BART Officials Confirm New Seats Don’t Root for Seattle Seahawks

The new BART cars are almost upon us, and they are a wonder to behold. But what about the seats? Will they be better than the ones we currently sit on as we ride to and from work? Yes, says BART senior web producer Melissa Jordan who, in a comprehensive report, gives us the word on the new pews of public transit.

Seat upgrades include silicon padding, lumbar support, and additional space under your seat for your Herschel backpack.

Also of importance is the new color comb that, in 2014, sparked outrage as it seemed to resemble the neon green and blue colors of 49ers rivals, the Seattle Seahawks. So much so, in fact, that it promoted a petition to change the hues.

But as BART points out via the following detailed seating chart, no, they are not the same colors. Behold:

Whew.

And as SFist reports, the new seats were consumer-tested like a big studio Hollywood summer blockbuster.

The seats were selected following a lengthy testing process involving every-day riders. Running in the summer of 2011, the "seat labs" involved 2,200 passengers trying out one of twelve seat variants (the full findings are available to read online). "Participants were given the opportunity to comment on various types of material," reads a summary of the findings, "and the word 'clean' was used 653 times in comments" (apparently people didn't want a repeat of the gross cloth seats of yesteryear).

The new BART cars are expected to roll out by year’s end.

• Meet the Fleet: All about the seats, a firsthand report [BART]
• Take a Look at the New BART Car [Curbed SF]
• A Close Up Look At The New BART Seats [SFist]
• New BART Seats Are Too Seahawks-esque, Say Niners Fans [Curbed SF]