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Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) ridership rose 6 percent in the first quarter of fiscal-year 2013 compared with the same period a year earlier.

Average weekday ridership increased 6.5 percent, while Saturday and Sunday ridership grew by 8.5 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively.

The agency also announced that its Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) showed BART scored its highest rating for cleanliness inside trains in the quarter.

"In fact, the QPR for the first quarter … showed improvements in all the customer-related attributes," BART officials said in a prepared statement.

One factor in the higher rating could be the new, easier-to-clean vinyl seats installed in 206 cars, they said. BART plans to install the new seats in another 243 cars by July 2013.

"Our interior car modifications, including the easier-to-clean seats and floors, should make things more pleasant for BART riders while we wait for the first cars of our new Fleet of the Future … to arrive in 2018," said John McPartland, president of BART's board.