effort to extinguish the blaze. Since then, safety regulations have been updated.

James Strickland
On October 14, 2008, track inspector James Strickland was struck and killed by a train as he was walking along a section of track between the Concord and Pleasant Hill BART stations. Strickland's death started an investigation into BART's safety alert procedures. At the time of the accident, BART had assigned trains headed in opposite directions to a shared track for routine maintenance. BART came under further fire in February 2009 for allegedly delaying payment of death benefits to Strickland's family.

October 2013 incident
On the afternoon of October 19, 2013, a BART employee and a contractor, who were inspecting tracks, were struck and killed near Walnut Creek by a train being moved for routine maintenance. A labor strike by BART's two major unions was underway at the time, which caused BART to use an undertrained operator. Instead of the usual 14 weeks of the training, the operator only received four. The BART trainer was not in the cab with the operator at the time of impact but was instead in the passenger compartment. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the accident occurred because BART facilitated access to the railway line. BART was fined $600,000 for the incident.

Crime
In mid-2017, BART came under criticism for refusing to publicly release video evidence of crimes committed at Oakland stations. That year, in at least three incidents, groups of young people had boarded stopped trains and attacked and robbed train riders.
In response to the criticism, a BART manager argued that "to release these videos would create a high level of racially insensitive commentary toward the district [...] and in addition it would create a racial bias in the riders against minorities on the trains." According to an internal memo, the agency decided to not issue a press release about one of the cases (where a woman had her phone stolen by one of a group of teenagers) in order to avoid having BART look "crime ridden" and because it would "unfairly affect and characterize riders of color, leading to sweeping generalizations in media reports." A spokesman also stated that state laws about "juvenile police records" prohibited BART from releasing surveillance video. In 2018, BART released surveillance video from one of the 2017 incidents, showing (as summarized by KRON4) "the moments leading up to a mob-style attack on a BART train [... with] about 40 teens jumping the fare gates and pushing through the emergency gates at the station as an overwhelmed station agent calls for help." BART stated that two juveniles and an 18-year-old had been arrested for the incident, with the 18-year-old ending up serving one year in jail. In September 2017, six victims of the robberies/assaults filed suit against BART for gross negligence, claiming BART did not provide adequate security for its riders. In January 2020, two passengers affected by the same incident lost their lawsuits, one of them on the grounds that she had been attacked on the platform rather than on the train, outside of BART's common carrier duties.

On July 22, 2018, a man fatally stabbed 18-year-old Nia Wilson with a knife as she exited a train car at the MacArthur station. This was the third homicide at a BART station within five days. In June 2019, the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury released a report documenting a 128% increase in thefts on BART between 2014 and 2018, and an 83% increase in aggravated assault during the same time period.

References

Notes

Further reading

 Engineering Geology of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) System, 1964–75

External links

5 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States
California railroads
Electric railways in California
Public transportation in Alameda County, California
Public transportation in Contra Costa County, California
Public transportation in San Francisco
Public transportation in San Mateo County, California
Rapid transit in California
Railway lines opened in 1972
Rail transportation in Oakland, California
Underground rapid transit in the United States
1972 establishments in California
1972 in San Francisco
1000 V DC railway electrification

Bay Area Rapid Transit


Si K-Ming Chang (pinangaki kan 1998) nakaistar sa New York alagad nagdakula sa California. Nagi sya nin fellow sa Kundiman asin nagi man nin pinalista sa Lambda Literary Award . An saiyang nobelang Bestiary iluluwas sa Setyembre 8,2020 sa irarom kan One World/Random House. An saiyang mga tula nakaayon man sa antolohiya kan  Ink Knows No Borders, Best New Poets 2018, Bettering American Poetry Vol. 3, dangan 2019 Pushcart Prize Anthology. Nakaresibe man sya nin mga fellowships/scholarships hali sa Tin House, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, Lambda Literary, asin Kearny Street Workshop.

Sya man an kagsurat kan Past Lives, Future Bodies (Black Lawrence Press, 2018). "Resist / Recycle / Regenerate" Program leader man sya kan Wing On Wo Project kun sain nagtatabang sya sa paper-making workshops asin anti-gentrification resistance.

