Danny Iudici/New York Daily News Union members of local 1181 amalgamated were on strike this morning at 1616 Stillwell Ave. in the Bronx at the Little Richie Bus Company. The strikers attempted to stop the working union drivers of local 91 from pulling busses out but order was quickly kept by NYPD. 
 
 Thousands of parents were left struggling to get their kids to and from school by taxi, subway or borrowed rides Wednesday as school bus drivers staged their first strike since the 1970s. 
 
 Some 152,000 students who rely on yellow bus service were left out in the cold as freezing rain that fell on the morning commute. The strike could drag on for weeks or months. 
 
 "This will go however long it goes," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told 1010 WINS radio. "And we'll have systems in place to support our parents and our students, acknowledging, though, the first several days will be traumatic for our families and we understand that." 
 
 Joe Marino for New York Daily News 
 
 All students affected by the strike got MetroCards Tuesday to take subways and buses to school, but a plan to make the cards available to parents of young children and special education students has been hobbled by bureaucratic delays. 
 
 Parent MetroCards won't be activated until Thursday because the MTA says it needs up to 72 hours to program the software in 6,000 buses. 
 
 "This will likely lead to chaos during the morning commute as tens of thousands of parents attempt to escort their children to school," warned City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn). 
 
 Parents who drive kids to school will have to keep logs of their travels to get a 55-cent-per-mile reimbursement, while those who use cabs will have to fill out weekly forms and attach receipts for every trip. 
 
 Maggie Moroff of Advocates for Children said she's worried about disabled students for whom public transportation won't work. "They don't have a solid plan for how they're going to deal with these more-complicated issues," she said. 
 
 The union behind the strike, Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 1181, is protesting a city plan to bid out private bus contracts with no job guarantees for the union's 8,800 drivers and escorts. 
 
 Its leaders have promised picket lines at bus yards, and other drivers unions have vowed not to cross those lines. 
 
 The bus companies have hired replacement workers, but the new, nonunion drivers won't begin this week because they must undergo three days of alcohol and drug tests. The new drivers are getting training, and it's not clear when they'll try to cross lines to begin work. 
 
 Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the companies, noted an increased police presence was expected at bus depots early Wednesday. 
 
 Joe Marino/for New York Daily News 
 
 The bus companies, meanwhile, delivered a letter to the National Labor Relations Board Tuesday demanding a stop to the strike. The companies say they'll suffer financially for an argument between the city and the union. 
 
 Discerning when this will end is difficult as no negotiations are scheduled. 
 
 With Jennifer H. Cunningham, Matthew Lysiak, Tom Tracy and Vera Chinese 
 
 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUS STRIKE? LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW ||||| The school bus driver strike has hit families hard, but on Staten Island, where families are still coping with the aftermath of Sandy, the strike has added even more anxiety and confusion. Marc Santia has the story of one mother attempting to deal with the added stress. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 Thousands of parents scrambled for alternate ways to get their children to school and back home Wednesday as the school bus drivers union went on strike amid a dispute over job protections in new contracts. 
 
 Some 152,000 New York City schoolchildren -- or about 14 percent of the public school population -- take the bus. About 54,000 of them have disabilities and face extra hardships traveling to school. Attendance on Wednesday was down 2.5 percent overall and as much as 34 percent among the special education population compared to the rest of the month average, officials said. 
 
 Officials said about 3,000 of 7,700 routes, or 39 percent, were running Wednesday, including 100 percent of pre-kindergarten routes and 39 percent of special education routes. Not all the city's school bus routes are driven by the striking union. 
 
 More than 100 bus drivers reported to picket lines in Queens Wednesday morning in the city's first school bus strike in more than three decades. The union promised the strike would go on until workers were guaranteed job protections in new contract bids. 
 
 Non-Union School Bus Drivers Stay on the Job 
 
 Some families breathed a sigh of relief when their regular school buses showed up Wednesday morning. Pei-Sze Cheng reports. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 "Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Walcott, please come negotiate with us," Union President Michael Cordiello, president of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said Wednesday. "Protect the workers that have the experience, protect the children in New York. You can do it. Please, come forward and end this strike. It's in your hands." 
 
