UPDATE: Commuters Rush Back to BART Friday Despite Thursday Night's Destruction in Oakland

As on any other weekday, commuters were rushing into the Walnut Creek BART station to catch trains to take them to work in Oakland, San Francisco and other points west of the Caldecott Tunnel.

Few expressed worries about their trains getting stuck going to and from Walnut Creek, or of stations being shut down. That had been the fear of many East Bay commuters Thursday when protests were anticipated in downtown Oakland following a verdict in the Johannes Mehserle trial.

Stephen Hobbes of Walnut Creek was heading to the escalator at about 7 a.m. Friday to catch a westbound train on the Pittsburg/Bay Point-SFO line. He he "kind of thought about" the possibility of continued trouble Friday. "But hopefully nothing will happen,"said Hobbes, an intern with a San Francisco-based media company.

Other hurrying riders simply shook theirs heads when asked if they were worried about getting to and from work Friday, or if they've changed their commute plans. 

BART reported Friday morning that service throughout the transit system was normal, with no delays. 

The situation was different for East Bay commuters Thursday, who, worried about getting home after the Mehserle conviction was announced, faced more crowded than normal trains. Those who arrived by early evening avoided later protests, looting and police clashes, as well as disruptions reported at some downtown Oakland stations. 

A Southern California jury found former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Hayward resident Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009.

A rally that started around 6 p.m. Thursday at 14th Street and Broadway quickly swelled to hundreds of people. Within two hours, some protesters had begun to clash with police. Looting broke out, and crowds smashed windows at various businesses, news reports say.

Up to 100 people were said to have been arrested. The Oakland Tribune reported that shortly before 10 p.m. someone set a garbage can on fire and threw it down the stairs of the 19th Street BART station. BART closed the 19th Street Station, and it remained closed as of midnight. Some entrances of the 12th Street Station also were closed but trains were still operating from there. 

East Bay-bound commuters, concerned about possible BART disruptions due to protests, got an early start home after the verdict was read around 4 p.m.

KTVU said workers, many with permission from their employers, participated in a mass exodus from downtown Oakland just after the word came about 3 p.m. that a verdict was pending. Their cars clogged roads and freeway lanes leading out of Oakland, and BART trains were more crowded than usual. 

Businesses in San Francisco also let their workers go home early. One woman at the Pleasant Hill BART station said an e-mail went out, just after noon, throughout her office building on New Montgomery in downtown San Francisco, telling workers to leave early.

At about 5:30 p.m., a Pleasant Hill resident who only wanted to be identified as Larry, was waiting for his wife to pick him up at the BART station that also serves residents of north Walnut Creek. Larry said he works at the Oakland International Airport and boarded a BART train at the Coliseum/Oakland Airport at about 4:45 p.m.

Larry said he was worried about the ride home, and he and his wife kept in constant e-mail contact, especially when his train stopped at the Fruitvale BART station. He said there was a bit of delay at the Fruitvale station but the platform itself looked "eerily" quiet. At the 12th Street station, four BART police officers boarded the train, and the rest of the ride went smoothly. 

Businesses and public agencies in Oakland and San Francisco sent employees home after word came in that a verdict had been reached.

PG&E temporarily closed two of their customer service offices in Oakland due to safety concerns, a spokeswoman for the company said.

Ronnie Chua, who works in Oakland and is a Danville resident, said his bosses allowed workers to go home if they wanted to. He left Oakland before the verdict was announced.

"It was hectic, people were coming out all at the same time," he said.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the stations "are indeed packed" and that the agency is making "trains as long as we can make them."  Johnson said station agents at some stations might have to limit the number of people on platforms by holding them outside the fare gates.

"It's simply trying to meter the number of people onto the platforms to not have a safety issue," he said.

Grant, an unarmed African American man, was shot on the train platform while officers were trying to arrest him after a disturbance on the train. Mehserle, who is white, has said he intended to use his Taser.

Commuters looking for alternative ways to get around, can contact 511.org, a free public transit planner for the nine-county Bay Area.

BART provides daily updates on service status through the following:

Website:  www.bart.gov

Twitter:  www.twitter/SFBART 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bartsf

Phone: 510-465-BART (2278)

BARTtv News: www.bart.gov/barttv

Mobile: m.bart.gov

E-mail/SMS alerts: www.bart.gov/alerts

SMS on demand: Text 'BART service' to 878787 or visit www.bart.gov/sms 

Oakland police is providing Twitter updates.

Bay City News contributed to this report.