i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm watching the bottom of the screen here as we keep you updated on what's going on today. others are braving the early morning chill leaving oakland's jack london square across the bay and into the city. in fact, one of those ferries is scheduled to take off right now as we give you this live look at the ferry terminal in oakland this morning. and a lot of others bracing for that very slow commute as they hop into their cars and they deal with all the gridlock out in the bay area freeway. this morning we do have your commute completely covered. we'll check in with mike inouye in a moment and with chase cain to tell you how to get around. >> but first we'll go to christie smith where the bart employees held an early update.

what do the unions have to say to commuters? >> reporter: well, they say that they are sorry they didn't want this to happen, but obviously it did. when we saw these union workers yesterday that had been bargaining so long, more than 24 hours, so long, in fact, they had on day old clothes, it seemed like a good sign. everyone wanted a deal done and then the bottom fell out. here we are this morning, they are on the picket lines again, not a bart train in sight. the second time these workers have walked off the job in a month, even a federal mediator couldn't save the talks. now 400,000 riders are forced into a plan b this morning. the commuters are frustrated at this point and that could be the understatement of the year. they are upset about this. now, we heard from the head of the local seiu union this morning, and the big issue seemed to take them by surprise. they say management tried to impose new work rules to cut

costs. a worker can call in sick on the fourth day and get overtime on the fifth day, bart wants to change that. bart wants to move to the electronic pay stubs, but the union says it is about stripping their rights and bart says it is about being efficient. >> the unions decided they wanted to take the money that was on the table but not the work rules that were on the table. and they forced us to a situation where we needed to put an offer on the table that was black and white that included the rights that we have set forward. >> depending on what your job is at bart, what is your assignment, what is your job for that day? maybe you have a specialization in one area and you're asked to move to an area that you don't. the rules in the contract help decide how that's done.

>> reporter: bart police officers walked into the merit station to check to make sure everything is locked down and okay. normally we see commuters rush in and out, but we have not seen any come to check the building. so obviously they got word. it is just the picketers out here this morning. before we go, i do want to mention that bart says the last offer that was on the table, well, the workers can still vote on that until october 27th. and they would go ahead and honor that retroactive, but at this point the union leader we heard from said that doesn't sound very likely. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." thank you very much. we can also tell you bart trying to help with this chartering buses at nine stations to help people get into san francisco. "today in the bay's" chase cane is live where buss have been picking up people since 5:00 this morning. good morning, chase. >> reporter: good morning. the people started lining up at 4:00 a.m. and a couple breaking

pieces of information to share with you. bart tweeted they are giving out no more tickets for buses here at the walnut creek station. 20 minutes ago they said they still had four buses left. there are a few buses here on site, so we'll have to clarify with them just how many more spots they have. if you have not left your house yet, the advice would be to go to another station. one other thing to tell you about is the train just rolled over these tracks 20 minutes ago. we talked to one of the bart workers here who said that train is likely for training. we have heard a lot of talk about managers possibly operating the trains if the strike goes on a long time. we now say a train rolling through the tracks. i want you to take a look at what it looks like here an hour ago with the lines stretching incredibly long. at one point there was easily 200 people in line here to make it or their commute happen into the city. the buses they said would roll until 8:00, but clearly we are seeing that ending much sooner with limited service. we sort of knew from the beginning that the buses would

not be enough to handle the number of people who typically ride bart on a daily basis. but we have a map to show you where you can go if you have not left the houses yet. you can go to el cerrito, concord, walnut creek, though we have questions how many spots are left here a walnut creek, lafayette, dublin, pleasanton, san leandro, hayward and fremont. you can catch a bus from 3:00 to 7:00 in the city at the transbay tunnel to bring you back to the stations. and we can tell you everyone we talked to out here this morning was not too happy about this strike. >> from walnut creek to san francisco, i really depend on bart to get to work. so please get the trains running again. >> it's frustrating. i think the time it took them to even get this far was ridiculous. and we're just stuck. >> it just makes -- everybody has responsibilities, and outside of work they have their own lives and to have

two-and-a-half hours to get in and two-and-a-half hours to get home, that puts a lot of stress on individuals. >> reporter: a lot of stress because people say they have been waking up an hour and a half earlier than they normally would get up. so that's the last of the line, the last few people are getting on that bus here at the walnut creek station. again, bart tweeting out that they have no more tickets left here at the walnut creek station. but you can see there are a few taxis lining up this morning. the taxi drivers want to take advantage of what's an opportunity for them to get in a pinch and have to get into the city. we'll be out here the rest of the morning and continue to monitor the situation with the buses, how many spots are left and hopefully help you get to work this morning. chase cain, "today in the bay." >> it would be nice if the taxis discounted rides into san francisco. it is 6:06. for a lot of people in the bay area who do not have the option to work from home, the hours for hov lanes are being education tended on several bay area

