Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Selects BMW Group DesignworksUSA to Create its “Fleet of the Future” with New Generation of Train Cars.

New BART train cars to enhance the quality of future public transit. Train cars anticipated to enter service by 2017.

Los Angeles, July 18, 2011... DesignworksUSA, the design consultancy and subsidiary of BMW Group, announces the start of an ambitious urban transit project in collaboration with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the Bay Area´s regional transit provider.  Together with BART, DesignworksUSA will create the “Fleet of the Future,” a new generation of train cars that will enter service by 2017 and deliver a premium ridership experience for its passengers.  BART, which began picking up passengers in September 1972, presently operates the oldest fleet of train cars in the USA. 

DesignworksUSA’s scope of work for BART’s Fleet of the Future includes the train cars’ exterior, which will convey a style and shape with unique signature expression to the exterior passenger information system.  Inside the new train cars, DesignworksUSA will create the main interior design features of the new train cars, and incorporate the controls in the design of the train operator’s cab.

“DesignworksUSA is invigorated to join BART in their continuing commitment to delivering a premium ridership experience,” says Laurenz Schaffer, President, BMW Group DesignworksUSA.  “We are passionate about creating innovative solutions for mobility in increasingly dense urban centers such as the Bay Area, and we are excited as our collaborative partnership with BART gets underway,” Schaffer continues.

BART’s mission is to provide commuters with a viable alternative to driving, and therefore DesignworksUSA’s deep expertise creating premium design and user experiences not only in the train category, but also in the aviation and automotive categories, was a key differentiator that further guided their selection for this project.

About BMW Group DesignworksUSA

DesignworksUSA is a creative consultancy that’s been driving innovation for almost forty years.  Acquired by BMW Group in 1995, DesignworksUSA enables its parent company as well as internationally-renowned clients outside the automotive industry to grow their businesses through a portfolio of creative consulting services.  With clients including Coca Cola, Dassault Aviation, Embraer, John Deere, HEAD, HP, Microsoft, Siemens, Intermarine, and Varian Medical Systems, DesignworksUSA is deeply immersed in a broad cross-section of industries. Combining cross-fertilized knowledge with strategic long-term perspectives and global context provided by studios in Los Angeles, Munich and Singapore, DesignworksUSA draws upon its unique and vibrant resources to create the future.  Later in 2011, DesignworksUSA will open a new studio in Shanghai, its first such facility in mainland China.  www.designworksusa.com

About BART

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is the 5th largest all-rail train system in the USA.   Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains serve the residents of four counties and the 26 cities that surround its 44 stations.  Every weekday 350,000 customers ride BART, which operates the oldest fleet of train cars in the USA.  BART train cars began picking up customers in September 1972.  Some 40 years later, most of that original fleet of train cars is still in operation today, only now they carry the grandchildren of those first fare-paying customers.  BART’s number one focus is to replace the aging and deteriorating fleet of train cars with the “Fleet of the Future.”  Learn more about this initiative by visiting www.bart.gov/fleetofthefuture