 Bus Strike Survival Guide 
 
 Solange Roche, a bus driver in Ridgewood for 23 years, held an "Employees on Strike" sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other as she stood in the rain with other union members at the picket lines in Queens. 
 
 "We need job protection," said Roche, who is among the more than 8,000 school bus drivers and matrons on strike. She and the other union members fear they'll lose their jobs to cheaper alternatives when their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Striking Bus Driver: "We Need Job Protection" 
 
 School bus driver Solange Roche was among the hundred union members who reported to picket lines in Queens as 8,800 members of the powerful union went on strike early Wednesday. Members of the United Federation of Teachers were also on hand to show their support. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Roche said she'll be in the picket lines for "as long as it takes" to reach a deal that satisfies the union's demands. 
 
 Bloomberg said police were called to a few garages in Brooklyn and Staten Island after picketers sought to block buses being driven by non-striking drivers. Police said there were no arrests and that the picketers mostly complied with requests to step aside. 
 
 The union and the city have been battling over how new contracts are being drawn up for a set of bus routes. The city wants to cut transportation costs and has put about 1,100 bus contracts with private bus companies up for bid. The union is decrying the lack of Employee Protection Provisions, saying without the so-called EPPs, current drivers could suddenly lose their jobs once their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Just after the strike officially began, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott reiterated to NBC 4 New York what Bloomberg had said Monday -- that the union wants job protections the city cannot legally provide under competitive bidding regulations. Cordiello has said that claim is inaccurate, and said the strike would continue "until the mayor works with us to put the EPP back in the bid." 
 
 Schools Chief on Bus Driver Strike: "It's a Difficult Challenge" 
 
 Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott talks to NBC 4 New York about the labor dispute that has bus drivers union members on strike and the city's plans to ease the additional hardships it will put on New York City families. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Walcott said he understood the additional stress the strike would place on families, but said the city's hands were tied on the matter. 
 
 "We're putting a bid out to make sure we get the best service for our students. We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to put in a request for bids," Walcott told NBC 4 New York. "We will never compromise the safety of our students, plain and simple. We know it's going to be tough for our parents and children." 
 
 Parents Affected by Sandy Face Bus Strike Hardship 
 
 NBC 4 New York's Marc Santia talks to parents still struggling to get on their feet after Sandy, who are now worrying about how to get their children to school on Wednesday morning. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 The city began taking measures this week to alleviate additional hardships imposed by the strike, including passing out free MetroCards for children to take mass transit to get to school. Walcott said the MetroCards for children are active Wednesday, while parents or guardians of students will have access to free MetroCards Thursday. In the meantime, they would be reimbursed 55 cents per mile for transportation. 
 
 The free city subway or bus passes were not much of a solution for many families. 
 
 Grandmother Janet Balmes said it's ridiculous to expect her 5-year-old grandson would take a city bus to school. 
 
 "I don't let him walk to the corner by himself. I'm gonna put him on a city bus to go to school? I'm gonna let him get off, cross the street and go to school? Not in this lifetime," Balmes said. 
 
 In Queens, mom Miriam Aristy-Farer volunteered to walk children from the A train to their school -- her contribution to ease the collective pain that parents will experience Wednesday. 
 
 "It's putting the pressure on people who don't make a lot of money to begin with, and asking parents to choose between safety and money," she said. 
 
 Some were concerned a prolonged strike could affect their livelihoods. 
 
 Angela Peralta of Staten Island has two daughters who take buses to two different schools. She's made car pool arrangements for one daughter and will drive the other one herself. That means she'll have to leave work early to pick her daughter up. 
 
 "I hope this doesn't go on very long," Peralta said. "I'm afraid that one of these days I'm going to walk into work and they're going to say, 'You know Angela, enough is enough.'" 
 