freeways from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. nonstop. this means the carpool lane times will not expire at 9:00 a.m. as they typically do. they are in effect for the entire day. it includes portions of interstate 80, 880, 680 and all toll bridges except for the golden gate bridge. if you're about to head out the door, check out our website before you go. nbcbayarea.com has the bart resources page with the detailed information for commuters. at the top of the page that's where you're going to find the tab called bart strike resources. it will take you to a map of real-time traffic updates and other commute options and realtime tweets from across the bay area. we have transit alternatives running at the bottom of the screen all morning long as well. right now for realtime traffic, let's check in with our road war yore, mike inouye. i'm guessing you are drinking extra gatorade up. >> i'm trying not to get cramps.

all my sympathy for these folks because they are the real road warriors. look at these folks approaching the bay bridge. the chopper shows you crossing over 880 to the bottom of the screen. 580 through the berkeley curve. they meet at the bay bridge toll plaza, and the backup for both extends way back for miles. 580 especially coming off 24 and the tunnel is a big backup. we'll look at the maps to see it is very slow heading in all the directions with these arrows. north 880 is slow through downtown. we are looking at westbound 80 down the east shore freeway, very slow as well. to the north, the richmond/san rafael bridge is still clear over to the north bay. then take the golden gate bridge if that's your route. chase cain just showed us the four buses done at walnut creek, but they were packed all morning. now south 680 heading into pleasant hill we have slowing with more cars hitting the road. 680 south down to danville,

maybe to 580 over the to the san mateo bridge, that's a good drive right now, but we are showing you the build. in livermore you see the shot of the bay with the orange creeping in. no big surprises for the tri-valley. here's the south bay where we have a nice smooth flow of traffic. the only incident we have is one issue with the debris north of 280 right near saratoga. that has cleared and we have a light build for 101 through the area. the peninsula is clear. christina, we'll look at the san mateo bridge with a nice clear shot over the bay. the sign says there's no bart service and there's a truck on the shoulder, but no big issue other than that build. we see the shot and it looks clear with a little haze, but what do you have in store for the folks waiting for the bus and the ferry this morning? it's a cold morning. good morning to you. great information there. we'll keep checking in with you every ten minutes or so. you can see right now temperatures are getting even colder in some cities. we are at 49 in millbrae. richmond is at 49 degrees.

temperatures are going to keep dropping for another hour and a half or so. we'll take you through your day. if you're headed to san francisco, the good idea for today is to dress in layers. 3:00 p.m., 71 degrees out there. so you can see in the city by the way, temperatures climbing by over 20 degrees later on today. and that means it's going to be a warm finish after we get through this very cold morning. and you also have to keep in mind you're going to see a pretty significant windchill factor if you take off on a bike this morning. people everywhere, please travel cautiously and expect extra foot traffic out there. 84 degrees inland bayside. 75 degrees at the coast today. we have a good looking weekend shaping up to a very separate part to the weekend weatherwise. i'll show you how that works out on the seven-day forecast in my next report. back to you, john and marla. we have breaking news to tell you about in east palo alto. crews have put out the early morning house fire. here's a look at it. it broke out at 2:00 on lotus way near highway 101. there were four people inside the home, but everyone made it out okay.

the fire did extend to the home next door. and it actually caused some damage next door. we are also being told two firefighters suffered minor back and shoulder injuries. the cause of this fire is under investigation. the time right now is 6:11. coming up on "today in the bay," edward snowden back in the headlines speaking out. we'll tell you what he says about the chance spies got aheld of u.s. secrets when he made his move from hong kong to russia. and here's a live look of people waiting in line for the ferry at oakland's jack london square as the bart strike continues. bob redell is here this morning and he'll have a live report for us in just a minute. [ male announcer ] you can change your tomorrow

