at 6:00, day two of the bart strike and you can see it is even more jammed than yesterday in the cash-paying lanes as folks try to get to work without bart. >> we have complete coverage of all the things that have to do with bart and, also, this wildfire that is burning in

arizona with other news beside the bart strike bringing you that, as well, with the backup at the bay bridge toll plaza in cash-paying lanes and fast track lanes, as well. >> look at map. you can see there are pockets of red building in various areas of the bay area and we will focus, now, on the biggest, westbound 580 at flynn road where we still have one lane blocked because of an early car fire at 13 miles per hour for the top speed, a long drive if you make it in the westbound direction. i will show you how long in a moment. a couple of cars were driving at a high rate and one overturned. the lanes are blocked off. i spoke too soon when i said the drive between dublin and castro valley was okay, but a car accident involving a big rig and westbound 580, we are down to 59 miles per hour so slow going in

the westbound direction and it picks up in to castro valley and 580 westbound from tracy to dublin and 15 minutes from antioch to the maze, through walnut creek, that is the 63-minute drive and 25 minutes westbound on highway 24 from walnut creek to 580 and it looks like everything is loaded up. >> 6:02, day two of the bart strike is underway with no clear resolution in sight and we continue coverage with abc7 news transportation reporter at the lake merritt bart station. heather? hot heather -- >> heather: plenty of picketers and the stations are locked up with no bart trains running. the union workers say they are frustrated but, also, motivated to show the public and the bart district what they are serious about: getting what they are owed.

it inoed. no talks were schedule or materialized yesterday and there is nothing scheduled for today. it was behind-the-scenes as mediators worked on this yesterday and no one was talking about any mediator activity yesterday. they might be trying to get the two sides together today we. the unions called the last offer insulting and said it would tick a better package to get them back to the table. they are on hold waiting for that offer but, at the same time, we the acu union lawyers met yesterday and were trying to send their response back to bart from bart's last offer which

made on saturday. the tricky issues are those that have been tricky from the beginning, the unions would like a wage increase of 4.5 percent over three years. the district is offering rather than a three year a four-year contract with a 2 percent increase each of the four years and the unions have been pushing heart to get better and more safety and security to both themselves as a work late and passengers. they feel they are threatened by the violence that is rampant in certain parts of the system. again, nothing is scheduled for today. everyone is crossing their fingers both the union and the bart district, that they will be able to get back to the table today and end this thing as soon as possible.

>> thanks. former san francisco mayor brown says that if he is asked, he is willing to help mediate the bart negotiations. brown was instrumentsal in ending the last bart strategic in 1997 which was air force one you just saw, and he will act as a mediator between the two sides, free of charge. >> he suggested the mayors of san francisco and oakland get involved to bring a speedy resolution to the strike. >> it is 6:05. bart is completely out of service with the transit agency again offering limited bus service to commuters even expanding the service. >> abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is in pleasanton. >> i talked to people who, worked from home yesterday but need to go to work today or they drove dead and they want to try the buses today so i will give you a look at what to expect the

this is waiting to fill up before it takes off for the city but we have a couple more waiting to go in pleasanton when this is gulf. because of the popularity bart has adjusted you can now catch a bus at this station from 5:00 to 9:00 and the other four stays from yesterday are available, dublin/pleasanton, walnut creek, fremont, and el cerrito a free round-trip bus ride into the city. bart is worried about capacity and says this cannot replace all trains and is asking for those who can work from home to do it, again today. >> before you go we want to check in with you because we just heard from our vice president of programming, yesterday he was at the walnut creek station boarding the bus and he said this morning he waited 20 minutes doubling the time so it s mirrors what

you seeing, more people are at this hour trying to get on the buses. >> it took 20 minutes to get a bus? >> yesterday. >> people are not today. we have two empty buses here so no line. >> and they just waiting for the bus to fill up. i am hearing from new riders who want to give the bus thing a try. be prepared to deal with more people today on the buses than yesterday. >> to clarify, he did say he waited 20 minutes today, doubling the time from yesterday. we are seeing more people at the toll plaza and more people at the ferries so it appears people are trying to get back to work maybe after sitting at home. >> we will look at the toll plaza right now with cornell bernard.