Tula ni K-Ming Chang

POSTCOLONIAL
(for Yilan)

here the sun stinks like stillbirth

& the sky is a stab wound, a gutspill

of light. the body's largest

internal organ

is not the heart

but the stomach. my mother

learned this in two years

of famine. when the flood

ran past her door, she chose

to save the sack of rice

& not the girl clasping it

to float. she ate her own

tongue, chose swallowing

over speech. children in her village

were born with their mouths open

-firing. I load my throat

with gunpowder

& mother strikes me

like a match. while I sleep

she hot-glues

my knees together & tells me

every man is a bomb

the radius of your birth

country. silence is a mouth

firing holes into

my first language. on the shore

she gave birth, a Japanese soldier

stabled her with his horse. carved

teeth into dice. if they landed even

       a woman was shot. odd

& rape instead. sometimes

death can wait for a man

to open his pants. sometimes

the soldier bangs her

like a door

& the body answering

from inside

her body is my body.

Toltolan

Panluwas na takod
https://aaww.org/postauthor/k-ming-chang/

K-Ming Chang


Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as CEYPETCO (CPC), is a Sri Lankan oil and gas company. Established in 1962 and wholly owned by the Government of Sri Lanka, it is largest oil company in the Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1961 by nationalisation and expropriation of all private oil companies in Sri Lanka at the time of its formation. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development headquartered in Colombo. It is the largest government owned company in the country, with an operational profit of Rs. 33.9 billion for the financial year 2020.

CPC provides a substantial source of income for the Sri Lanka government, with 30% of the government's budget dependent on the company's dividend. In December 2018, CPC became Sri Lanka's most loss government corporation of the second consecutive years, with a record loss of Rs. 326 billion at the end of 2018.

History
Even after independence in 1948, policy towards the country's petroleum and gas industry had remained unchanged until the end of the 1950s. In 1961, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960–65) launched in Act. No. 28 of 1961 to bypass the monopolistic pricing imposed on OPEC oil imports, allowing Sri Lanka to import oil from the UAE and the former Soviet Russia. After establishing CPC Bandaranaike nationalised the Anglo–Dutch operating companies (Shell and BP).

In 1968, the company built a new refinery, increasing production to 38,000 BPD.

From 1969, it became possible for foreign petroleum companies to do business in Sri Lanka within a partnership with National Iranian Oil Company. Sapugaskanda Refinery was built by Iran under the guidance of the CPC in August 1969 Sapugaskanda establishment of JET A1 producing unit in the late 1980s. It is the single largest oil refinery of Sri Lanka.

In the mid-1970s, the company began to sell LPG cylinders to homes in Colombo and further expanded its delivery network.

CPC accounts for more than half of Sri Lanka's petroleum products market share, 60% national refining capacity. CPC own and operate single refineries with a combined refining capacity of 50,000 barrels (7,900 m3) per stream day.

Since the 1970s, CPC being the monopoly operator in the national market was able to enlarge the portfolio of its operation; importation of crude oil and refined oil, storage and distribution and retail trade. Besides, many products were added to the distribution and retail trade by CEYPETCO: agrochemicals, chemical fertiliser, LPG, Naphtha, synthetic fiber. With the refinery operation, bitumen for road construction was partly supplied by CPC. Further, the sale of lubricating oil and bunkering oil for sea vessels was found to be increasingly profitable for CPC by the late 1970s.

Between 1977 and 1994 the country came under UNP rule in which under President J.R Jayawardana Sri Lanka began to shift away from a socialist orientation in 1977. Since then, the government has been deregulating, privatizing, and opening the economy to international competition. Post-1977, private sector activity in lubricant, synthetic fiber and bunkering oil subsectors was allowed under privatisation on an initiative taken in the early 1980s. In addition, the operation of LPG importation and distribution was also allowed later in which retail sales have been undertaken by entities outside CEYPETCO. In late 1996 Royal Dutch Shell purchased a 51 per cent stake in the CPC's LPG division for US$37 million. Ten years after government brought back majority stake for US$63 million as a part of its wider policy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's re-nationalization.

In 1978, the company expanded its business into manufacture of Nylon 6 yarn for textile, tires and fishing industries. In1979, capacity of the Refinery increased to 50,000 BPD by increasing the crude distiller capacity.

On October 20, 1995, suicide cadres of the LTTE attacked the oil storage complexes at Kolonnawa and Orugodawatta. They managed to blow themselves up destroying the tanks. 22 security personnel died during this attack, and petroleum oil worth over US$10 million was destroyed.

In 2003 to bring in another participant into the petroleum industry's key products market with a view to increase competition. Accordingly, the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) was set up and allowed importation and retail distribution of key petroleum products: diesel, petrol and bitumen.