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welcome back. at 6:14, an update to breaking news. bart is on strike. take a live look at the lake merit bart station in oakland where bart workers are picketing this morning. we will have updates for you as you plan your commute in just a moment, but first here are today's other top stories. two firefighters are recovering from minor injuries after battling a house fire in east palo alto this morning. the five people inside the home on lotus way made it out okay. the cause is under investigation. international experts are arrived in laos to look for the flight recorder from a deadly plane crash. officials in laos don't have the right equipment or the manpower to find the wreckage. more than 30 bodies still remain unsuspected for. as edward snowden says, no spies got aheld of secret u.s. documents when he fled to hong kong and then russia. he tells "the new york times" he

turned everything over to journalists and didn't keep copies of the documents. now back to our top story and our breaking news, bart is on strike causing traffic cramps all over the bay area. now more than 400,000 bart riders are forced to find new ways to get into work. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live where the commuters are taking the ferry to get across the bay. bob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. as you can see, the ferry from -- >> we have just lost bob's signal over at the oakland ferry station there, but the ferry started running there at 5:30 this morning about 45 minutes ago. one just left and you saw the line growing. that's one of the options commuters are relying on since bart is on strike. >> a lot of people telling bob they had to get up early to

catch this thing trying to creatively get into work. mike inouye is checking the traffic for us. i imagine it is building and building as the hours go on. exactly. the chopper is moving their shot, but they were showing the bay bridge and the tremendous backup. now they are getting back to that. we have a huge backup, not the span itself, but it's on the approach. the metering lights were turned on early this morning. we saw the flow getting into the city, but at the toll plaza itself we have a backup for west 24 starting way back out of the tunnel. 580 coming over to the scene. and the east so shore freeway has a tremendous flow of traffic building to the bay bridge. here you see the new span westbound with all the taillights coming out of the area. and that's a slower drive through the area. we'll get a look at the maps, and overall things are moving smoothly at the bay bridge. right here we have the trivalley. that's largely unaffected so far by the patterns we are seeing, but overhere in the approach to

the bay bridge, we are okay. we are good, anthony, thank you. here's the flow out of livermore, that is not a big surprise. again, the 24 area out of the the arenda area we have a big slowdown heading up over there. this is 880 traveling up. also slow there because there are more cars. we also have no change, this is the only stretch where there's no change to the hov lanes. however, the east shore freeway as well as 680 has adjusted the hov hours starting now through the day. if you're a solo driver, stay out of the hov lanes as they try to keep the additional flow available for the cars hitting the road. coming through walnut creek, we see more flowing and the folks are riding the buses that bart has provided. it sounds like all the buses have been used this morning, so more folks are hitting their cars. that's an issue with cars and taxis into san francisco causing delays. here's the south bay, north 101 and 87 just showing a little bit

of a build. so the south bay not a major concern. a ten peninsula is moving slowly. we'll look at fremont for 880 traveling south, this is building a bit. but again, even here into and out of the south bay, the hov lanes for 880 in this part of fremont are limited to just the hov drive. two or more for the entire day, so again, a change-up to the traffic flow. and we'll watch for that as it affects the drive. so far this area in fremont and across the area of palo alto is unaffected by that. it is just approaching the bay bridge toll plaza causing a lot of drama. let's turn it over to some good things to talk about. it's the weekend and it will be another nice one out there. >> really nice. and we have a full moon, so at least you can check that out as you sit and wait. >> i like the good weather. >> 6:18 and we can sprinkle sunshine your way later on. we have a good day shaping up. it is chilly for now, but the sun will be up in one hour from

now all across the bay area. and temperatures at the coldest point of the day after which time complete sunshine right off the bat means a nice, warm, sunny finish. 30 degrees in novato. temperatures tumbling in the north bay. throughout next week, we are not expecting the mornings to be as cold with the return of low clouds, but we'll see cooler afternoons. if you want to get out there to enjoy the beach, today is a great day to do so. if you're going to try to catch the ferry, any time before 10:00 a.m., temperatures are cold enough for a coat out there in oakland and san francisco. 57 degrees at 8:00 a.m. by 3:00 p.m., 71 degrees. my moral of the story today in the weather department is, please dress in layers. i'm sure you're ready for the heat later on. 79 degrees later on. 80 in san jose. 83 in gilroy. meanwhile, the coast will be spoiled for two more days, today into tomorrow. and that's the half moon bay pumpkin festival.

traffic on 92 will be heavy over to half moon bay. 69 degrees at noon tomorrow and up to 71 degrees at 3:00 p.m. overall, sunday looking cloudier and cooler with the return to the sweater weather at the immediate coast. noon, half moon bay, 62 degrees on sunday. so two very different parts of this weekend. as we head throughout next week, temperatures continue to dip. we'll be in the upper 70s for monday. climbing just a touch for tuesday, but overall leveling off to averages for this time of the year hitting that stride by thursday of next week. a couple other things happening across the bay area. we have oktoberfest in camp bell. we'll look at the forecast coming up. back to you, john and marla. thank you. 6:20. coming up, scott mcgrew has a look at business and tech news including the major change in europe that could have a big impact here in the silicon valley. and we'll take a look at the business impact of that bart strike. it is not pretty. we'll tell you how much money the bay area stands to lose coming up next.