>> the commute is on. so is the traffic. this is worse than yesterday. worse than yesterday. the cash-paying lanes backed up well it to the maises and stop-and-go traffic. the commute started early snarling at 4:30. many got stuck in monday's terrible traffic because bart trains are not running and they did not want to deal with it. we have seen a lot of confused drivers backing out of carpool lane because they are not carpools. c.h.p. says that is very dangerous. do not do that. fast track is your best bet. extra toll takers are on the job today to accommodate a club of more commuters but i am not sure it is going to help because the damage is done this morning. if you have to get into the cang

here in the carpool lanes. >> now a difficult perspective of how bad the delays are with cell seven on westbound 80 headed toward the town them it is moving slowly but the real backup, of course, is getting to the toll plaza and through the meter lights. >> one of several backups. now leyla gulen has what is going on. >> we have frustrated people out there in pain. if you are coming from the berkeley area there are not enough alternatives to make the drive into downtown oakland, for instance. we sympathize for the commuters in the bay area. 580 cannot scratch a break this morning. westbound we have a brand new accident involving a motorcycle and that is adding to the pain.

we have one lane blocked at flynn road because of an early car fire and the top speed is 13 miles per hour and sometimes in the single digits but look at that from tracy we are over an hour in dublin.and westbound 58d up from the 680 dublin interchange and as we look at the drive coming down from highway four westbound 80 that drive to the hoffman split is very difficult at to hour. now, the weather. mike? >> we will have hot temperatures and sun. we have a few sprinkles at live doppler 7 hd. this is headed to the northwest and away from land. there is more to the south but it will continue push off over the ocean. it added more humidity to the area and kept our temperatures up during the overnight hours.

that is going to spring board us to excessive heat again in the north bay, the east bay, the hills, the interior valleys, all the way down into the high old vacations and the santa clara valley over toward the santa cruz mountains and that warning continues until 7:00 tomorrow evening. the day planner, around the bay, 50's and 60's by 7:00 and a few 70's, city, in the east bay valley and 96 by noon. 66 at the coast by noon and 103 at 4:00 with today a hotter day in the forecast the back in the 80's and 90's by 7:00. you can see the sun is shedding light on how busy the bay bridge toll plaza is. by friday we are out of the 100's inland and cooler weather in the seven-day forecast. >> our coverage of bart strike continues next. 8tes

>> covering santa clara, east bay and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> picture of the bay bridge toll plaza proving to be hotter hotspot than yesterday. this is day two of the bart strike. here is another view of the toll plaza and on your left you can see sky 7 picture of the approach and the backup that extends far toward the made area with a grind this morning. >> the san francisco bay area is expanding service because of the bart strike. katie, compared to the bay bridge toll plaza that does not look so bad.

it is better to wait in line for a ferry than in the backup. the first ferry came in hundreds of people still waiting for the next boat and many of the people remain here before the first boat arrived and they will have to wait for take two. the spokesman for the bay area is out here and he has a favor to ask of anyone who is coming out here to take a ferry he says can you car pool or drop off. it is one of the frustrations for those trying to get to work during the bart strike. i spoke to a woman who got here at 5:00 and does not make the first boat. she aid the round trip ticket on the ferry is more expensive and more than that.

i first sympathized because everything is going up, utilities and everything, so you need more money but it is getting irritating. it is very inconvenient. this morning from the ferry spokesman, he said 18,000 we riders took the ferry system-wide yesterday and normally the number is 6,000, so 6,000 compared to 18,000 people. they will have a another ferry helping out, a ferry which can carry 400 people is going to assist in the morning commute. you can see the second ferry, the blue and gold, pulling to the terminal and a good sight for store eyes for people waiting to hop on but it will take many more ferries and many more trips to get the thousands

to work in san francisco hopefully on time this morning. >> 300 percent increase on the ferries increase! leyla gulen, people are trying to stay off the roads. >> it is amazing to see the lines of people and how many were waiting. i cannot believe it. i have been getting a last tweets from the twitter followers. they have made jokes saying they will hop into a canoe and make their way over to san francisco so it give as new meaning to "canoe pooling." an the bay area, you can see how our bridges are doing. from the east bay to san francisco it is just jam packed, sardines, from emeryville and into san francisco, that is now a 26-minute drive. if you are headed along the san mateo bridge westbound direction look at that, it is 12 minutes and 11 minutes from the dumb