 Marc Santia and Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this story 
 
 Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York ||||| OAKLAND -- The BART strike is on. 
 
 Commuters around the Bay Area on Monday were left stuck in freeway gridlock, cramming onto standing room-only buses and cursing the first BART labor shutdown since 1997. 
 
 About 200,000 people who ride BART daily -- about 5 percent of the Bay Area commute pool -- were left scrambling to find other ways to get around as all BART trains remained shut down following the end of service early Monday morning. 
 
 "It was a rough day out there, just as we had expected," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regional agency that operates the 511 commute-information service. And "we're obliged to operate under the assumption that BART will be down again tomorrow." 
 
 BART and its unions saw their four-year contract expire overnight after three months of failed negotiations, and workers immediately hit the picket lines. A strike will continue indefinitely until BART management and the two unions representing 2,300 blue-collar workers reach a deal. 
 
 On Monday morning, neither side had plans to return to the bargaining table as they remained at odds over wage increases and medical and pension benefits. 
 
 "We have not heard from the mediator yet, so unfortunately no talks are scheduled. We're hoping that changes soon," BART spokesman Rick Rice said. "We do feel this is unfair to our riders and hope to get it resolved quickly." 
 
 Both sides remained waiting for the other to offer a new proposal. 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 "If they don't contact us, we can't sit down and negotiate, and that would mean we would continue to be on strike," said Antonette Bryant, president of the union that represents train operators, station agents and other workers. Asked how long the strike could go on, she said: "I have no idea; that's up to BART." 
 
 Carpool lanes will remain open throughout the day and motorists should be prepared for heavy traffic and hot weather. The California Highway Patrol advised filling up gas tanks and bringing along plenty of water in case of long waits in traffic. 
 
 Have Your Say! Add your voice to the discussion about the BART strike and union and management positions. 
 
 Traffic officials reported Monday that commutes from the East Bay into San Francisco were about an hour worse than usual for solo drivers, with the commute worsened by a major accident on Interstate 80 in the East Bay. Vehicle counts on the Bay and Golden Gate bridges actually went down slightly during rush hour compared to the typical weekday, but that always happens when traffic is especially bad. Traffic officials liken it to pouring water through a funnel: When more cars clog the road, fewer overall vehicles can get through in a short time span than if the freeways are free-flowing. 
 
 Carpool lanes were moving much faster, however. Goodwin urged commuters to show up to casual carpool lots, including at BART parking lots, after tons of drivers waited in lines up to 10 vehicles deep waiting for commuters that did not show up hop in their carpools. 
 
 Two reporters from this newspaper -- one driving solo and one taking transit -- raced between the Fremont BART station and downtown San Francisco. Even with a 20-minute stop in Oakland, the reporter driving made it there in 2 hours and 14 minutes, beating the transit-taking reporter by 34 minutes. 
 
 Bay Area transit agencies were offering extra services that would provide about 52,000 additional seats, with full service plan details -- and the latest traffic updates -- available through the 511 hotline and 511.org. 
 
 Meanwhile, AC Transit workers -- who provided the bulk of the back-up rides despite their contract also expiring Sunday night -- had not planned to walk off the job despite earlier threats to shut down the East Bay bus line. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192, the union for AC Transit drivers and mechanics, has vowed to give 24-hour notice before striking but had yet to do so. 
 
 "They are still talking," AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said late Monday afternoon. 
 
 AC Transit ran extra buses and carried thousands of extra passengers Tuesday to help people stranded by the BART strike, yet drivers made 99 percent of their scheduled runs, said David Armijo, the agency's general manger. 
 
 BART picketers gather at Broadway and 20th Street in Oakland, California on July 1, 2013, during the first day of the BART strike. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group) 
 
 "Our operators did a magnificent job under some stressful conditions that will likely persist until BART returns to its normal service," Armijo said. 
 
 Commuters react 
 
 Around the Bay Area, people began coping with a life without BART. 
 