and a look at the morning commute. that is in store if you're just heading out the door. here's a live look at bay area freeways in the east bay from our chopper. you can see that roads are backing up. we have mike inouye in-house taking a look at all the freeways, especially in the east bay where traffic is a major problem, especially at the bay bridge toll plaza. you definitely have to pack your patience. leave early or be late is the motto of the day. it is 6:21. stay with us. [ male announcer ] progresso is so passionate about its new

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welcome back, everybody. the top story is the bart strike. this is a cold look at the traffic snarling up and people are getting cramps in their feet as they are hitting the brakes there. mike inouye will be along documenting all the lock-ups on the roads and giving you ways to sneak around it if you can. it is 6:24. another cold, hard reality. the bart strike is expected to hurt the bay area's economy. 400,000 people ride bart every day. when they hit the road, it can slow down traffic significantly. the bay area council says the region lost $73 million per day in loss productivity and commerce during the last strike in july. the impact is expected to be even bigger this time around.

>> that is big, big money. time to check in on business and tech right now, major change underway in europe. >> scott mcgrew is live with the users privacy and the nsa. >> the european union strongly considering forcing silicon valley companies, yahoo! google, facebook, to get court permission before spilling secrets about european users to the american spy agency. right now the american court says our companies have to turn it over, and the belgian companies are not involved. they are starting to ask why its courts are not involved. brazil is considering building its own e-mail systems after testifies revealed the u.s. government was reading e-mails belonging to brazil's president and the largest oil company. the ideas of the different countries having sort of different internets is alarming to just about everybody who sees

the internet as something unifying the world, not driving it apart. odd story for you, al gore trying to buy twitter. in his new book, "the new york times" says gore and his co-founder of current tv spent a wipe-soaked evening with twitter's founders discussing a buyout but to no avail. google said the company made more money than expected. the only downside, the amount of money made more ad continues to fall as people move to mobile. this will also be the first friday in some time where we go into the weekend, john and marla, with some certainty that the government is working. we'll pay our debts and then looking ahead to next week, we'll get jobs numbers. you remember that was a week ago, but those will come out tuesday. we'll have a special jobs tuesday next week. >> it's the little things, like when the government works, that makes a big different. >> if we could get government and bart to work at the same time, it would be peace on

earth. 6:26. still ahead, bart strike frustration as passengers line up early to get a spot on the bus. >> please don't do this again. >> it does put a lot of stress on us. >> we'll tell you how lounge the lines are getting as the morning commute revs up ahead in a live report. also, let's take a look at the bart picketers right now out at the lake merit bart station. they have been patrolling that area showing their displeasure for the last few hours. we have updates from all over the bay area and how bart is impacting you. hey lena, what ya looking for?

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♪ hey! must be the honey! happy birthday! it's a painting easel! the tide's coming in! this is my favorite one. it's upside down. oh, sorry. (woman vo) it takes him places he's always wanted to go. that's why we bought a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. here's a live picture of bart on strike. you can see the bart workers out on the picket lines, very busy all morning long, and now hundreds of thousands of

commuters including you at home have to find another way into san francisco. good morning to you. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm marla tellez. we have live update commute alternatives scrolling at the bottom of your screen all morning long. bart is chartering buses at nine bus stations to take people into san francisco. "today in the bay's" chase cain is saying they ran out of tickets at this station. >> reporter: i don't think they ran out of tickets. i think there was a 'inñ miscommunication because the bart service is out of commission. but if you're heading out the door coming to walnut creek, there are still tickets but it is a limited number of tickets. this has always been a first come, first serve situation. and you see actually the line has gotten right up behind me. this gentleman here handing out

the tickets as the line continues to form. this line began forming at 4:00 this morning. that's how early people started showing up to catch the first buses on the city that will run until they are out of buses this morning. of course, this is all too familiar because it was a few months ago where they went through sort of the same drill catching buss into the city. if you're heading out the door and looking to hop onto a bus into san francisco, there are nine different places to head. el cerrito, concord, walnut creek, la fa yet, west oakland, san leandro, dublin/pleasanton, and hayward. the buses will return back to the stations, but keep in mind, this is a first come, first serve situation. we talked to people out here waiting in line, and the one thing they unanimously told us is they didn't thing bart should even be able to strike.