dumbarton west to east. this is fog in sausalito but it is quick and comfortable headed into san francisco. how is the weather, mike nicco? >> thank you, leyla gulen. live doppler 7 hd shows the mid-level moisture we were tracking is. coming down the form of sprinkles right now in san francisco and out over the ocean. visibility has improved with the overturning of the atmosphere at half moon bay and up to four miles and same in santa rosa and everyone else is fine. headed into san francisco it is much cooler here than anywhere else away the bay area with mid-to-upper 50's from 56 at forest hills to 59 in san francisco and mission district through the ferry building and 59 degrees. 57 if richmond and everyone else in the 60's, low-to-mid 60's on the bay shore to santa clara at 65 and walnut creek and

pittsburg and tracy, hid to upper 70's and pleasanton hill at 69. the mid-level moisture is diffuseed with the rain coming from the clouds the form of sprinkles from mount tamalpais. it is going to create hazy sunshine again today and push the humidity up a little bit during the morning hours but it will thin out in the afternoon hours. dangerous heat through thursday and manageable for the weekend as far as warmth. >> los gatos is upper 90's to low 100's and in the 90's from san mateo south and 8 a -- 85 in mill gray. 85 in sausalito and flirting with 100's in the north bay valley. from 85 in berkeley to 93 today in fremont and castro valley and all the 100's in the east bay valley. expect 50's and 70's no lows but san francisco and the coast there will be 50's and triple

digits through thursday which is seven days in a row. look at saturday and sunday, finally some relief in the forecast. have a great day. be safe. >> back on the road in the thick of things, with abc7 news' engineer using cell 7 technology to show us the backup. you have to sum up what you have experienced so for this morning, dick. >> well, kristen, it is much different situation than what we had yesterday. all the folks that might have stayed home yesterday, they are coming to work today. i am right now on the west grand avenue on-ramp to northbound 880 trying to come up to the toll plaza and if you are an oakland local you know the west grand avenue is a convenient surface street to avoid the backup on highway 24 to stay off the freeways but a lot of folks are trying to take the shortcut and

before i made a u-turn, the backup was bumper-to-bumper traffic as far as the eyes to see and now you can see i am mergeing on to 880. it is stop-and-go traffic. it is a parking lot. a much different story than yesterday. i spoke to a tow truck operator for caltran at the toll plaza and he said he was out here yesterday but the backup today is heavier and it started 45 minutes earlier today than yesterday. >> we are looking at your vehicle where you are and we can see the jam leading up to the bay bridge toll plaza so thank you, dick. we will check back with you again in a little bit. >> day two of the bart strike and as you see dick is

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>> and matt is at broadway and toth in oakland where people hope to cash a bus because the trains are not running. >> this line is longer than at

this time yesterday almost at 6:30. can you see how long it is. they are running three buses an hour rather than two with extra long buses. people get on the bus and it is full and they have to wait for the next so that is 45 minute wait during the peak hours from 7:00 to 9:00. will people stay home? we will monitor the situation from 20th and broadway and let you know from oakland. >> thank you. coverage of the bart strike continues at 6:30 and the he said-she said arguments with bart. >> look behind me, a busy bay bridge and it looks like most of the activity is on 580 with the

>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news, good morning. 6:29 on this tuesday, second day of the bart strike. and a picture of cars hardly moving at the bay bridge toll plaza very slow.

we will check with cornell bernard. >> it is a mess. we will check with leyla gulen on the traffic. amost of the activity is on 580 in the westbound direction. it is not what we like to hear. it is a busy drive. coming from tracy to dublin you have a lot of brake lights at 12 miles per hour for the top speed. we have a few incidents over the altamont pass one involving a motorcycle and an early car fire at flynn road still blocking one lane and it has been around for hours. as you continue in the westbound direction and headed into castro we have another accident that is blocking a lane involving a big rig. very busy conditions and over an hour to get from tracy to dublin but a broader view of the bay area drive in a little bit. eric?