 "I was going crazy. I didn't know what to do," Alicia Wooley, 35, who takes BART daily to San Francisco but used AC transit as an alternative. "I hope they come to an agreement fast. I understand what they're going through but they have to realize what they're doing to everyone else. They're impacting the whole Bay Area." 
 
 Many commuters were angry. Karen O'Connor, 58, of Antioch, left home two hours early this morning to catch the ferry to San Francisco. O'Connor, a city worker, had little sympathy for the striking BART workers, saying "we all have to pay into our pension." 
 
 BART workers, who average about $83,000 annually in gross pay, contribute nothing toward their retirement and $92 monthly to health insurance. BART has offered an 8 percent pay hike over four years and wants workers to pay more toward their medical and pension benefits, while the local Service Employees International Union and Amalgamated Transit Union are looking for a 23 percent pay hike. 
 
 "As it is, they are overpaid," O'Connor said. 
 
 But Anne Coogan-Gehr, 56, of Pittsburg, who typically takes BART to her job in San Francisco, said she supports the striking workers despite the disruption to her commute. She was among dozens of people in Oakland catching an AC Transit bus to San Francisco. 
 
 "I'm very supportive of the BART workers in their negotiations for stabilized salaries and health and retirement benefits," Coogan-Gehr said. 
 
 Chris Morgan, 38, who works in San Francisco, chalked up the work stoppage as part of the bargaining process. 
 
 "I don't take it personally on either side," Morgan said, adding he took an extra hour to get to work after getting the news at 3:30 a.m. while following updates on Twitter. "I'm hoping it'll make my life pretty much unchanged." 
 
 At least one rider wasn't sure of which alternate route to take. Ama Gee woke up at 4 a.m. in Discovery Bay and drove to Oakland's Lake Merritt looking for a public transit connection to San Francisco's Financial District. Gee usually parks at a BART station and rides in, but this morning he was wandering Grand Avenue, lost and without a plan. 
 
 "I have no idea how to get to San Francisco," Gee said. "No one can tell me where to go, what bus to take." Finally, a fellow a commuter helped to direct him to the morning's first AC Transit transbay bus, which was full of extra riders looking for a BART alternative. 
 
 Twenty minutes after his shift was supposed to begin at a Levi's store in Union Square but two hours after he left his East Oakland home, Julian Damone, 23, was stuck at the West Oakland BART station waiting for a shuttle. 
 
 "It's really a killer," Damone said. 
 
 Also furious was Gabriel Mendieta, who was getting conflicting information about how he could get from the station to Fisherman's Wharf. Mendieta, who works at an Applebee's making San Francisco's minimum wage of $10.55 per hour, said he had little sympathy for striking BART workers. 
 
 "They get paid more than teachers do. They get paid more than I do, more than half the people that are commuting do," Mendieta said. "I barely make ends meet." 
 
 Just around the corner, a crew of Google workers was embarking on a breezier company shuttle ride from West Oakland to the tech company's Mountain View headquarters. One worker waiting for the unmarked "G-Bus" said he had no idea that BART workers were on strike. 
 
 Evening commute slow 
 
 During the evening commute, Pleasanton resident Julie Jackson said the strike made her trip a lot longer. 
 
 "Two-and-a-half (hours) as opposed to 45 minutes" to get home, Jackson said while sitting in a charter bus next to the temporary Transboy Terminal that was about to depart for BART's West Oakland station just after 3 p.m. 
 
 Zac Campbell agreed with Jackson that the union's deserved most of the blame as he stood in line for a Berkeley-bound AC Transit bus at the terminal. 
 
 "They've got a pretty good deal with those salaries from my point of view," said Campbell, who lives in West Oakland. 
 
 He said perhaps a cost-of-living increase would be acceptable but he has a hard time coming to terms with BART employees paying a flat rate for health care, no matter how many dependents are included. Not only is his commute about 30 minutes longer, but it also costs more to take the bus, he said. 
 