>> i do not. this wouldn't happen on the east coast. i think we're the only ones in california that allow this. so hopefully that will change. >> bart is such a critical infrastructure. it's just too debilitating. and it just shouldn't be happening. >> you know, i really feel that bart shouldn't be allowed to go on strike, like the police officers and firefighters, because so many people in the bay area depend on bart. and it really, really, like commuters like myself, it really puts us in a bind. >> reporter: and you see they are handing out tickets right now to people waiting in line to catch the buses into san francisco as we are on the first day of the strike. of course, there's been frustration with people that they had to wake up extra early to get out here this morning, but we'll continue to monitor the situation with remaining buses here at walnut creek. chase cain, "today in the bay." this is prompting more

people to get behind the wheel of your car. and that means you could be in store for a long wait out on the packed freeway. we have a live look from our chopper right now. this is a look at interstate 80. this is westbound in berkeley right near the golden gate field. and they are making their way toward that is bay bridge. we also want to point out, if you didn't know this, the chp is extending carpool lane hours. the lanes now run nonstop starting at 5:00 this morning to 7:00 tonight. portions of interstate 80, 880 and 680. also, the toll bridges, they will be affected here with the exception of the golden gate bridge. on the peninsula now, s samtrans and caltrains buses will stop in san mateo county to take riders into san francisco. caltrains will operate on regular service, but all trains including the baby bullet

express will stop at the millbrea stations. if the trains are packed, it may add extra service. the transit will have extra seating on their buses. the transit agency is planning to add extra service depending on bus and operator availability. keep in mind, this situation could be a lot worse for those trying to get to and from work this week as governor brown stepped in to issue that seven-day cooling off period this week. that prevented a.c. transit workers from carrying a strike of their own. that would have been rough hand-in-hand with the bart situation. >> if you have questions before you head out the door, go to nbcbayarea.com. there's a place on the top that says bart resources. it will help you request your commute options and real-time tweets from across the bay area. we also have transit alternatives running at the

bottom of the scream all morning long. 6:34 right now. very thick outside if you're checking out the roads. our guy knee deep in all of this, mike inouye, helping us get around. >> truth be told, i'm not that tall. we are looking at the san mateo bridge, this was a huge problem for the last ten minutes with a stall on the bridge. so if we see this heavy volume, it is moving much more quickly. the lanes on either side just like they added to the bay bridge, so crews are quickly getting through to remove that. we'll show you a slower drive from 880 over to the toll plaza and across the bay looking yellow for highway 92. the dumbarton bridge is an easy drive. 101 to the peninsula or caltrains is an option for you. over here the approach to the bay bridge for north 880 and west 880 to the east shore freeway is packing in out of 24 though the tunnel.

here at the bay bridge toll plaza, you can see the backup at the left with the metering lights. then onto the span, it's a smooth drive to san francisco. we have tremendous backups forming on the approach. back to the maps you can see how bad that is from 24 here building to the lafayette area and pleasant hill and concord, that's 680 south with the arrow at the top of the screen. a big volume of traffic is kicking in. chase cain is out there with a lot of the folks taking buses. now a lot of folks have to take taxis or cars. expect more traffic there over the next few minutes. 680 south, still okay heading down to the dublin interchange and this area of the tri-valley, no big surprises in that with a nice flow here. we'll see flowing through sonoma with a crash clearing near highway 84. the big issue is getting to the bay bridge and along the east bridge. the south bay peninsula is showing no problems, but we talked about folks waiting for buses or ferries out there. what does the forecast look like

right now? it is cold out there. we have a really dry air mass over the bay area. this is san jose. no low clouds to report. those will return heading throughout sunday into monday. but for the next couple of days a nice, clear start and a very cold start as well. so if you're going to be waiting for a bus this morning or your carpool, make sure you're prepared for chilly conditions. temperatures are mostly in the 50s and the 40s heading throughout the morning hours.>ok 51 in san francisco. richmond at 49. the numbers will continuely drop throughout the next hour and a half our so. then we'll slowly creep up. by 10:00 a.m. you can peel off the coat. gilroy, you'll see a 40-degree jump between now and the heat of the day. it will be warm at lunchtime. 76 degrees inland at noon. up to 84 degrees. between 3:00 and 4:00, that's the warmest point of the day. we'll take a look at what you can enjoy as we get into the

