Public Transportation and Smart Growth

Yearning to nab a seat where they can relax and fire up Facebook or “Candy Crush,” they ride in the opposite direction for one stop or several, then cross the platform, board an emptier train and come back in style.

As BART ridership grows — but without the agency’s fleet growing in turn — so do the ranks of the upstreamers. In the mornings, they ply their trade near the ends of the East Bay lines, in places like Pleasanton and Fremont.

They’re easiest to spot in the afternoon at the Civic Center Station in San Francisco. As trains from the Financial District pull in, they burst from the doors. While most people head for the escalators, they speed-walk across the platform, zigzagging between harried passengers to get in line for an East Bay-bound train.

Minutes later, they’re back on BART, often with a choice seat. Armed with an extensive knowledge of train schedules and an extreme aversion to body odor, they’re playing an elaborate game of strategy — and they’re winning.