Program Management • Wireless Networks Bay Area Rapid Transit

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Comprising five lines and one light rail extension (eBART) with 131 miles of track and 44 stations, the system serves over 160,000 riders daily. In 2014 BART announced that it would replace its fleet of existing 669 rail cars with 775 new rail cars under a $3.2bn project known as the Fleet of the Future. The new trains would feature interior passenger information display screens, exterior digital display systems showing the route and destinations, automated announcement systems, and audio induction loop systems will be installed. The trains in the fleet would also offer Wi-Fi access, with seamless transition to Wi-Fi on station platforms.

In early 2016 BART contracted Xentrans to provide consulting services to support the development of a detailed technical specification for the design of a private trackside network that would provide high-speed wireless connectivity to Fleet of the Future rail cars, stations and maintenance yards throughout the BART system. The wireless network would connect on-board systems for applications including remote diagnostics, passenger information, security CCTV and passenger Wi-Fi. The work would build upon Xentrans CEO Jim Baker’s extensive experience of similar trackside wireless network implementation acquired while seconded as Manager of Next Generation Networks at Amtrak (2013-2018).

In addition to creating the technical specification, Xentrans was asked to conduct a Proof of Concept (PoC) to test various Train-to-Ground (T2G) wireless technologies at BART’s test track in Hayward, California, and provide recommendations for future implementation via an open procurement process. The PoC was successfully concluded in June 2017, and Xentrans recommendations were incorporated in BART’s 2017 Invitation for Proposal for Fiber & Wireless Commercial Opportunities, a significant procurement of underground 5G DAS wireless; wayside, train and station communications; and up to 150 miles of fiber optic cabling. In 2020 it was announced that BART had awarded the entire project to service provider Mobilitie (since acquired by Boldyn Networks) under a Public/Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, becoming one of the largest of its kind in North America. The current schedule expects implementation to the following schedule:

  • 5G cellular DAS & fiber optic network – On-air 2024
  • BART station Wi-Fi – On-air 2025
  • Wayside & trains wireless network – On-air 2026

The T2G network will utilize wayside and on-train radio systems from RADWIN, while a concurrently-deployed wireless network for Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) will utilize radios from Cisco’s Fluidmesh deployed by Hitachi. Xentrans authored a study for BART to assess, and make recommendations for, the coexistence of T2G and CBTC wireless networks along the BART right-of-way.

As the long-term project continues, Xentrans (under direction of CTO Alan Rowe) is playing a key role as extension of staff for BART’s Office of the CIO as program lead to coordinate multiple stakeholders – including BART, Alstom, Boldyn Networks and various technology vendors – to ensure adherence to the technical design and successful implementation.