weekend. after all, you made it to friday, albeit a tough morning because of the bart strike. we have a good-looking weekend headed our way. i'll detail that in my next report, but back to you for now, john and marla. just ahead, an update to the breaking news we are following on the peninsula. we'll tell you about the intense firefight that left two firefighters injured and two homes damaged, next. plus, a small child among six people killed during an early morning crash that happened in ohio. we'll tell you how a reported robbery may have triggered this deadly collision coming up next. and a live look at the upper deck of the bay bridge. the morning commute heading into san francisco, it is a slow one this morning because, of course, bart is on strike. we have mike in house checking the roads throughout the whole entire bay area for you. you can always go to our website any time, nbcbayarea.com to help you get around. then, of course, the vital information we have scrolling at the bottom of your screen. right now it's 6:38.

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we have breaking news in east palo alto. crews are putting out a house fire that broke out around 2:00 a.m. this morning near lotus

way. there were people inside the home when the fire broke out, but the good news is everybody got out okay. the fire did extend to the house next door and caused damage there. two firefighters were suffering from shoulder injuries. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. new this morning the crash between a police cruiser and another car has killed six people in ohio. police say the officer in the columbus area had the cruiser's supers and lights on when the crash happened. those killed include a 2-year-old and a teenager. all of them were not wearing their seat belts. the officer is being treated for serious head injuries. time is 6:42. coming up, frustrated bart passengers forced to find other ways to get into work. we are back with more on that story and bart coming up. hey lena, what ya looking for?

well, you've found delicious! ♪ ♪ if you wanna go and fly with me ♪ ♪ it's buzz the bee on your tv ♪ ♪ oh how did i get this way? ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ it is so honey swagalish ♪ so much crunch, can you handle this? ♪ ♪ the party in the bowl don't stop! ♪

♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ must be the honey!

bart, bart, you're no good! >> you can hear it, back on the picket lines for the second time in just four months. this morning bart is on strike forcing hundreds of thousands of people to reroute their morning commute. >> a live look outside right now across the bay area, four different shots for you. traffic definitely picking up right now as more and more people head out the door. >> whether you are jumping into a car or getting on a bus or jumping on the ferry, we have your commute covered. mike inouye and chase cain are covering your commutes. we'll check in with them in a moment. >> but first we'll go to christie smith live at the bart merit station where they held an early morning update. christie, did the union have anything appeasing to stay to

commuters? >> reporter: they apologized for it, but i'm not sure how well that apology is going. within the last 30 seconds, a guy drove out and yelled out his window, go back to work! you're ruining lives! here we are at the bart merit station where we heard from the local seiu who said he never saw a process go like this and questioning bart's ability to understand how to reach an agreement. harsh words and now the union is making good on their strike threat going on for several days. they walked off the job after their midnight shift, and now 400,000 daily bart riders are forced to find another way to get around this morning. according to seiu, those marathon talks with the federal mediator onboard turned sour when bart added new language changing the work rules on them. on things like overtime pay and how pay stubs are issued. apparently the pay stubs are a big deal, it doesn't sound like

a deal breaker, but this is really about trying to strip workers' rights. >> the union needs to move on pension, the union needs to move on health care. the union needs to lower wage proposals and we did it. and now at the last minute they're changing it up and giving us a poison pill going, wait a minute, we appreciate that, but now you have to take this. >> what happened is the union decided to take the money that was on e table but not the work rules that were on the table. and they forcedtous a situation where we needed to put an offer on the table that was black and white that included the rights that we have set forward. >> reporter: now bart's gm says they need to think about long-term sustainability. things like replacing the aging infrastructure in trains and that sort of thing. i have heard a lot of people honking and yelling on behalf of the workers saying they support, and a lot of people are saying things like, go back to work. and hey, you make more money than i do.

we'll keep an eye on things as things are getting tense out here, but workers still on train without a train rolling in sight. christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much for the reports all morning long. we'll go to chase cain live where bart is chartering buses for commuters. chase, excuse me, how are the lines at this point? >> reporter: the line has shortened a bit because they have been loading people onto the buses, but we may be looking at what are the last three buses here at the walnut creek station. so there are still tickets available right now, but keep that in mind getting ready to come to the walnut creek station. you should probably do that quickly because all of the buses are first come, first serve. now, it was just a little while ago when the lines were much longer here and people started lining up at 4:00 a.m. they were having to wake up an extra hour and a half or two hours to get here early to make sure they got on a bus and could get to work. one guy put it best, bottom line, it is my responsibility to get to work and i have to do