 At the Embarcadero BART station, turnstiles were blocked, with the slot to put the ticket in plastered over with an orange "out of service" sticker. A man headed to San Francisco International Airport go catch a flight to his home back east was informed by a BART employee that trains were not operating after he tried to get through the turnstile. 
 
 "I just paid $8.25 for this ticket and I just learned BART is on strike," said the man before leaving the station to hail a cab that he expects will cost him $60 to get to the airport. 
 
 Keith Kelly, 35, was one of several people who showed up at the BART station oblivious to the strike. Kelly said he had just returned from a trip to San Diego and had walked to the station to catch a train to SFO for the second leg of his vacation. 
 
 "I have a friend coming to pick me up," he said, as he stood against a light pole at the nearly deserted station around noon. "I am inconvenienced." 
 
 Stella Peterson of Pleasanton, who works at Safeway there, said some of her coworkers didn't show up for work -- one from Castro Valley and one from the Modesto area. 
 
 "Being a fellow worker, I don't blame them for fighting for what they deserve," Peterson said. "It's a shame that the rest of use have to suffer." 
 
 At a 7-Eleven gas station by Interstate 580 in Livermore, Michael Chavez said a lot of his friends are in their mid 20s and "are not fortunate enough to have a car." 
 
 Workers picket 
 
 Outside the Montgomery BART station, about 25 train operators and station agents chanted "Riding public should be aware, the BART board is unfair!" while waving placards with slogans like "stop the violence." They also planned rallies in Oakland and San Francisco for Monday. 
 
 "We are the working class, we support the working class. We bring them to work everyday," said train operator Tina Santillan, 35, of Daly City. "But the BART board doesn't care about the working-class folks because they've left them out on the freeway." 
 
 As she spoke, her colleagues blew into noise makers and chanted: "What's this about? Safety!" 
 
 BART train operator Robert Malito said he's on strike because he wants worker's comp rules improved and better train maintenance. He said train cabs aren't well insulated and drivers endure much louder noise when going through tunnels than ordinary motor vehicles would. 
 
 In addition, he said some driver's chairs have been repaired with duct tape, leaving springs sticking out. Also, he said, windows are so poorly maintained that he and other drivers have sustained injuries opening and closing them after they pull into stations to watch passengers getting on and off. He spent two-and-a-half years on workers' comp, but earned no retirement pay during that time, he said. 
 
 "Basically, the big issues are worker safety and vehicle maintenance," he said. "A lot of people are getting injured and there's no protection for us. We've had station agents assaulted by passengers. We call BART police and by the time they get there, the people have made their getaway." 
 
 Apart from the rumble of the occasional Muni train, the Embarcadero BART station was silent Monday morning. The turnstiles were wrapped in yellow caution tape and orange "out of service" stickers were plastered over the ticket slots. There were just a few people wandering through the usually bustling hub. 
 
 Two BART station agents, who didn't want to give their last names, said they are on strike seeking better wages and benefits including retirement, as well as improved safety for employees and passengers. They pointed to recent shootings and stabbings at BART stations. 
 
 "A lot of us have been assaulted. I've been spit on," said one of the agents, Elizabeth L. 
 
 Sandra D. added: "And I've been choked." 
 
 Elizabeth said most members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 don't believe BART's claims that the agency is short on money. 
 
 Even though BART is subsidized by taxpayers, it still loses money when it's not operating because of other built-in costs that still need to be met even when the system is idle. BART loses $8 million in passenger fare and parking revenue each week it is shut down, and even with saving money on labor and other operating costs, it still loses a net of $3.9 million a week, or $560,000 a day, BART says. 
 
 Back-up bus service 
 
 Outside the Walnut Creek BART station in the East Bay, buses were lined up early Monday to take commuters to the West Oakland BART station, where they will transfer to another shuttle that will take them near the Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco. 
 
 Passengers are being given round trip tickets and will be able to begin boarding buses for the return trip at 3 p.m. on Howard Street between Folsom and Beale streets. Bus riders must arrive to this loading area by 7 p.m. to get a ride back to West Oakland, where they will transfer to one of four buses headed to the Fremont, El Cerrito Del Norte, Walnut Creek and Dublin/Pleasanton stations. 
 
