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OAKLAND -- As train stations sat empty for a second day and commuters grew increasingly impatient, BART and its unions resumed negotiations Tuesday night with pressure mounting to halt a strike that now threatens Bay Area Fourth of July plans.

Gov. Jerry Brown called in two of the state's top mediators to urge both sides back to the bargaining table for the first time since BART's labor contract expired late Sunday, but a deal did not appear imminent as management and workers continued to fight over pay and benefits.













The Brown administration, which has declined to issue a 60-day cooling-off period to delay a strike, had previously urged both sides to reach a deal but called in extra firepower Tuesday.

"At the California labor secretary's urging, all parties are returning to the bargaining table," said Brown's spokesman, Evan Westrup.

The mediators offer aid and pass offers and counterproposals between the two sides, which do not sit in the same room during negotiations.



Tuesday's commute was about the same as Monday's for the most part on the roads, and California Highway Patrol officials reported, with carpools lanes approaching the Bay Bridge being heavier than usual. Despite fears of a gridlock nightmare, vehicles crossing the Bay, San Mateo and San Rafael bridges totaled nearly 213,000 on Monday, just 2.8 percent more than the week before.

Still, bus lines proved to be the most frustrating alternative for the 200,000 daily BART riders who have been displaced by the agency's first labor shutdown since 1997.

BART doubled the number of free special transbay charter buses, but those filled up an hour earlier Tuesday, stranding passengers who showed up after 7 a.m. Some riders arrived as early as 3:45 a.m. to get a seat. Caltrain, AC Transit and ferries remained much more crowded than usual and the Oakland Athletics endured their first game without BART. It all led to more frustrated commuters.

"We are the people who pay for them to have their jobs and look what they're doing to us," said Alexis Skyes, who showed up at a Walnut Creek bus stop in hopes of getting to work in San Francisco. "They should consider the passengers."