that however i can. if you're looking for one of these buses to catch into the city, there are nine different east bay station that is will shuttle you into san francisco. the stations are el cerrito, concord, walnut creek, lafayette, dublin/pleasanton, san leandro, hayward and fremont. the buses will run until 8:00 a.m. or until there's no more buses and the return buses run from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. we had a chance to talk to a city councilman working to try to ban bart strikes in the future. >> when bart strikes the whole economy closes down. the roads get congested and people can't get to their jobs. it's a big impact in the bay area. and it's not right. workers and management can fight and argue and disagree, but they shouldn't take it out on thexñ riders. and that's what's happening right now. the strikes are debilitating for everyone. >> reporter: so he has been passing out flyers to people getting on the buses this morning asking him to contact

their state legislators and tell them they need to create legislation to make bart strikes illegal in the future. he wants this to be the very last bart strike ever. the top of the hour, it was just about an hour ago when a bart train rolled down these tracks here at the walnut creek station. they went right over our head. and a bart worker on scene told us it was for training. we heard a lot of talk about the managers operating the trains, and i thought that was another one coming overhead, but it was not. a lot of talk about the managers possibly operating the trains and that may happen if the strike continues because the trains have been rolling down the tracks here at walnut creek. chase cain for "today in the bay." >> the bart riders have another commute option with the ferries adding four extra boats and more departure times. a boat is departing jaqueline

square right now. another boat will leave at 6:30. it could be chilly for those people taking the ferry or jumping on buses. what are they going to be facing this morning? a cold start and then a different finish to the day with temperatures reaching summertime levels. make sure you dress in layers today. if you do have to ride a bike, if that's your option, make sure you are ready for a pretty significant windchill. we have plenty of 40s and a couple 30s out there this morning. but look at this. okay, we'll bring in a little sunlight your way. it is friday, so thank goodness. you get two days to kind of figure out how to get to work on monday. if the strike does continue, that is. we'll be here for you if it does. and we have great information for you on our website, nbcbayarea.com. temperatures this morning are running really cold because it is so clear out there. we are at 37 degrees now in novato. and some of the places you'll be waiting for buses if that's your option this morning, make sure to bring your coat because it is cold out in dublin.

we are at 45 degrees. 49 in millbrae. and fremont is expected to hit the 40s throughout the next hour or so. also, waiting for a ferry this morning, i want to show you the difference, 8:00 a.m., 57 degrees out there. and this is on the oakland side. we are expecting temperatures to be just a touch cooler in san francisco this morning. you'll be at 71 degrees in both cities at 3:00 p.m. today. so highs are going to be warm today. you want to keep that in mind, it's a very cold start to the day. dress in layers and you should be a-okay. 84 in livermore, 80 degrees in san jose. a couple things happening across the bay area, a couple free events as well. if you can get out there, just count on extra traffic on 92 and head out to the pumpkin festival. that's a big one this weekend. also in petaluma, the tolay fall festival. $4 for adults and $1 for kids under 12. a good time there with haystacks and hayrides, the whole nine. if you prefer the oktoberfest,

head down to campbell on saturday and sunday with an outdoor event. they'll have live music and a lot of booths to check out. really good food there as well. saturday to sunday, 84 degrees inland on saturday. down to 78 on sunday. then monday and tuesday, finally holding on to seasonal averages, but we could be talking about a bart strike. we'll meet back here on monday, too. >> i'll be tracking it all weekend like i did all night. you're definitely watching out for folks who have to wait for the ferries and the bus alternates. look at all these folks. our chopper is over here, there's the bay bridge toll plaza and there are the lights heading in and out of san francisco. look at the big backup off 880 off 580 and the maze. it is just packed throughout. so we'll show you on the map what we're talking about. this is a huge backup from richmond all the way down to the berkeley curve coming down to the 30s and 20s. getting to the san rafael side, do that. but then we are building through san rafael heading down to the ferry terminal. consider the ferry as a great

option. we also have the flow into san francisco all right from 101. here's the big backup from 24, west 580 and north 880 starting to jam from basically downtown all the way just continuing to build as you snake your way through that freeway all the way up to that bay bridge toll plaza and west grand avenue. we have more slowing now showing up south on 680 out of walnut creek and pleasant hill. we saw chase cain reporting about the folks trying to take the buses, but now they have to take cars and taxis and now we see blips heading over to arenda. that's what we have for the morning commute building. a slower drive heading to the san mateo bridge as folks avoid the bay bridge. slow toward the toll plaza. an earlier stall had some slowing but that has cleared. and now the 101 may show more volume heading north to san mat mateo. that's heavier for friday heading northbound into the city. an easy drive across the dumbarton bridge. anything south of the san mateo

