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Battery Carts Roll in Queens; BART Extends Peak Trains

7/11/2026

27 6 Full Breakdown

Center

City Trials Carts

The city will trial rechargeable-battery electric carts in Queens, replacing diesel generators for 20,000 vendors.
Bay Area Rapid Transit will run longer peak-hour trains on the Red and Yellow lines starting July 20.
The pilot will test ten Queens carts for six months, aiming to cut platform crowding.
MacArthur transfers should drop to four minutes, helping clear the Daly City choke point.

Left

Parks Overcrowded

National parks face severe overcrowding and understaffing after reservation systems were dropped this summer at sites as Yosemite and Yellowstone.
The federal government announced a food-cart pilot in Queens and longer peak-hour trains on BART as part of transit improvements.
Permanent park staff have fallen about 25 %.
$854 million in project funding was shifted from western parks to Washington-area fireworks and fountains.

History

Historical Context

The 1973 OPEC oil embargo quadrupled world oil prices and lifted U.S. gasoline costs 43%, prompting nationwide rationing and a search for alternatives. In 1974 New York City’s Department of Transportation began testing electric trolleybuses, an early effort to curb diesel emissions. Today, the Queens battery-cart trial and BART’s extended peak-hour trains echo that 1970s push for cleaner, crowd-reducing transit.

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City Trials Carts

The city will trial rechargeable-battery electric carts in Queens, replacing diesel generators for 20,000 vendors.
Bay Area Rapid Transit will run longer peak-hour trains on the Red and Yellow lines starting July 20.
The pilot will test ten Queens carts for six months, aiming to cut platform crowding.
MacArthur transfers should drop to four minutes, helping clear the Daly City choke point.

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