A midnight deadline to settle contract disputes between transit unions and management came and went, but trains will keep running in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, at least for another day.
Unions representing Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers did not reach a contract agreement by an overnight deadline on Monday, leading hundreds of thousands of commuters to fear strike-led transport chaos. But shortly after 1 a.m., federal mediator George Cohen told reporters outside the Caltrans building in Oakland of some productive negotiations. “I am authorized to say the trains will run” on Tuesday, Cohen said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Nearly 400,000 commuters ride BART each weekday.