bridge is looking pretty good. the tri-valley is standard as well. the earlier crash on 680 near highway 84 is not a big area. let me get out of your way, as we check out the bay area, things are looking really nice. and we have the green zone, but the areas of concern are at the top right-hand corner heading to the bay bridge toll plaza and the maze. that's the issue as folks head through there. we get our sensors of speed and they take a while to recompute as the roads get more crowded. and we have the information from our traffic management center. so over at the tmc where we know we'll have a big commute change, we see it already. we have our own bob redell over there in oakland. bob, good morning to you. what do you see as far as the morning's commute? >> reporter: well, good morning to you there, mike. here from the seventh floor of caltrans headquarters in oakland, headquarters for tmc chx is mission control for your

commute, this is where caltrans and chp are able to monitor computers and cameras. we are definitely seeing a commute that started earlier and got heavier a little earlier than normal. bob haas, good morning to you, what are you hearing out there and what have you seen? >> so far it is heavier earlier. i heard one of my colleagues say that he's coming in from castro valley at 5:00 and said traffic is about what he's used to say around 7:00 or 7:15. so it's pretty much what we have expected so far. >> reporter: when you look at the screen, obviously you have the monitor out there to show red, green and yellow for the different speeds, are we seeing carmageddon or is it manageable? >> well, not yet. it is friday so it's lighter than normal, or lighter than other days, but we are seeing heavier levels on a normal friday. so it is not carmageddon but it is heavier than normal. >> reporter: as far as tmc is concerned, if we didn't have

tmc, how much worse would the conditions on the roads be? >> tmc gives us the road sensors and the traffic cameras. if there's a problem, we know what the problem is and where it is. and we can dispatch the right people and equipment to solve the problems. we also control the metering lights from here. and the message signs and there are some places where we control the timing of the traffic signals. >> reporter: bob haas, thank you very much. if you are wondering who the guy is that turns on the metering lights, it's that guy right down there. there you go. we'll get his name and number for you a little bit later. >> some important digits to have. thank you so much, bob. 6:57 right now. here's an interesting note, bart's union sent workers out on strike without asking for a vote. >> there's confusion over exactly what caused the union to shut down negotiations. >> certainly riders want to know, the union says it is over bart's last-minute insistence on changing work rules, but even

the union seems a bit confused about that this morning. a union press release sent to us late last night specifically mentions bart's desire to add computers and move to electronic pay stubs as one of the reasons that workers are off the job. that statement is attributed to the union and its leader pete costelli. at the top of our 4:00 a.m. coverage, the same union leader pete costelli said this. >> any discuss on pay stubs or electronic devices or anything were never mentioned at the table and are not obstacles in this bargaining. and quite frankly, we have no idea what the general manager is talking about in referring to that. >> now, we double checked with the union spokesperson making sure the voracity of the press release, and they said, yes, they stand by this one as well. we'll continue to sort it out. it does, whatever the work rules coming down to no pay, we know that much. they are willing to take the work rules to arbitration and

bart says that's fine with them, but if they are going tot( arbitration, they want to take the pay issue to arbitration as well. >> absolutely. scott, thank you so much. before you head out the door this morning, check out our website, nbcbayarea.com. we have a bart resources paid with detailed information for you at the top of the page. there's the tab called bart strike resources. it will take you to a map with real-time traffic updates, commute options and realtime tweets from transit agencies. and we'll have commute alternatives running on the bottom of your screen all morning long and throughout the "today" show. so no matter what, if you missed this program and you're just joining us now, that information will continue to scroll throughout the morning. also make sure to check out nbcbayarea.com. we'll have updates to try to help you navigate around the traffic out there, but hang in there. hopefully it won't be too rough out there. doesn't sound like this will get settled any time soon. please pack your patience. >> leave early or be late. i can't say it enough. >> grandpa told you that one.

>> yeah. here's a live look from our chopper in the bay area. good luck to you heading out the door. we appreciate you waking up with us. good morning, on good morning. on the run. authorities in florida racing to catch two convicted killers who used forged papers to escape prison. out ridge from the family of a victim. and at knife point, the suspect leading the police on chase for miles. and digs are if dollars, steven colbert dings everyone. >> if pope francis were here, we would be wearing sweat pants in