Meet Me in Millbrae (June/July 2003 Monitor)

Access to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and its connection with far away places has taken center stage in the growing excitement over the long-awaited opening of BART's Peninsula extension. However, for many riders, the connection to other parts of the Bay Area will be the most important feature. The intermodal station at Millbrae, which will serve BART, Caltrain and SamTrans riders, may become the Peninsula's Grand Central Station, mingling tourists, local travelers, and commuters.

The southernmost station on the extended BART line, Millbrae will be a transit hub, providing a critical transfer point for Caltrain riders and many SamTrans riders. Served by five SamTrans bus routes, the Millbrae Station will allow SamTrans riders to transfer to many other SamTrans routes, or, by entering the station, to access the entire Caltrain and BART systems from adjacent platforms. For those going to SFO, a dedicated train will run between Millbrae and the SFO BART station every 20 minutes, replacing the free shuttle buses formerly operated by the airport.

Until now, access to SFO for BART riders has involved either a bus trip on SamTrans from BART's Colma station, or a transfer to Caltrain in San Francisco, which requires travelling several blocks on foot or riding Muni from a downtown BART/MUNI station to the Caltrain station. Travelers to SFO from the East Bay will now have direct service on the Dublin/Pleasanton line, or they can bypass the airport and go directly to the Millbrae station by riding the Pittsburg/Bay Point line. Passengers may transfer to these lines at several points in the BART system. BART's Molly McArthur comments, "What the Millbrae Station does so beautifully is to take best advantage of existing infrastructure while adding greater connectivity with the new infrastructure."

While Caltrain and SamTrans are likely to lose some San Francisco-bound riders to the direct BART service, they will gain riders transfering to Caltrain at Millbrae for the continuing ride south. According to Jayme Maltbie of Caltrain and SamTrans, new riders are anticipated because of the new, seamless connection between transit serving the Peninsula and transit from the East Bay and San Francisco. Passengers entering the Millbrae Station from buses or parking will be able to purchase tickets for BART and Caltrain on the concourse level to use in the faregates, while those transferring from one line to the other will find ticket machines located at platform level.

Parking at Millbrae Intermodal Station: On the east side of the station, surface level and garage parking is available for Caltrain and BART riders. The daily cost is $2; BART monthly parking passes cost $42/month, and reserved parking passes, good until 10:00 am each day, cost $63/month. These are available through BART at http://www.bart.gov/parking/, or by calling 1-800-676-1611. Up to 125 spaces on the west side of the Millbrae Station are reserved for holders of Caltrain monthly parking passes; if available after 10:00 am, these spaces may be used by paying the regular daily fee of $2.

Many BART riders will use the Millbrae Station as a transfer point to reach Caltrain stops farther south, while Caltrain riders from as far south as Gilroy will also be able to reach San Francisco and points in the East Bay with one simple cross-platform transfer (southbound riders will need to go from one part of the station to another to transfer). Because of this, it is anticipated that Millbrae will become the busiest extension station. Of the 70,000 new daily trips projected by 2010 for the four new stations, 33,000 daily trips are expected to begin or end at Millbrae.

To support the Millbrae Intermodal Station's role as the Peninsula's first major transit hub, Caltrain made schedule changes in March and some SamTrans schedules will change on June 22 to connect with BART service to the new stations. At Millbrae, most Caltrains will arrive seven minutes before the next BART train to allow time for ticket purchases and transfers. SamTrans routes will also shift when the extension opens, with lines which previously connected with BART at Colma going to South San Francisco, and other lines along El Camino Real and in San Bruno changed to serve new BART stations as well. According to Maltbie, "The point of having all these transit systems is to make them converge, not duplicate one another."

Travelers currently using one transit service will need to familiarize themselves with the procedures and features of another as they add transfers to their trip. For example, BART's hours of operation are more extensive than those of Caltrain or most SamTrans routes, raising the possibility that, without advance planning, a rider could reach Millbrae and find it difficult to continue the trip south. However, bicycle hours on BART are more restrictive than Caltrain. Regular BART riders, used to station restrooms whose use has been restricted by security concerns, will be pleasantly surprised to discover on-board restrooms on Caltrain.

When the first passengers cross the Millbrae platform between BART and Caltrain, they will represent a new era in Bay Area transportation. The cross-platform transfer between passenger rail, Caltrain, and commuter rail, BART, is the first such connection west of the Mississippi River, although BART and Amtrak share a station in Richmond. East Bay workers commuting to Silicon Valley, Stanford students visiting rivals at UC Berkeley, or a San Jose woman with grandchildren in Oakland, will all find transit more attractive thanks to the transfer point at Millbrae.

Six agencies have been responsible for various aspects of the BART/SFO project: US Department of Transportation, California Transportation Commission, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, San Francisco International Airport, SamTrans, and BART.