 Gary Luk of Pleasanton spent two hours on a chartered BART bus getting into San Francisco before getting an emergency call from his wife to come home for a sick child. With return bus trips to the East Bay only leaving this afternoon, he was left scratching his head, trying to figure out how to get back. The back-up service has proven "totally inadequate for dealing with emergencies," he said. 
 
 Caltrain 
 
 Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said the trains arriving in San Francisco between 5 and 8 a.m. were not overly crowded. 
 
 "We had more passengers than normal but not extraordinary crowds," said Dunn, noting the agency added a couple northbound trains to its regular commuter service. 
 
 Still, Caltrains were packed with riders at 8 a.m. At the Millbrae BART-Caltrain station, Josephine Chen, 25, said she was running late for her internship in downtown San Francisco. She normally takes BART to the Powell Street station but would have to catch a bus downtown from the Caltrain terminal. 
 
 Ferries 
 
 San Francisco Bay Ferry said it carried 7,835 riders this morning, up from 2,500 on a typical morning. 
 
 There was little patience for BART or its workers among some commuters catching the ferry to Oakland from San Francisco's waterfront. 
 
 "It sucks," said Richard Mumolo, 55, of Oakland, who was on his way home after working the night shift as a security guard. "I'm going to end up paying for their raise because apparently making more than twice what I do is not enough." 
 
 Ferries were packed full, with usual riders saying passengers were up by two thirds over a normal day. K.C. Frogge, 57, of Oakland, has been taking the ferry for more than a decade to her office manager job in San Francisco and said most days she sees about 120 people, but it was more than 300 on Monday. 
 
 "Most people were like zombies, like 'just give me a seat,'" she said. "It's crowded to the gills." 
 
 In Alameda, officials say they are offering additional parking spaces near the city's two ferry terminals to help commuters who wish to travel to San Francisco today. Deputy City Manager Alex Nguyen said a shuttle service and free valet bicycle parking is available at the Main Street terminal. Satellite parking and a shuttle service is also available at the city-owned Chuck Corica Golf Complex for commuters who are using the terminal on Bay Farm Island near the Oakland International Airport. 
 
 Alameda police say they will be relaxing parking enforcement near both ferry terminals. But police also say they will still ticket those responsible for flagrant violations, such as blocking driveways, sidewalks and fire hydrants. 
 
 Carpooling 
 
 Already a popular way of commuting for many San Francisco-bound workers in the East Bay, the number of commuters getting carpool rides from strangers surged on Monday. 
 
 Graphic designer Kim Ciabattari usually walks to the Rockridge BART station in Oakland. On Monday, she instead walked an extra block to a "casual carpool" spot beneath Highway 24 where drivers wait to pick up at least two riders -- enough to get in the carpool lane heading to the Bay Bridge. 
 
 "It's a slight inconvenience but I think it's worth it," Ciabattari said. "I support workers' rights." 
 
 Harrison Sen, 24, who works in San Carlos, was waiting for a coworker to pick him up to drive him to their construction job. 
 
 "This kind of sucks," he said. Usually "I leave at 4 p.m. and get home around 6 p.m., but it's probably going to be 7 or 8 p.m. tonight." 
 
 Rental cars and taxis 
 
 Bay Area ride services Uber, Lyft and Sidecar said they put as many drivers as they could on the road and jumped on social media networks to recruit commuters who needed to get to work. 
 
 By 9:30 a.m., Sidecar reported a 40 percent increase in rides over last Monday, and had increased the number of drivers on the road by 50 percent, said Margaret Ryan, vice president of communications. 
 
 "In times of crisis, this is when alternative transportation services like Sidecar are at their best," Rachael King, national social media manager for Sidecar, wrote in a blog post on the company website. 
 
