BART's board adopts new policy on cell phone interruptions

Yesterday, Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board adopted a new policy that sets a standard of “extraordinary circumstances” under which riders’ cell phone service may be intentionally interrupted.


Earlier this year, BART officials caused a controversy when they temporarily blocked riders’ cell phone service to stop what officials believed to be an attempt by protestors to interrupt train operations. The protestors allegedly planned to use their cell phones to coordinate the protest.

The new policy allows cell phone service to be blocked only when the agency “determines that there is strong evidence of imminent unlawful activity that threatens the safety of district passengers, employees and other members of the public,” BART officials said in a prepared statement.

The policy cites examples such as “evidence of use of cell phones as instrumentalities in explosives, to facilitate violent criminal activity or endanger district passenger,” they said.

“The intent of this cell phone interruption policy is to balance free-speech rights with legitimate public safety concerns,” BART President Bob Franklin said. “This policy, with input from the Federal Communications Commission and the American Civil Liberties Union, will serve as a pioneering model for our nation, as a reference to other public agencies that will inevitability face similar dilemmas in the future.”