>> 6:30, day two of the bart strike and it is not cheer when both sides will get back to the bargaining table. we have our transportation reporter. heather? >> the striking workers taking a little bit of a breakfast break with a delivery of cold orange juice and hot food from the a.t.u. president and they are refueling. workers are out on the picket lines, the union lawyers and negotiating teams have been heating and working behind-the-scenes but they are not working together with the other side sip the strike began yesterday morning. now, everyone is crossing their fingers that today they will be able to get back. bart says that they are waiting for the mediator to draw the two sides together. >> this is like back in high

school, the bart management is the cool kids and we are the geeks that make things work but we want something from them but they brush us off. when they want something us from us, they act like they are doing us a favor by allowing them to serve them. >> the unions have been saying all along their top priority is improved safety and security if workers and passengers across the system. at the same time, bart is saying it has major financial challenges in working to upgrade and maintain the aging system. they have new trains. they have a track control system. these are expensive actuals coming up in the future years. since the trains are not running, bart is expanding bus service across the bay as an alternative. abc7 news reporter amy >> in probleas more from

pleasanton. plenty of buses to go. no lines. this is a group of students would have gathered and will board at once. we have not seen massive crowds here. we have not seen any wait. what happens, you climb on this bus and it takes you to west oakland. you climb on to another bus and that takes you to the city, so these buses loop between their bart station and west oakland frequently. i do get a sense more people are trying this option today. we have met a couple of people who said they worked from home yesterday but they could not do that today. >> my spectateses are low with the traffic. i do it because i have to be in the office today. that is it. >> what do you think of the bus option? >> i am using it for the first time. i will see. >> because of the popularity bart has adjusted. you can now catch a bus at the west oakland bart station.

that is new and was not available yesterday. they will have more buses departing west oakland for the city today. the other four stations are still available today the same as yesterday at the bart stations in walnut creek, el cerrito, fremont, and dublin/pleasanton, a free round trip because ride but officials are worried about capacity saying the buses can not replace the trains. they are asking if you can work from home today, please do so. >> it looks like that is hard because the bay bridge toll plaza is a parking lot, perhaps even more jam packed. abc7 news reporter cornell bernard continues the coverage. >> the commute is on. so is the traffic. it is a mess. it is worse than yesterday. traffic is backed up well into the maze especially in the cash-paying lanes.

stop-and-go traffic is getting worse. the commute started early with traffic snarling at 4:30 this morning. many reasonable got stuck in monday's traffic and did not want to deem with it and they left early. we have seen a last confusion, drivers are backing up out of the carpool lane because they were not carpool vehicles and we have seen a lot of that, this morning. c.h.p. says don't do it, it is dangerous. fast track is the best bet, those lanes are open and moving pretty will with. extra toll takers are accommodating the extra crush of commuters. it appears the damage has been done. if you have to get to the city carpool if you can. there is in waiting in carpool lanes. but c.h.p. is out in force looking for carpool violators. a woman said the cash-paying lane took her 2 1/2 hours to get

from pittsburg to the toll plaza. it is a mess. if you can avoid the bay bridge this morning, that would be a good plan. >> not very far from where you are, cornell, is cell 7, our engineer, caught in traffic trying to get to the toll plaza. i understand the fast track lanes are creeping along on the right. the cash lanes? that is where dick is and completely stopped. car pool is the best bet but you need two buddies in the car otherwise you face a $400 fine. this is cell phone technology and from the other picture, in the box, you can see the traffic is backed up. >> abc7 morning news continues with complete coverage of the bart strike.

