Wait is over: BART finally coming to San Jose
Milpitas and Berryessa stations opening after decades of planning
After decades of planning, lobbying and dreaming — not to mention two tax measures and two years of delays — BART finally will start running trains to Silicon Valley on Saturday, with the opening of new stations in Milpitas and north San Jose.
“I feel today like the first time I visited Disneyland,” said former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzalez, a champion of the project since the 1990s, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning outside the new Berryessa station.
But the celebration was a slightly subdued one, coming in the midst of a global pandemic that has plunged BART into one of the most tumultuous chapters of its history, chasing away more than 90 percent of riders and creating a grim long-term outlook for their eventual return.
When the first northbound train rolls out of Berryessa station just before 8 a.m. Saturday, by law its only passengers are supposed to be those traveling to work or taking essential trips.
And this grand opening is far from the finish line for BART’s extension into Silicon Valley. The 10-mile, $2.3 billion project is the first phase in a two-part project planned to ultimately bring BART through downtown San Jose and on to Santa Clara.
Still, the opening of the project’s first phase is a momentous occasion for traffic-weary South Bay commuters who had to endure congested freeways if they wanted to reach the closest BART station in south Fremont; for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which built the extension; for BART itself, which had to redesign its system map now that its trains travel to five counties; and for the the project’s many boosters, who pushed to realize the long-held goal of bringing the Bay Area’s chief transit system to its largest city.
“BART to Silicon Valley reflects the hope and the optimism of this region,” said VTA board chair and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez.
Whether you’re still riding BART these days or planning your trips for sometime in the future, here’s what you need to know about the South Bay’s BART stations.
Where are they?
The Milpitas station is located near the city’s border with San Jose, at the intersection of the Montague Expressway and Great Mall Parkway. The stop is just south of the Great Mall, about a 10-minute walk from its entrance.
The Berryessa station sits just northeast of Highway 101, between Berryessa Road and Mabury Road. It’s just east of the San Jose Flea Market and about 3 miles from downtown.
What BART lines are they on?
That rider will pay $7.90 to travel from Embarcadero to Milpitas, and $8.15 to get to Berryessa.
(All those fares assume the rider is an adult with a Clipper card; tack on 50 cents more each way with a paper ticket.)
How long will the trip take?
The ride from Warm Springs to Milpitas takes nine minutes. It’s another four minutes to go from Milpitas to Berryessa. It will take just over an hour to get from Berryessa to Embarcadero station.
How often will trains arrive?
BART has slashed its schedule amid local coronavirus lockdowns, though it will gradually increase service with more businesses reopening and riders starting to trickle back.
As it stands now, trains will depart every 30 minutes on weekdays, every 20 minutes on Saturdays and every 24 minutes on Sundays.
You can find BART schedules online at bart. gov/schedules, and realtime departure information is available on the system’s official app.
Is there parking?
on weekends and weekday evenings.
A monthly parking pass is $50, and you can also get long-term parking for $7 per day.
How can I get there on public transportation?
The Milpitas station has a pedestrian bridge connecting it to the VTA light rail system’s Orange Line. Nine VTA bus routes and one AC Transit route will also connect to the station.
The Berryessa station doesn’t have a light rail connection, but five bus routes stop there — including the Rapid 500, a high-frequency route that goes to downtown San Jose and Diridon Station.
What about biking?
Each station has room for more than 200 bicycles, most at paid indoor storage areas. They also have paid bike lockers and free bike racks.
The Berryessa station has a Bay Wheels station with 31 bikes available to rent. The indoor bike storage areas and lockers require a BikeLink card, with charges ranging from 2 to 10 cents per hour.
The Berryessa station connects to surrounding streets with a fully separated bike route. Someone making the trip to downtown San Jose from there will mostly have buffered or protected bike lanes on the journey if they follow the city’s Better Bikeways route, though a few residential blocks of the trip don’t have that infrastructure.
neighborhood — and has plans to open a third this month.
And the city intends to temporarily move between 50 and 70 tents off Tenderloin sidewalks and into parking lots and other available land in the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, officials will discourage new campers from setting up tents in the Tenderloin, and prohibit people from camping near doorways or fire hydrants, and from blocking sidewalks.
The plaintiffs in the case agreed not to seek attorneys fees from the city. If San Francisco supervisors do not approve the settlement within three months, litigation may resume.