CPC's has been providing electricity-generating entities with relevant categories of oil for electricity generation for decades. Electricity generation on oil occupies an increasing proportion since the 1990s, as the increase of demand for electricity has to be met from the thermal power. Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has a debt of up to Rs. 500 billion due to be paid to CPC.

In the wake of the Sri Lankan energy crisis power and energy minister decided to break the existing fuel market duopoly enjoyed by the company, which controlled 80% and by the Lanka Indian Oil Company controllin the rest 20%.  As a result in March 2023 three corporations were allowed to enter Sti Lanka: United Petroleum, Sinopec, and RM Parks in a collaboration with Shell.

Finances

Financial fallout
Ceylon Petroleum was Sri Lanka's largest company by revenue. But now the company is reporting loss in several million rupees. In April 2020 Ceylon Petroleum Corporation lost Rs. 45.1 billion first quarter. Company total debt rising 1,158.7 billion.

Import expenditure on petroleum in 2021 was US$3.9 billion against US$1.7 billion in 2019. They represented 25 per cent and 20 per cent of the total import expenditure in the respective years. This is not different from the ratio that existed in the late 1970s which was around 25 per cent of the value of total imports. On November 14, 2021, Sri Lanka Government shut down the Sapugaskanda oil refinery because the paucity of dollars to import crude oil. The Sapugaskanda is 51 years old and it produces 37 per cent of Kerosene (Furnace oil), Naptha 19 per cent Jet fuel and 43 per cent Petrol and Diesel. Government received a US$1 billion loan from Central Bank of Qatar to buy fuel and boost foreign reserves, which dropped to US$2.27 billion at the end of October 2021. During the first nine months of 2021, CPC spends US$692 million on fuel imports.

CPC might lessen its oil import volumes in 2021 due to a decrease in demand of jet fuel and fuel oil.

References

External links

1962 establishments in Ceylon
Energy companies established in 1962
Sri Lanka
Nationalised companies in Sri Lanka
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1962
Oil and gas companies of Sri Lanka
State owned commercial corporations of Sri Lanka

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation


An image trigger initiates the capture of single or multiple frames of a digital camera by analysing the signals of its sensor.

For capturing and analysing of fast moving objects (e.g. as in quality control of  production lines) modern high speed cameras are frequently used.
Typically the initiation of an image-series starts as soon as the object is entirely visible in the field of the camera.

By using a so-called "image trigger" this task can be done much faster and more accurately, without the cost and effort of additional equipment as in standard methods (for instance, via cable release).

The on-board "ImageBLITZ" image trigger uses the live picture of the camera itself as a flexible and accurate sensor, with the result that the process synchronisation takes care of itself.

By using CMOS cameras (which provide the information of every single pixel in digitized form) a fast processing of the supplied data is ensured.
To prepare the ImageBLITZ, a line segment of a predefined length is set up in the field of view, just where the triggering event is likely to take place. Then the amount of grey level alteration (and its direction from dark to bright or reverse) is set, as well as the minimum number of affected pixels.

At each triggering event the camera head now sends a frame (or a set of frames) to the host computer to be processed or archived for further use.

See also
 Bulb (photography)
 Shutter button

References

External links
  Image Trigger Application

Camera features

Image trigger


The Basilica of San Pietro ad Aram is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church in Naples, Italy. It is located about a block from the church of the Santissima Annunziata on Corso Umberto I.

History
The church is said to host the altar upon which St Peter preached while in Naples, and here he baptized the first Neapolitan converts to Christianity, Saint Candida and Saint Aspreno. In the 16th century, this church was granted by popes the status of celebrating ceremonial Jubilees for the remission of sins.

The layout of the church is that of a Latin-Cross. The present structure, built between 1650 and 1690, owes its design to Pietro De Marino and Giovanni Mozzetta.

The adjacent cloister was destroyed and fragments can be seen in the sacellum or shrine of Sant'Aspreno in piazza Borsa. The portal derives from the Conservatory dell'Arte della Lana, in vico Miroballo. The vestibule has frescoes attributed to Girolamo da Salerno. It has a baldacchino by Giovan Battista Nauclerio.

The first chapel on the right has a bas-relief depicting the Madonna delle Grazie by Giovanni da Nola; and an altarpiece of the  Jubilee (1594) by Wenzel Cobergher. The right transept has a St Raphael by Giacinto Diano, a Baptism of Christ by Massimo Stanzione, and a Madonna with St Felice da Cantalice by Andrea Vaccaro. The presbytery has two canvases by Luca Giordano: St Peter and St Paul hug before Martyrdom and a Consigning of the Keys to St. Peter. The wooden choir (1661) was completed by Giovan Domenico Vinaccia.