you we are back coming up on 6:40. we have a few sprinkles hacking around in the north bay mainly around marin county and the

coast. the big story moving forward is the excessive heat again until 7:00 tomorrow. i still think we could have 100's inland through thursday. the low clouds hugging the coast are push into san francisco and the mid-and-upper level clouds will make it look hazy today but it is not a "spare the air" day. the next 12 hours, by noon we are at 66 at the coast and 96 inland and we are sizzling hot 1303 inland -- 103 inland. >> this morning, more people are getting on the roadways trying to get to work by bus or ferry. this is a picture of how it looks now from from the carpool lane, the fast track is on the right and carpool to the left is zipping along, and the car-paying lanes in the middle is we we are stuck. >> people who are not used to driving in who are used to

taking bart probably do not have fast track and are stuck where the backup is. >> we will stay on beyond 7:00 to continue to cover the horrible impact on bay area traffic as a result of the bart street. so stay with us pass 7:00, and let you know that one other option is the bart shuttles. our vice president of programming said it took the same amount of time to get from walnut creek to west oakland as it did from getting to san francisco yesterday from oakland because of a longer wait for the bus and longer time sitting in truck. >> pack your patience. >> the city of san francisco is using city signs to help drivers find a place to park if they drive in here. right now the signs are lit up along the embarcadero and give information about the location of available parking garages in the city with the number of open spaces. norm amendment city uses the

signs to update drivers of traffic on the embarcadero or to give giants game updates. >> a.c. transit workers are on the job despite ongoing contract negotiations and we will take you to oakland to see if the commuters are rushing to the buses. >> another quick look at the toll plaza where it is a nice marion the bay

>> covering santa rosa, berkeley, san jose, and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> good morning. i use that loosely, at 6:45 this is the bay bridge toll plaza. what you face if you are trying to get from oakland to san francisco over the bay bridge, it is a parking lot. only the carpool lanes are getting through. in west oakland, bart buses are lined up to take people into san francisco because the trains are not running. a warning from the vice president of president who took the bus from walnut creek to oakland said it took 50 minutes the same it took to get yesterday into san francisco! >> a.c. transit bus is another option. we will check with abc7 news reporter at 20th and broadway. matt, we saw a huge line. what happened? >> they are gone. two minutes ago the line came to here. i am standing on broadway.

on 20th, you can see the line is gone. completely gone. another bus showed up and took away all the people that were standing in line. there were dozens. the extra bus was an extra bus that a.c. transit put in service to speed it up and get people going to the city. there are three buses an hour rather than two. we saw the extra bus, as well, so a.c. transit is trying to speed up the process. they have extra long buses. usually they are a short bus. now they are extra long. yesterday at this time, there was a 45 minute wait from 7:00 to 9:00 and the people who arrived before 7:00 have a much better experience headed into the city than those who arrive at 7:00. many who came today were here yesterday and they say their experience was fine and it took them, and this is maybe the low expectation they have, it took them to or three ho

were happy. maybe the idea is to get up early and get to the bus station early and have low expectations. >> that is tomorrow morning. thanks. we have seen lines at the ferries and we will check with katie marzullo from jack london square in oakland. >> lots of things happening here and this used to the line to san francisco but as we come back over this way you will see it is muchty and the san francisco bay ferry that is waiting on the dock is about to pull away and the spokesman says that is the third ferry to leave for san francisco holding 700 people. it has filled and is about to depart. in line right now leaving for san francisco but we expect another one will form as the next wave of commuters comes in. the people you see boarding here

now are in the line for south san francisco, for oyster bay and are boarding the first ferry to their destination. that line was almost empty until now so it seems to be alternating back-and-forth. there seem to be a lot more people out here this morning than yesterday. we have new numbers from yesterday, with san francisco bay ferry saying 18,000 riders yesterday took the ferry. normally the number would be 6,000. i talked with a woman who normally takes bart and she took the ferry for the first time yesterday and again today. >> it was great. clone. an improvement over bart. it was fast. our company has a shultz that picks us up at the ferry terminal. it was easy. it was easy. >> the people you see are going

to oyster point in south san francisco. if you taking a ferry, if you can have someone drop you off or carpool that is advised. there is limited parking here at jack london square. they are not selling tickets on the ferry so you need a clipper card or buy your ticket here at jack london square. >> now the overall traffic picture from leyla gulen. >> traffic is a mess. we have a new accident along the northbound side of 880 we have plenty of slowing in the southbound direction and that is causing pressure on 238 out of castro valley. so busy conditions out here but though more evident than on 580 are we have had several accidents between tracy and castro valley and we are look at one hour and 22 minutes headed westbound and if you are