 Avego, a Website and app that helps Bay Area commuters set up carpools, is offering an even faster way for commuters to get home Monday afternoon -- a helicopter. The company is partnering with a local radio station to give four East Bay residents a helicopter ride home from San Francisco at 6 p.m. 
 
 With many car rental sites in San Francisco already booked solid through the Fourth of July weekend, stranded commuters were unable to make last-minute reservations. 
 
 Zipcar, the car-sharing service and car club, didn't appear to be an alternative for Bay Area commuters, as several lots around San Francisco remained full. Most Zipcar customers use the service, which has a membership fee and per-use charge, to run errands or drive to meeting during the work day -- but not for getting to work. 
 
 Staff at the Avis and Budget rental site in the city's SoMa neighborhood, however, were worried that heavy traffic during the afternoon commute would delay car returns. That, one employee said, would mean cars may not be ready for customers with reservations tonight or tomorrow morning. 
 
 Bicycling 
 
 Monday was supposed to be the first day of a four-month pilot program that would allow bicycle commuters on BART during commute hours, adding another layer of frustration for bicycle advocates. 
 
 Robert Prinz, education director of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, however, said he was happy to see lots of bicyclists being accommodated on San Francisco-bound ferries leaving from the Jack London Square terminal in Oakland. 
 
 "There are more bikes than usual and that's good to see," Prinz said. "When it's jam packed like today, we suggest people bring a bungee cord to secure their bikes on the boat." 
 
 Emma Deboncoeur, a UC Berkeley summer school student who usually takes BART from her West Oakland home, rode to school and was slightly sweaty in the warm weather as she parked her bike. 
 
 "Well I'm from Berkeley so I'm OK showing up to class smelly and sweaty," Deboncoeur said. 
 
 City strike 
 
 City of Oakland workers were also on strike Monday but were set to return to their jobs Tuesday. 
 
 At a community rally, city and BART workers stood together in solidarity. Presidents from the SEIU and ATU chapters spoke to those gathered at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland and received cheers and applause. 
 
 "We stand in solidarity with every working family member that is on strike," Bryant said. "We are on strike today for respect, for safety, for fair labor practices and for our families." 
 
 Bryant asked those in the crowd to remove four quarters from their pocket, after which she told them this is what BART had offered workers as a pay raise. The announcement received a chorus of boos from the crowd gathered. 
 
 The BART strike comes a day after the rail line's busiest Sunday ever. The agency carried more than 276,000 one-way trips on Sunday, beating the previous record of 259,000 trips set during the 2012 gay pride parade. 
 
 Staff writers Denis Cuff, Mark Gomez, Peter Hegarty, Theresa Harrington, Aaron Kinney, Kathleen Kirkwood, Brittny Mejia, Joshua Melvin, Eve Mitchell, Karl Mondon, Doug Oakley, Matt O'Brien, Thomas, Peele, Josh Richman, Heather Somerville and Jeremy Thomas contributed to this report. Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at twitter.com/RosenbergMerc.
– It's a rough day to be a schoolkid in the Big Apple. Some 152,000 of them had to find an alternate way to get to class in the freezing rain this morning, amid a school-bus drivers strike, reports the NY Daily News. Schools issued MetroCards to affected students so they could take public transportation, and parents who opt to pay for a taxi or drive their kids can fill out forms for reimbursement. But some worry that kids with special needs—more than a third of the children affected—will fall through the cracks, and parents of young students won't receive MetroCards allowing them to escort their kids until tomorrow. The strike, the first since the 1970s, could last for days or months, as no negotiations have yet been scheduled between the striking bus driver's union and city officials. The dispute centers around new contracts for certain bus routes that the city plans to bid out in an attempt to cut costs. The union called for a strike, fearing current drivers could wind up jobless when their contracts expire in June, reports NBC 4 New York. Protestors are forming picket lines at bus yards, and at least one driver says she plans to stay there for "as long as it takes." Replacement drivers hired by the bus companies will be ready to take the wheel next week—so long as they're willing to cross the lines.