In the remaining chapels are paintings by  Sarnelli, Pacecco De Rosa, Giacinto Diano, Cesare Fracanzano, and Nicola Vaccaro.

A crypt with paleochristian art is located below the church.

Bibliography
 Vincenzo Regina, Le chiese by Napoli. Viaggio indimenticabile attraverso la storia artistica, architettonica, letteraria, civile e spirituale della Napoli sacra, Newton e Compton editore, Napoli 2004.
 Antonio Emanuele Piedimonte, Napoli Segreta, Edizioni Intra Moenia, 2006.
 Translated from Italian Wikidpedia

External links

Basilica churches in Naples
Catacombs
Baroque architecture in Naples
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1690
1690 establishments in Italy
17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

San Pietro ad Aram


Ediciones B is a Spanish publisher, which currently operates as a division of Penguin Random House. Ediciones B is headquartered in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; with branches throughout Latin America. It was established in 1986, but has its origins in El Gato Negro (1910) and Editorial Bruguera (1940).

History

El Gato Negro
It was founded in 1910 by Juan Bruguera Teixidó under the name El Gato Negro and specialising in popular literature, joke books and especially in comic magazines. They followed the example of the Spanish comic magazine TBO (founded in 1917) and in 1921, they created Pulgarcito which proved very successful. They published another twenty magazines including Charlot (1928) with content of Film Fun.

It came to possess, as indicated by Jesús Cuadrado:

After Juan Bruguera's death in 1933 his sons, Pantaleón and Francisco Bruguera Grane, succeeded him.

Editorial Bruguera
Pantaleón and Francisco Bruguera changed the name from El Gato Negro to Editorial Bruguera in 1939.

In 1947, the publishing house increased profits with other comics such as El Campeón (1948), Super Pulgarcito (1949), Magos de la Risa (1949) and El DDT (1951); romance novels of Corín Tellado and western novels (notably the ones of Marcial Lafuente Estefanía) and adventure comics such as El Cachorro or Capitán Trueno. In 1957, a group of comic artists tried to secede from the publisher and founded their own magazine Tío Vivo, but they did not succeed and in 1960, the magazine was acquired by Bruguera. Bruguera also published a comic for girls Sissi.

By then, Bruguera was one of the largest publishers of comics in Spain, along with Cliper, Hispano Americana y Toray. Over time, the family business also became a truly multinational publisher, being implemented in several countries in Latin America.

Comics
In the field of comics, the role played by the Editorial Bruguera after the Spanish Civil War was fundamental, especially its humor publications. Directed by Rafael González Martínez, the Editorial Bruguera cartoonists created an easily recognisable style (called "Escuela Bruguera") that was halfway between children's entertainment and a satire of manners.

Comics titles and characters published by Editorial Bruguera included:
 Don Pío (1947) by Peñarroya
 El repórter Tribulete (1947) by Cifré
 Doña Urraca (1948) by Jorge
 Zipi y Zape (1948) by Escobar
 El loco Carioco (1949) by Conti
 La familia Cebolleta (1951) by Vázquez
 El doctor Cataplasma (1953) by Martz Schmidt
 El caco Bonifacio (1957) by Enrich (es)
 Mortadelo y Filemón (1958) by Ibáñez
 Rigoberto Picaporte (1959) by Segura
  Agamenón (1961) by Nené Estivill
 Aspirino y Colodión (1966) by Alfons Figueras

Other directions
Since the mid-1960s, they launched new magazines such as Din Dan (1965), Bravo (1968) and Gran Pulgarcito (1969) in which the influence of television is clear. They also published in Spain Franco-Belgian comics such as Asterix or Blueberry, always beating their competitors.

In the 1970s, they increased their production of comics, taking advantage of their feature characters and combining new and old material.

In the literature field, they lost lawsuits against Corín Tellado and Marcial Lafuente Estefanía in 1974, so they started to publish material by Jorge Amado, Jorge Luis Borges, García Márquez, Juan Marsé o Juan Carlos Onetti. They also launched two pocket book collections: Libro Clásico and Libro Amigo.

The end
In the early 1980s, books such as Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez became big best-sellers. Despite this, the publishing house filed for bankruptcy on 7 June 1982.