traveling along highway 4 out of antioch by walnut creek it is 74-minute commute and 80 is filling up fast, 40 minutes from highway 4 to the maze. it is not so busy in san jose northbound 280 away from 17 a few extra cars and everything is moving along at tiptop shape. >> good morning, mike. from the east bay hills this morning, it looks delightful. the mid-and-upper moisture is moving away and falling apart so it has made it humid and muggy keeping the temperatures up. in the mid-70's in pittsburg and antioch and low-to-mid 70's around walnut creek and lafayette. livermore and pleasanton still around 72 and 70, the warm spots. low-to-mid 60's at the bay shore

and slow and los gatos at 66 and the hills, still in the 80's, 59 right now and comfortable in san francisco and 55, cool this in half moon bay, and a beautiful picture showing hazy sunshine and more heat in day five and dangerous heat through thursday and it will become more manageable, but, still, fairly warm this weekend compared to average but nothing like the 100 in los gatos and mid-to-upper 90's for the santa clara valley and up the peninsula, we are stuck in the 80's. low 70's along the coast and 80's in downtown and south san francisco and 85 in sausalito and upper 90's to near 100 throughout the not bay valley with low 70's and we will have mid-to-upper 80's around berkeley and newark and everyone else in the throw hid -- in the low-to-mid 90's. a lost air conditioning are still running because of the

extra humidity keeping the heat up in the east bay valley. low clouds are hugging the coast tonight at 58 in san francisco and the rest of us are in the 70's and a few 70's hacking -- hanging on. the triple digits hold through independence day on day seven but in the 80's around the bay and 60's at the coast and the cooler weather flushes all the way inland by saturday and sunday with temperatures closer to average. be careful today and have a good one. we will re-cap the day's other top stories

this is one of the few times we have seen cell 7 driving at highway speed and it looks like dick is on the bay bridge, a

trip from grand avenue to the toll plaza usually three or four minutes took 34 minutes this morning. no new talks scheduled with the bart strike so this is a look at smoothest running you will see this morning. in oakland you can see a bart train running this morning, but it is not going to on the doors for you, this is an inspection train, part of routine maintenance according to the transit agency and birth is running trains to keep tracks from rusting and make sure the system is ready to go when the strike ends. >> we want to re-cap the top stories, breaking news in oakland, this is video from sky 7 of two restaurant employees shot and killed in a wings stop and video from the ground, the miss say the two employees were shot inside the restaurant at midnight during a robbery attempt. so far, no gunmen are in

captivity. >> in arizona, a thousand people came out to remember the 19 firefighters killed battling a wildfire. the memorial is one of many planned in press contract. the bodies of the firefighters were brought to the morgue. the crew were battling a fire north of phoenix and they were trapped by the flames. it is considered the most deadly wildfire since 1933, with 2,000 acres burned and 200 homes destroyed. pg&e issued an alert to conserve energy today. it is in effect from noon to 7:00 p.m. and the hot weather evertaxing the power grid leading to blackout if the power lines are threatened by fire or if a plant is settling in off line. as if the traffic is not hot enough, getting under the power we have the temperatures and traffic. >> this is a picture of the bay

bridge toll plaza and slow going from emeryville to san francisco at least half an hour. on the maps, the hottest spot along 80 in the westbound direction you can see where the traffic is starting to backup at 580, packed, also, out this. >> here is a look at the cloud cover along the coast as we look from mount tamalpais, the day planner is starting in the 50's and 60's in most areas and a few 70's hanging on and by 4:00 72 to 103 inland. >> thank you are have much. >> the abc7 news morning news continues at 7:00 and we will not go away but continue coverage of the bart strike.

at 7:00, breaking news as we continue our coverage of day two of the b.a.r.t. strike. this is a live picture op the bay, the blue and gold fleet helping out the san francisco bay ferry this morning, trying to usher thousands more passengers across the bay as they are once again without b.a.r.t. service. thanks for joining us at 7:00. we continue to cover this. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. you saw how filled to the brim that ferry was. cars and the bay bridge toll plaza as well filled to the brim. here's leyla gulen with traffic. >> absolutely right. the east bay, some accidents as well adding pressure to all