New Travel Choices Coming for Caltrain and SamTrans at BART

Vast new travel options will open for Caltrain and SamTrans riders when the BART-SFO extension debuts June 22, making it easier than ever to get out of gridlock and onto transit.

The Millbrae Intermodal Station provides the opportunity for riders coming from the farthest reaches of the BART system to access Caltrain - and vice versa - through an easy cross-platform transfer.

For example, a resident of Gilroy headed for work in Oakland could make the trip entirely by rail, using the time to read the paper, work - or even sleep.

"The opening of the BART extension represents a quantum leap forward for Bay Area commuters," said Mike Guingona, San Mateo Country Transit District board chair. "With four new BART stations fed by SamTrans buses and a direct link with Caltrain at Millbrae, people will have many new ways to get where they want to go - without having to get behind the wheel."

Both Caltrain and SamTrans staffs are coordinating efforts with BART to make the transition as smooth as possible and to help riders learn their way around the system. For example, Caltrain and BART dispatchers are visiting each other's train control rooms and becoming familiar with procedures.

Ambassadors from all the transit agencies will be out in force during the first week of service to answer questions and direct passengers.

Caltrain Service

Caltrain has already adjusted schedules in preparation for the BART opening to optimize connections between arriving and departing trains at Millbrae.

Monday, June 23, is the first day that Caltrain will stop at the Millbrae station. Because of construction to prepare for Baby Bullet express train service and other improvements, Caltrain is not operating weekend trains until spring 2004.

Caltrain's RRX alternative weekend bus service will begin to stop at Millbrae with the first day of BART service, June 22.

A shuttle operated by the airport, which takes travelers between the Millbrae Caltrain Station and SFO will be discontinued since it duplicates BART service.

SamTrans Service

SamTrans is making major bus routing adjustments to optimize the connection with BART at new stations in South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae.

Changes affecting 21 bus routes will go into effect June 22. In most cases, the routes have been redesigned to feed into the new BART stations, but in South San Francisco, some routes, which previously connected with the Colma BART Station will be redirected to a closer BART station. Some routes are being modified and combined. Two routes which take passengers from the Colma and Daly City BART stations to the airport - BX and 193 - will no longer be needed because of the duplicate service provided by BART.

Each new BART station will be served by a number of routes:

South San Francisco: 122, 130, 132, 133 and 390

San Bruno: 34, 133, 140, 141 and 391

Millbrae: 342, 390, 391 and 397.

Doug Johnson, SamTrans' manager of operations planning, hopes the changes work well for riders.

"We spent a lot of time trying to make sure our services connect well with on another," Johnson said. "We have a new traffic generator - BART - and we hope to successfully serve the demand with the appropriate allocation of available resources."

Frequency and Airport Connections

BART operates between 4 a.m. and midnight.

BART's Dublin/Pleasanton and the Pittsburg/Bay Point lines will serve the South San Francisco and San Bruno BART stations an average of every seven-and-a-half minutes. BART's Pittsburg/Bay Point and Dublin/Pleasanton lines will serve the Millbrae and SFO stations respectively every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weeknights and weekends.

BART will operate a shuttle train from the Millbrae station to SFO every 20 minutes, which costs $1.50.

The SFO BART Station is located at the International Terminal, where passengers can transfer to SFO's free AirTrain, which is located upstairs from the BART station, which travels to terminals throughout the airport.

Parking

Parking at the three new BART stations as well as at the Colma and Daly City stations is available for $2 a day. In conjunction with the extension opening, the $2 fee will apply at the Colma Park and Ride Lot. At the Millbrae Intermodal Station, the BART parking garage also is available to Caltrain riders for the $2 daily fee.

SamTrans will no longer provide parking at Serra Bowl, next to the park and ride lot.

BART monthly permit parking is available for $42 or for $63 for reserved spaces.

At the Millbrae station, Caltrain will continue to offer parking on the west side of the tracks, reserved until 10 a.m. only for passengers with a Caltrain monthly parking permit. After 10 a.m., riders purchasing a $1.50 daily permit will be allowed to park in the Caltrain lot.

Information

Schedules, ticket and other information on Caltrain, SamTrans and BART is available through their Customer Service Centers or over the Internet. Caltrain and SamTrans can be reached at 1.800.660.4287 (TDD only 1.650.508.6448).

BART's information number is 650.992.BART or 511; the Web address is www.bart.gov.