In 1986, it was acquired by Grupo Z and transformed into Ediciones B.

It was briefly relaunched under Ediciones B from 2006 to 2010.

Ediciones B
Ediciones B was established in 1986, when Grupo Zeta purchased Editorial Bruguera, and renamed it "Ediciones B".

From its inception, Ediciones B's focus has published magazines such as TBO. It included stories from fictional characters such as Mortadelo & Filemon, SuperLopez, the naughty twins Zipi and Zape, and Capitán Trueno. Later, Ediciones B published comics and other stories that originated in foreign countries.

In the late 1990s, Ediciones B launched magazines geared toward children and teen audiences. As time passed, Ediciones B's publishing focus grew to include books from other genres. Some of these included adult content. The company acquired the rights of the American companies Disney and Bongo Comics, and directed by Carlos Santamaría Martínez, he launched Top Disney (1996-1999), Minnie Disney (1996-1999), Mega Top (1999-2005), Super Mini (1999-2005) and Top Cómic Mortadelo (2002-present). in addition to Calvin and Hobbes and the Simpson Comics (2003). The new version of Zipi and Zape commissioned by Cera y Ramis was canceled in 2002, due to its lack of success.

In March 2011, under the direction of Ernest Folch, he managed to shut down web pages centered on the study of Mortadelo and Filemón, provoking the subsequent controversy on the Internet.

In April 2017, Grupo Zeta sold Ediciones B to Penguin Random House for €40 million ($46,658,000). The transaction was completed in July 2017.

Genres
Ediciones B publishes multiple literary genres, including:
 Children & Youth
 Comic & Graphic Novels
 Essays (including History)
 Travel Guides
 Historical Fiction
 Narrative
 Poetry
 Romance
 Self-Help
 Science Fiction & Fantasy
 Thrillers & Mysteries

Imprints
After merging with Penguin Random House's web, the publisher changed its distribution. Significant sections include:
B de blok: Children's literature
B de Bolsillo: A selection of books about many topics that had been published previously
B de books: Digital and physical books
Biblioteca de bolsillo CLAVES ("KEYS Pocket Library"): A collection of selected titles translated from the French collection Découvertes Gallimard
Cómic: Comic books and graphic novels: Mortadelo and Filemon, The Simpsons, Superlópez, etc.
La Trama: Thrillers and mystery novels
Nova: Science-fiction
Novela Vergara: Aimed at the female audience, this collection holds stories of love, friendship, family and varied human feelings.
Plan B: Fiction and essay books

Literary events
Ediciones B takes part in literary events.

Historical Novel award "Ciudad de Úbeda": After organizing this contest together with other entities, Ediciones B published the winning historical novel. The contest is called once a year.

"La Trama" award: Beginning in the year 2014, this Ediciones B's annual contest looks for new writing talent in the categories of thrillers and whodunits. The first winner was Laura Balagué with her Las Pequeñas Mentiras (lit. The Little Lies).

Boolino awards: These annual awards began in 2015 and award accolades to the best illustrated youth and children's books. Ediciones B awards the winner with publication under "B de Blok". The first winning book was Entre Todas las Estrellas (Lit. Among All the Stars), by Cristina Alfonso Ibáñez.

Ediciones B can be found in some book fairs, such as those of the World Book Day/International Day of the Book. Others are held in cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.

Internet
Ediciones B offers two weekly contests so their readers can interact and try to complete their own books. They are "Los Martes nos vemos en B" ("We see at B on Tuesdays") and "Viernes con B" ("On Fridays with B"). The contests are not held in August due to the holiday period.

Los martes nos vemos en B: It consists of uploading a picture of a book cover together with a question. Answering it allows readers to participate in a drawing for the book.

Viernes con B: To become a participant, readers must retweet a message B has published. After the weekend, the person having retweeted the already mentioned message can win the book that has been tweeted that Friday.

