Smoke E-Cigs, Pinole and Hercules? Not on BART Anymore

BART directors voted unanimously Thursday to give final approval to an ordinance that allows the transit agency to ban electronic cigarettes on its trains and in its stations.

The American Lung Association and others backed the measure, saying it’s important to protect the health of riders from secondhand vapors and particle pollution from electronic cigarettes.

Smoking an e-cigarette, known colloquially as vaping, previously wasn’t regulated at BART.

[Also on Patch this week: Person With Measles On East Bay BART Is LinkedIn Employee.]

BART directors have been getting many complaints from riders about secondhand smoke from e-cigarettes, BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby said. BART officials said that because there are no state and federal guidelines to restrict the smoking of e-cigarettes, the transit agency’s only immediate option is to enact an ordinance allowing the agency to enforce a restriction.

According to a BART staff memo, e-cigarettes were first developed in China in 2004 with the aim of efficiently delivering nicotine to a user without the harmful effects of inhaling smoke.

E-cigarettes heat a liquid to produce vapors than can carry nicotine to the user, along with a variety of flavored substances. Sales of the devices are booming as an alternative to tobacco cigarettes. But the BART staff memo said that just as with the use of traditional tobacco cigarettes, there is concern about potential harm from second-hand exposure to the vapor delivered by e-cigarettes.

[Previous: BART Votes To Ban E-Cigs on Trains.]

BART officials said transit agencies in California have had varied responses to e-cigarettes, with some agencies banning them but other agencies choosing not to action now and instead wait for state or federal guidelines. Huckaby said BART’s ordinance takes effect immediately but the agency won’t begin enforcing it right away.

He said BART will now update its signs at stations and on trains to ensure that riders know about the new restrictions and BART police officers initially will just give warning tickets to e-cigarette users.

Huckaby said eventually BART will impose penalties of up to $100 for first-time violators and $200 for second-time offenders. People who have three offenses in five years will face a penalty of to $500, he said.

--Bay City News

Also on Patch:

• Livermore Premium Outlets Gets Rebranded (Again)
• Recent School Parking Lot Burglaries Prompts Pleasanton Police to Remind Community to ‘Hide It, Lock It or Lose It’
• CHP Looking for Information About Crash That Killed Tri-Valley Teen
• For Those With Nut Allergies: See’s Candy Recall
• VIDEO: CHP Struggles with Distraught Jumper as He Dangles From Bridge
• Target Agrees to Pay $3.9 Million on Allegations of Charging More Than Advertised
• Cookie Sales at An All-Time High as Girl Scout Sets Up Shop In Front of SF Pot Dispensary
• Mystery Goo That Covered East Bay Seabirds Partially Identified, But Still A Mystery
• How Much Did the Recent Storms Help the CA Drought?

Care to comment on this story? Scroll down to find the comment section. Wondering how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.