Caltrain and BART don't compete except for the Milbrae->SF segment. I don't think that the Caltrain ridership would be supportive of what would essentially be

Caltrain and BART don't compete except for the Milbrae->SF segment. I don't think that the Caltrain ridership would be supportive of what would essentially be a BART takeover of the system, because Caltrain is so much more pleasant to ride. There are a lot of reasons for this -- different demographics of the areas served, commuter oriented schedule, and the different configuration of the trains themselves. One of the biggest though is the positioning and attitude of the employees towards troublemaking riders. If you're making a nuisance of yourself on Caltrain, the conductor will come through and throw you off the train. There is no conductor on BART, and the station attendants generally don't leave their booths. It's to the point where you can literally shoot heroin on a BART train and nothing will happen to you. Try that on Caltrain, and you will be thrown off and the police will be called. The net result is that on roughly the same segment, Milbrae->SF, if I can get a seat, I have no concerns pulling out my laptop on Caltrain. I wouldn't even consider this on BART, and I am even cautious pulling out my phone.