References

Bibliography
 Cuadrado, Jesús (2000). De la historieta y su uso 1873-2000, Ediciones Sinsentido/Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez
 Guiral, Antoni (09/2010). 100 años de Bruguera. De El Gato Negro  Ediciones B. Barcelona: Ediciones B. Depósito Legal: B-24625-2010. .
 Martín Martínez, Antonio (01/1968). Apuntes para una historia de los tebeos II. La civilización de la imagen (1917–1936). Madrid: Revista de Educación, n.º 195.
 Martín Martínez, Antonio (03/1968). Apuntes para una historia de los tebeos IV. El tebeo, cultura de masas (1946–1963). Madrid: Revista de Educación, n.º 197.
 MARTÍNEZ PEÑARANDA, Enrique (2004). Vázquez (El dibujante y su leyenda). Madrid: Ediciones Sinsentido, Colección Sin Palabras, Serie A nª 04. . Depósito legal: M-39015-2004.
 RAMÍREZ, Juan Antonio (1975). El "comic" femenino en España. Arte sub y anulación Madrid: Editorial Cuadernos para el Diálogo, S. A. Colección Divulgación universitaria, Arte y literatura, número 78. Depósito Legal: M. 8.752 – 1975 .
 Regueira, Tino (2005). Guía visual de la Editorial Bruguera (1940–1988) Barcelona: Ediciones Glénat S. L. Depósito Legal: B-2551-05.

External links

Publishing companies of Spain
Penguin Random House

Ediciones B


Paul Chamberlain (born 1954) is a Canadian philosopher and professor. He teaches in the areas of Christian Apologetics, Ethics and Philosophy of Religion, and is also the Director of TWU's Institute of Christian Apologetics.

Life and career
Chamberlain was born in 1954. He graduated from Trinity International University in 1981 and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Marquette University. He holds additional diplomas and degrees in the following: Theological Studies, Peace River Bible Institute; Diploma in Pastoral Studies, Prairie Bible Institute; B.R.E., Providence College; Graduate Studies, Providence Theological Seminary; M.Div., Trinity International University. He currently serves as the director of the Institute of Christian Apologetics and professor of apologetics, ethics and philosophy of religion at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia British Columbia. He recently held the position of Canadian Executive Director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Chamberlain has pastored churches in Canada and the United States.

Chamberlain has also authored five books including Can We Be Good Without God, Final Wishes, Talking About Good And Bad Without Getting Ugly, Hell Upon Water and Why People Don't Believe, and published numerous articles in the field of ethics, physician-assisted suicide, philosophy of religion, and apologetics. He has participated widely in public debates and has made guest appearances on numerous radio and TV programs.

Writings
Why People Don't Believe: Confronting Seven Challenges to Christian Faith, 2011, Baker Books,
 Hell Upon Water: Prisoners of War in Britain 1793-1815, 2008, Spellmount,
Talking About Good And Bad Without Getting Ugly: A Guide To Moral Persuasion, 2005, InterVarsity Press
Final Wishes: A Cautionary Tale on Death, Dignity & Physician-Assisted Suicide, 2000, InterVarsity Press, . In 2275 libraries, according to WorldCat
Can We Be Good Without God? A Conversation About Truth, Morality, Culture & a Few Other Things That Matter, 1996, InterVarsity Press

References

External links
 Paul Chamberlain, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy, ACTS Seminaries

1954 births
20th-century Canadian philosophers
21st-century Canadian philosophers
Academic staff of Trinity Western University
Christian apologists
Evangelical writers
Living people
Marquette University alumni

Paul Chamberlain


Banja Luka (Бања Лука), or Banjaluka is a city in the western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located on the Vrbas river. It is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many people say it is one of the country's most beautiful cities. It is the administrative center of the Republika Srpska and the economic and cultural center of this part of Bosnian Krajina.

Its elevation is 163 m, and its total area is 1,238.91 km2. According to the 2013 census, the City of Banja Luka has 185,042 inhabitants.

In the first century AD, Romans won the area of Banja Luka, which was then inhabited mainly members of Mezeji, an  Illyrian tribe. This area was completely within the Roman province called Illyricum. Today, the city of Banja Luka is located on the road that led from Dalmatia to Pannonia, or from Salona to today's Bosanska Gradiška. Today's citadel Kastel, which is in what was the center of the city at the time, was a Roman military fortress.

Slavs settled Balkans and all of the current Banja Luka are in the sixth and seventh centuries, and they built several fortresses in the valley of the river Vrbas.  There are not many written records from that time.  The earliest Slavic settlement is also called "Vrbas," and it was first mentioned in 1320. The name of the town Banja Luka first appears in writing in 1494, in a work by Croatian-Hungarian King Vladislav. The name comes from banjaluk that is the Turkish-Bosnian slang for "spaing." This is because of the natural hot water suitable for baths that still exist in today's oldest settlement, Gornji Šeher/Upper Seher. The city came under Ottoman rule in 1537.

References

Cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Banja Luka