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Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) recently announced it will partner with BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA to help develop design concepts for the agency’s next-generation rail cars.

DesignworksUSA is the design-consulting division of BMW Group. In collaboration with BART, the firm will design the interior and exterior of the cars in a way “that reflects the needs of customers and the future of transportation in the Bay Area,” according to a BART press release.

“With 75 percent of our customers having the option of choosing another way to get to their destinations, we figured what better way to lure the drivers of the future onto BART than to hire the company who knows motorists best,” said BART Board President Bob Franklin in a prepared statement.

BART has been conducting “seat labs” to obtain public input on the project. DesignworksUSA will use the feedback to create the new designs, which will be available for public review later this summer.

BART expects the new cars to enter service in 2017.